In a first for the Air National Guard, NORAD and US Northern Command have installed ANG CMSgt. W. Allen Usry as their new senior enlisted advisor, replacing Army Command Sgt. Maj. Daniel Wood, who plans to retire. Usry has been serving as command chief at Continental US NORAD Region-1st Air Force/Air Forces Northern, headquartered at Tyndall AFB, Fla. Air Force Gen. Gene Renuart, NORAD/NORTHCOM boss, said during a May 21 ceremony that Usry is “no stranger to the command” and naming him as the new enlisted advisor was “an easy choice.” Usry started his military service in 1982 in the Marine Corps, serving for six years before joining the Oklahoma ANG, in which he first served as a fire protection specialist and then a first sergeant. (NORTHCOM release)
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.