The Air Force plans to open a deployment transition center in July at Ramstein AB, Germany, to help airmen returning to home station after a combat tour, Gen. Howie Chandler, Air Force vice chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. This is one of the service’s numerous initiatives to bolster the resiliency and coping skills of airmen exposed to traumatic situations in combat and to put them in touch with the service’s support mechanisms. The DTC will help facilitate a graduated transition home and reintegration with family through two days of training. Chandler said the center will initially focus on those who faced significant risk of combat-related death during their deployment: convoy operators, explosive ordinance disposal personnel, and security forces personnel. As the center matures, these services may be extended to additional airmen, he said. (Chandler prepared statement)
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.