The last formal class of the Air Force Chaplain School at Maxwell AFB, Ala., concluded last month, and after an informal professional continuing education course that concludes on Thursday, the service’s chaplain instruction will cease there and be moved to a new facility at Ft. Jackson, S.C. The new venue will henceforth be home to chaplain training for members of all the services. “There is both sadness and excitement surrounding the move,” said Maj. John Tillery, AFCS student manager. Academically, he said, “the move will be pretty seamless,” as course instruction will not change. And the “cross-talk between chaplains from all the different services” will be beneficial, he said. Phase one readiness training for USAF chaplains about to deploy had already been taking place at Ft. Jackson before the forthcoming consolidation. (Maxwell report by Carl Bergquist)
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.