At Hickam AFB, Hawaii, on June 7 airmen dedicated the 15th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal Facility in memory of SrA. William Newman, who was killed in Iraq in June 2007 when an improvised explosive device he was recovering detonated. The 23-year-old Newman was an EOD specialist and on his 98th combat mission when he was mortally wounded near the village of Mishan, Iraq. “Will is a hero to all of us, not just for his sacrifice, but also for the lives he saved,” said Col David Maharrey Jr., commander of the 15th CES. Newman’s wife, Soyong, and other family attended the ceremony at Hickam. (Hickam report by MSgt. Robert Burgess)
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.