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Suicides prompt stand-down at Wright-Patterson

DAYTON, Ohio — Officials at Ohio’s Wright-Patterson Air Force Base are taking the rare move of planning a day for airmen to talk about suicide prevention instead of performing normal duties.

Base spokesman Daryl Mayer says the one-day “stand-down” scheduled for Tuesday follows four deaths in six months.

Mayer says two deaths were apparent suicides, and two others under investigation occurred in similar circumstances. The most recent death was Monday, when the body of an active-duty airman was found in her dormitory room.

Commanders call the rarely used stand-downs to highlight important issues to airmen under their command.

“We’ve suffered the tragic loss of several airmen in recent months,” Col. Brad Spacy, 88th Air Base Wing commander, said in a release. “It’s affected people in a variety of ways, so I’ve ordered this wing-wide stand-down to take some dedicated time to address them.”

Unit commanders and supervisors are responsible to specific agenda items and times. In general, service members will report for duty and be briefed by their commander. Units will participate in a series of small group training scenarios and discussions.

“We’re going to have people from all across the base available with information on career and life planning, financial guidance, faith based services, on and off-base activities, all of the Integrated Delivery System agencies,” said Chief Master Sgt. John Hoffman, Aeronautical Systems Center and 88th command chief.

Everyone will have the opportunity to talk with staff members, pickup handouts and generally become more familiar with what is available.

“No problem, no mistake is insurmountable,” Hoffman said. “It might be too much for you to handle alone, but there are many, many people who want to help and together we can overcome anything.”