S
ome 150 airmen in the San Antonio area are participating in a fit test of the Air Force’s new service coat, dubbed the Heritage Coat. The test will run from Jan. 28 to Feb. 1 at Brooks City-Base, Lackland Air Force Base, and Randolph Air Force Base. Later in February and in March, the fit test moves to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo. and Maxwell AFB, Ala. Heritage Coat program manager, Capt. Jonathan Pellum, with the 648th Aeronautical Systems Squadron at Brooks, said the fit tests will provide initial data this spring that will show whether the service needs to make changes to the coat before beginning the wear test later this year. The Air Force designed the new coat based on input from airmen who said they favored a historical influence. (311th Human Systems Wing report by Rudy Purificato)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.