The Air Force 
First Sergeants Academy, part of Air University at Maxwell AFB, Ala., is developing a monument that will be built at the base’s Enlisted Heritage Hall museum to honor the work and dedication of Air Force first sergeants. The monument is slated to be ready for dedication in time for next year’s senior enlisted leadership summit at Maxwell. It will consist of two life-sized statues of first sergeants, one male and one female, placed on a granite diamond-shaped pedestal that will have the history of first sergeants engraved around the edge, according to SMSgt. Michael Bellerose, the academy’s director of education. The statues are currently being cast in Oregon. Already as of Aug. 10, more than $52,000 of the $90,000 needed to cover the monument’s costs has been collected. (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.