It’s easy to get lost in talk of technology and weapons systems and even budgets and sequestration, but CMSAF James Cody reminded the crowd at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., Feb. 12 that airmen are still the biggest asset to the service. “You’ve got to have stuff, you’ve got to have it, got to invest in it. But if you don’t have these airmen, you just have stuff,” Cody said. “We’re not necessarily giving the focus or resources to taking care of our airmen and family as we should because there are so many things being discussed it would seem more [complex].” Cody said it is time to re-focus attention on airmen and caring for their health, safety, and families. “We have to connect with our airmen. It has to be meaningful,” he said. “There has to be a level of respect and dignity amongst us, a level of caring. It is a bond that we’ll work through all of the challenges; it is a strength that we’ll work through all the challenges.” (Cody transcript) (See also Counting the Cost)
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.