The Air Force intends to launch a study this summer, together with RAND, to track more than 5,000 active duty families across a full deployment cycle—before, during, and after an airman’s deployment—to measure their resilience, according to two senior service manpower officials. “The information received from this study will be invaluable on how we treat and provide care for airmen and their families in the future,” Daniel Ginsberg, manpower lead in the Air Force Secretariat, and Lt. Gen. Darrell Jones, his counterpart on the Air Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel last week. This study is part of the Air Force’s broader efforts to help airmen and their families deal with the stresses and demands of an airman’s extended deployments. To heighten the focus on this area, the Air Force has also established a resilience division within its headquarters, they said. (Ginsberg-Jones prepared statement)
Walking the flight line occupied by Blackhawk attack helicopters and American troops on rotation at the “MK” air base in Romania, Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III highlighted the important strategic value of one of NATO’s newest members Oct. 20 ahead of NATO defense ministerial meetings in Brussels Oct. 21-22.…