Trainers at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., are implementing a new program to provide opportunities for professional development to airmen held in limbo between basic training and technical school. The 324th Training Squadron’s Holdover Airman Development Program, begun earlier this year, helps airmen earn university credit through study and testing, engage in community service, and develop leadership skills, according to Lackland’s Dec. 6 release. “We understand when holdover airmen come to the 324th TRS, this is the last place they want to be,” said Lt. Col. Paul Lips, the squadron’s commander. “We wanted them to utilize their time here to grow and develop as airmen so they could reach their maximum potential,” he added. Since the program’s inception, airmen have earned more than 1,000 university-equivalent credit hours, formed a competition drill team, and progressed through an organized airman leadership program of study, states the release. (Lackland report by Mike Joseph)
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.