The Defense Department must find better ways to support troops and personnel, the head of Air Force Space Command said Tuesday, adding he is worried about high stress and suicides in the military.
“We have to take care of our airmen,” said Gen. John Hyten. “We’ve got to take care of them and their families. Because there’s a lot of stress on those folks.”
Speaking at a Tuesday breakfast hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, the general said he doesn’t have all the answers, but that it’s time for all members of the military to “figure out a better way” of taking care of each other.
“The number that has scared the heck out of me is 273,” Gen. John Hyten said Tuesday. “273 is the number of suicides that happened in the active-duty force in the military this year so far. The 273rd was at Buckley Air Force Base, [Colorado] one of my bases, just last weekend. That breaks my heart. It’s hard to even describe. It’s like losing one of your kids. It’s that significant.”
Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James also cited her concern about “another pretty bad year” for suicides during a Tuesday town hall with airmen.
“Whatever we have been doing is certainly not enough and we need to refocus and kick it up a notch and look for new and different ways to approach it,” she said and then outlined three prevention efforts that are underway.
Airmen and other service members are facing enormous stress in a high-tempo, 24/7 threat environment, Hyten said, speaking at a breakfast hosted by the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
“The pressure that we put on them, I mean, if you look at some of the tactical air control part of it that are deployed into theater, they’re deployed 10, 11, 12 times. The pressure that puts on somebody and their family is just enormous,” Hyten said. “If you look at all the stress we have on the [remotely piloted aircraft] pilots that are at Creech [Air Force Base in Nevada] – – six days on, 12-hour shifts, in combat, 72 hours a week without a break. Then they have to drive all the way back to [Las] Vegas where their families are, it’s just a huge, huge stressor.”
“Look at what’s the Army’s under, what the Marine Corp’s under, what the Navy’s under,” Hyten continued. “Our total force is not 273, that’s just only the active-duty side. The Guard and Reserve have stressors as well, those numbers aren’t included. Our civilian force has stressors as well. We have got to do a better job taking care of our airmen and their families.”
