BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Reserve Citizen Airmen of the 307th Bomb Wing took time for a resiliency tactical pause here, Oct. 20, 2019.
The event was designed to help Reserve Citizen Airmen across the wing reconnect and ensure their spiritual, physical, and social needs are met.
According to a Department of Defense Report, four Reserve Citizen Airmen died by suicide within the first quarter of this year. This fact, coupled with the rising number of suicides across the Air Force, prompted Gen. David Goldfein, Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, to have units throughout the service engage Airmen about resiliency.
Col. Steven Kirkpatrick, 307th Bomb Wing commander, kicked off the resiliency tactical pause during an early morning commander’s call.
“There is not going to be any stigma in this wing about seeking help, because we are a family,” he told the standing-room-only crowd at Hoban Hall. “We ask a great deal from our Airman and it is a healthy reaction to ask for assistance.”
After Kirkpatrick, several other members of the unit took the stage to outline and explain resources available to Airmen and their families.
Guest speakers included Lt. Col. Larry Henderson, 307th BW chaplain, Tiffany Williams, 307th BW director of psychological health, Gary Hunkins with Airmen and Family Readiness, and Mrs. Patsy Kirkpatrick with the unit’s Key Spouse Program.
Each speaker offered specialized information, but they relayed a common theme: practice self-care and be a good wingman.
“Not everything we talk about today may be applicable to your present situation, but I can almost guarantee someone in your sphere of influence could use help,” explained Hunkins. “You are walking billboards for these resources.”
Henderson doubled down on Hunkin’s sentiment. Invoking the 307th Bomb Wing’s nickname, he urged the crowd to be present for one another.
“We are the Long Rangers, not the Lone Rangers,” he said. “We have to support one another even as we exercise our individual resiliency skills.”
In her speech to the crowd, Mrs. Kirkpatrick invited the assembly to learn more about the Key Spouse Program, which is designed to help military spouses cope with a host of stressors through one-on-one support.
“We don’t want our spouses to be frustrated and we definitely don’t want them to feel alone,” she said. “The Key Spouse program puts them in touch with other military spouses to give them the support they need.”
After meeting as a wing, individual squadrons held break-out sessions to engage in conversation about stressors that come with balancing military and civilian careers. They also held team building activities designed to reinforce existing bonds.
Though the formal resiliency tactical pause was one day, the 307th BW offered tools to help its Airmen throughout the unit Training Assembly weekend by peppering the schedule with financial training sessions.
In total, five Thrift Savings Plan events were held. They focused on separate career timelines, from those just entering service to those preparing for separation.
Arvella Collins, the TSP training and liaison specialist teaching the sessions, correlated resiliency with financial readiness.
“Life is going to knock you down, so it is imperative to have a financial plan in place,” she said. “It is also important to understand that financial stability is a journey, not a destination.”
For information on resiliency resources, visit the Air Force Resilience website at www.resilience.af.mil/ or the MilitaryOneSource website at https://www.militaryonesource.mil/