Bruce Lemkin, point man for international affairs in the Air Force Secretariat since 2003 is retiring, according to USAF officials. No date was given for when Lemkin will leave. And there has been no announcement yet on his successor. Among his contributions, Lemkin played a key role in establishing the 12-nation Strategic Airlift Capability consortium that now operates a heavy airlift wing with three C-17 transports at Papa AB, Hungary. He was also instrumental in formulating the Air Force’s current global partnership strategy that stresses building partner capacity. Lemkin graduated from Annapolis in 1971 and spent time as a nuclear submarine commander.
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.