The Air Force last month honored the history office of the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, as winner of the John R. Burton Award, the biennial honor that recognizes the best multiperson history office across the service. “It means a lot to get recognition like this,” said Doug Beckstead, one of the office historians. The 3rd Wing historians track and write annual histories not only for the wing, but also 11th Air Force, Alaskan NORAD Region, Alaskan Command, and Joint Task Force-Alaska. One of these reports is the “equivalent to writing a Ph.D. dissertation every year,” said Joe Orr of the office. (Elmendorf June 11 report by A1C Christopher Gross)
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.