Officials at Aviano AB, Italy, broke ground on the new facility for the 8th Air Support Operations Squadron. Construction of the $7.2 million, 31,915-square-foot building is scheduled to be completed in June 2013. It will bring the unit’s air support operations, command section, and radio facilities under one roof and will provide more storage space for equipment, easier accessibility, and more efficiency, according to airmen at Aviano. “The new facility will provide better conditions, technical support, infrastructure, and quality of life,” said Lt. Col. Matthew Robinson, 31st Civil Engineer Squadron commander. The ground-breaking took place on Jan. 12. The 8th ASOS provides command and control of close air support and maintains mission-ready air support operations personnel, radios, vehicles, and mobility equipment. (Aviano report by A1C Jenay Randolph)
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.