Even 1 is too many

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Corey M. Pettis
  • 18th Wing Public Affairs
KADENA AIR BASE, Japan --  Everyday, approximately 22 military veterans commit suicide in the U.S. according to a 2012 study done by the Department of Veteran Affairs.

September is Suicide Prevention Month, and Team Kadena is making efforts to raise awareness for the methods available to make that future number zero.

“Suicide prevention is everybody’s responsibility,” said Tech. Sgt. Jonathan Becker, 18th Medical Operations Squadron mental health element NCO in charge. “Now more than ever we need to be in tune with our people – that way we can talk about their stressors.”

As part of Suicide Prevention Month, Kadena will take part in many activities such as handing out suicide prevention tips cards at the gates, suicide prevention briefings at Kadena High School and a joint service AFN radio interview. These are to highlight the myriad of different resources available to service members and encourage them to reach out if they ever feel like the stress is becoming too much.

One of the main initiatives is Project 22. Project 22 is a month-long initiative where service members are encouraged to complete a scavenger hunt taking them around to all the helping agencies on base. This will familiarize people with available services and where they are located.

Although these events are taking place in September, suicide prevention is not something to be done just one month out of the year. It’s a real problem many people struggle with every day, explained Becker.

“One of the things we preach is to take people for who they are and leave your judgments aside,” said Becker. “A situation may not seem like a crisis to you, but it is to them. They might be thinking about a permanent solution to a temporary problem.”

That’s where wingmen come into play as being vital for suicide prevention.

“The biggest thing is just asking, listening to what they have to say, being there and getting them to the appropriate agency to make sure they’re safe,” said Becker.

With the training Airmen receive and all the resources available to them, wingmen can recognize the signs and symptoms of distress in themselves and others, allowing them to take protective action.

“Most of us have been down in our life, some of us haven’t experienced it yet, but every once in a while people’s plates get full and their cups start overflowing,” said Maj. Tod Frazer, 18th MDOS, suicide prevention program manager. “The challenge is for all of us to reach out and find out what’s going on with one another.”

With all of the suicide prevention methods available, over the last five years Kadena has the lowest Suicide rate in PACAF.

The helping agencies on Kadena are very proud of that statistic and it’s because of the everyday things that people do for one another at Kadena, Frazer said.

Team Kadena welcomes service members to get out and participate in events like Project 22 and continue to learn about the ways to potentially save a wingman’s life.

“Kadena has demonstrated for almost five years that we’ve made a consistent difference to ensure that no one has committed suicide here,” said Frazer.