The top enlisted airman, CMSAF Rodney McKinley, writes in a new “Enlisted Perspective” paper that the military training instructors of his basic training days taught him lessons that “helped mold me into the airman I am today.” The paper is an entreaty to senior airmen and staff and technical sergeants to join the ranks of MTIs to help the service “meet the demands of our increasing end strength.” The service needs some 220 more MTIs to sustain its plan to push 4,000 additional young people through basic training each year over the next two years, said McKinley.
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.