The commanders of the Active Duty 15th Wing and Hawaii Air National Guard’s 154th Wing formally defined the command relationship between their associated units at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, by recently signing a memorandum of understanding, announced base officials. “Maintaining unity of effort can be a challenge due to separate chains of command . . . and even different work rules,” said Brig. Gen. Braden Sakai, 154th WG commander, in a May 8 release. “By signing this MOU, we are giving our officers, [non-commissioned officers], and civilians the structure and tools they need to ensure unity of effort in their integrated work force,” he added. The new structure empowers functional supervisors—whether Active or Guard, to direct the day-to-day activities of the airmen under their direction. “This authority is crucial . . . to effectively employ all of the airmen working in their shops,” said Lt. Col. Stanley Springer, 15th Maintenance Group deputy commander. (Hickam report by Capt. Ben Sakrisson)
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.