Gen. Philip Breedlove, US Air Forces in Europe’s new commander, said there will be no immediate changes in the command. His priorities for USAFE, which is headquartered at Ramstein AB, Germany, fall into three main categories: mission, airmen, and families. “I truly believe the airmen are our primary weapon system. Many nations in the world have great air forces. Many nations in our world may rival us as our Air Force gets smaller, but no nation in the world has the airmen that we have,” said Breedlove in an Aug. 13 USAFE release. In order to protect that valued resource, the Air Force must first take care of airmen’s families, he said. “The family was before the Air Force, the family was during the Air Force, and the family is after the Air Force,” he said. “Family is permanent and the Air Force is temporary.” Meet family needs and the mission takes care of itself, he said. The former vice chief of staff said his previous Pentagon duties would help him in his present role. (Ramstein report by 1st Lt. Christine Guthrie)
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.