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Commentary: preventing suicide ... starting with myself
September 13, 2019 — Other days, and even on good ones, the thought creeps up out of nowhere – an insidious sense of doubt. Of worthlessness and a sense of purposelessness that whispers in my ear and tells me that I will never accomplish the goals I have set for myself. The thoughts that make me ask why I shouldn’t just call it quits and end the sadness that plagues me... MORE

September is officially Suicide Prevention Month, but there is no timeline on reaching out to someone in need and you can learn how to be more aware of the subtle signs shown by those at risk twelve months a year. You may be the one to save a life.

Feedback Fridays
September 13, 2019 — Feedback Fridays is a weekly forum that aims to connect the 502d Air Base Wing with members of the Joint Base San Antonio community. Questions are collected during commander’s calls, town hall meetings and throughout the week. If you have a question or concern, please send an email to RandolphPublicAffairs@us.af.mil using the subject line “Feedback Fridays.” Questions will be further researched and published as information becomes available. ... MORE

Feedback Fridays is a weekly forum that aims to connect the 502d Air Base Wing with members of the Joint Base San Antonio community. Questions are collected during commander’s calls, town hall meetings and throughout the week. If you have a question or concern, please send an email to RandolphPublicAffairs@us.af.mil using the subject line “Feedback Fridays.” Questions will be further researched and published as information becomes available.

AFMC commander visits JBSA, lauds AFIMSC
September 12, 2019 — Gen. Arnold W. Bunch, Jr., commander of Air Force Materiel Command, told an audience at an All Call Sept. 5 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland that the missions the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center conducts are critical to ensuring national defense... MORE

During his visit to Air Force Materiel Command units in San Antonio, AFMC Commander Gen. Arnold W. Bunch, Jr., held a mentoring lunch session with members of the command at Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center headquarters at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Sept. 4.

Chief Petty Officer history, tradition, heritage resonate at JBSA CPO Pride Day
September 12, 2019 — An honorary Master Chief Petty Officer, also the wife of the first Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy, highlighted the annual Chief Petty Officer Pride Day events hosted by the Joint Base San Antonio area CPOs at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 76 Sept. 7... MORE

Honorary Master Chief Petty Officer Ima Black, wife of Retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Delbert Black, the first MCPON, speaks to fiscal year 2020 CPO selects, and active duty, retired and CPO veterans during CPO Pride Day at the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 76. San Antonio CPO Pride Day consisted of a speaking event with Black; military heritage events; marching and singing cadences; and interacting with active duty, retired and CPO veterans.

Honorary commanders tour 433rd Mission Support Group
September 12, 2019 — Eleven honorary commanders toured the 433rd Mission Support Group at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Sept. 7 to view the group’s mission capabilities. This tour is the first of a series of grouped tours that are given to encourage relationships between the wing’s senior leadership and San Antonio’s civilian business and civic leaders... MORE

Steve Young, VIA Metropolitan Transit vice president of information technology, experiences discharging a fire hose during a tour of the 433rd Mission Support Group at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Sept. 7. Young is paired with Lt. Col. Travis J. Hatley, 74th Aerial Port Squadron commander.

Army Medical Department Museum preserves history, supports education
September 12, 2019 — The Army Medical Department Museum at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston traces its origins back to the Museum of Field Equipment established by the Medical Field Service School, or MFSS, at Carlisle Barracks, Pennsylvania, May 17, 1944... MORE

A flyer for the opening of the renovated museum in 1954.

JBSA-Randolph holds 9/11 memorial ceremony
September 11, 2019 — Today, #September11, is the anniversary of a tragedy that not only shook our nation, but made us ultimately stronger as one. We will #NeverForget that day, we will #NeverForget the many lost, and we will #NeverForget the heroes who risked their lives to help... MORE

Airman 1st Class Jalen Anderson (left) and Senior Airman Marcus Allen fold a flag during a 9/11 remembrance ceremony Sept. 11 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. The event honored those who lost their lives in New York City, Washington D.C. and Pennsylvania during terrorist attacks 18 years ago.

AFIMSC seeks to transform Air Force environmental program with latest drone technology
September 11, 2019 — The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland is leveraging the latest unmanned aerial system technology to transform the Air Force environmental program... MORE

Ethan Jacobs, unmanned aerial system engineer, launches a UAS during a field test Sept. 4 at Joint Base San Antonio-Camp Bullis. The UAS was equipped with Light Detection and Ranging, multi-spectral sensors and machine-learning algorithms to map, survey and inventory habitat for the golden-cheeked warbler. The field test will help the Air Force determine if UAS technology can characterize habitat better, faster and cheaper than current methods.

BAMC staff helps train Department of Defense doctors
September 11, 2019 — Critical Care staff from Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston helped conduct two days of validation training for military doctors from around the country during the first week of September... MORE

U.S. Army Capt. Mary Truitt, an internist from Eisenhower Army Medical Center, Fort Gordon, Georgia, performs a survey on a simulated trauma patient at Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Sept. 4. Military doctors from around the country attended training at BAMC for validation training for the Army’s Individual Common Task List and the Air Force Comprehensive Medical Readiness Program requirements.

JBSA-Fort Sam Houston M&FRC hosts workshop for spouses of transitioning service members
September 11, 2019 — Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Military & Family Readiness Center hosted the first ever TAP Too workshop for spouses of transitioning service members Aug. 28... MORE

The Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Military & Family Readiness Center hosted the first ever TAP Too workshop Aug. 28. The workshop was for spouses of transitioning servicemembers and included topics and issues impacting spouses of transitioning servicemembers covered by subject matter experts from programs and organizations throughout JBSA and the local community. Attending the workshop were 42 military spouses and service members.

U.S. Army South hosts Colombian army during bilateral staff talks
September 10, 2019 — U.S. Army South, as the U.S. Army's executive agent, hosted bilateral staff talks with Colombian army leaders Sept. 5-6 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, to develop professional partnerships and increase interaction between armies. These talks will strengthen and plan future strategic, operational and security agreements... MORE

Maj. Gen. Oscar Alberto Quintero Gonzales (left), Inspector General of the Colombian Army, meets with Maj. Gen. Daniel Walrath, U.S. Army South commander during the bilateral staff talks hosted by U.S. Army South at Fort Sam Houston from Sept. 5-6. U.S. Army South, as the U.S. Army's executive agent, hosted bilateral staff talks with Colombian army leaders Sept. 5-6 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, to develop professional partnerships and increase interaction between armies. These talks will strengthen and plan future strategic, operational, and security agreements.

Military units participate in City of San Antonio’s World Heritage Festival
September 10, 2019 — In support of the City of San Antonio’s annual World Heritage Festival, service members from Navy Recruiting District San Antonio, the Army’s San Antonio Recruiting Battalion, Marine Corps Recruiting Station San Antonio, Navy Medicine Education, Training and Logistics Command, Navy Medicine Training Support Center, the Marine’s 4th Reconnaissance Battalion, and the Air Force’s 383rd Training Squadron participated in Mission Pachanga held at Mission Park Pavilion Sept. 7... MORE

Petty Officer 2nd Class Mark Hambrick, assigned to Navy Recruiting District San Antonio, discusses the various rates of the Navy with an attendee of Mission Pachanga during the annual World Heritage Festival held at Mission Park Pavilion Sept. 7.

Air Force Handbook 1 phone app now available on Apple, Google Play
September 10, 2019 — Airmen have a new digital option to stay current on Air Force knowledge and to help prepare for promotion testing with the debut of the Air Force Handbook 1 phone application, released Sept. 6 by Air Education and Training Command officials... MORE

The Air Force Handbook 1 phone application, available on both Apple and Google Play, includes the AFH1 and a study guide, as well as Air Force Instruction 36-2618, The Enlisted Force Structure, known as the “The Little Brown Book.” There is also access to the “The Little Blue Book” focused on the profession of arms, as well as tools such as flash cards, audio and practice tests designed to help prepare Airmen for promotion testing.

Insider Threat Prevention class aims to deactivate potential shooters
September 10, 2019 — The Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Insider Threat Prevention program shines light on how to recognize threats and how to report. It is offered to JBSA employees and mission partners by the 502nd Security Forces Group... MORE

Nick Blancaflor teaches an insider threat prevention class on Sept. 5 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. The 502nd Security Forces Group class teaches students how to recognize signs of a potential active shooter and how to report.

CDC issues warning of severe illness associated with e-cigs
September 9, 2019 — E-cigarettes are associated with 215 possible cases of severe lung (pulmonary) illness and two deaths reported since the end of June across 25 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention... MORE

E-cigarettes are associated with 215 possible cases of severe lung (pulmonary) illness and two deaths reported since the end of June across 25 states, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

JBSA activities this month draw attention to suicide issue
September 6, 2019 — A report released in July by the Defense Suicide Prevention Office showed that 325 active-duty members died by suicide last year, the highest number since the Department of Defense began collecting the data in 2001... MORE

Runs for Life and Resiliency Fairs are scheduled from 9-11 a.m. Sept. 21 at JBSA-Randolph’s Heritage Park and 9-11 a.m. Sept. 28 at JBSA-Lackland’s Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center. Check-in begins at 8 a.m. Community members can register at www.59mdw.org/runforlife and buy T-shirts before sales end.

Army public health experts offer advice for reducing training injuries
September 6, 2019 — One of the challenges facing Army leadership as they transition to the new Army Combat Fitness Test, which will be fully implemented by October 2020, is preventing musculoskeletal training injuries. Physical training is necessary to develop and maintain the fitness required to accomplish military missions, but is also known to cause injury... MORE

U.S. Army Advanced Individual Training students perform leg tucks during an Army Combat Fitness Test at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, June 28, 2019. Leg tucks are the fifth event in the ACFT as it is a test of endurance that requires Soldiers to complete as many repetitions as possible in two minutes.

USAISR researcher, woman with rare medical condition, forge 20-year friendship
September 6, 2019 — For nearly 20 years, a woman with a rare medical condition and a researcher at the U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston have shared an email correspondence that has helped in her fight against the disease... MORE

Dr. Victor Convertino (right), U.S. Army Institute of Surgical Research Senior Scientist for Combat Casualty Care Director, Battlefield Health & Trauma Center for Human Integrative Physiology at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, meets with Sarah Berkheimer in College Station, Texas, last spring, the day after she received her master’s degree from Texas A&M University. For nearly 20 years, Berkheimer and Convertino have maintained a friendship and email correspondence on research Convertino has conducted on treatments for orthostatic intolerance, a rare medical condition that Berkheimer has. The results of their longtime email correspondence have led to Berkheimer being able to utilize devices and treatments that have improved her quality of life and well-being in living with orthostatic intolerance.

433rd Medical Group represented at 2019 Military Health System Research Symposium
September 6, 2019 — Lt. Col. Luis Berrios, 433rd Aeromedical Staging Squadron chief nurse and 433rd Medical Group chief of education and training, speaks to an Australian Army major and captain, about his quality improvement project titled "Addressing Reserve Joint-Service Medical Training Gaps through Multi-Faceted Expeditionary Simulation" at the 2019 Military Health System Research Symposium, Aug. 20, 2019 in Kissimmee, Florida... MORE

Lt. Col. Luis Berrios, 433rd Aeromedical Staging Squadron chief nurse and 433rd Medical Group chief of education and training, speaks to an Australian Army major and captain, about his quality improvement project titled "Addressing Reserve Joint-Service Medical Training Gaps through Multi-Faceted Expeditionary Simulation" at the 2019 Military Health System Research Symposium, Aug. 20, 2019 in Kissimmee, Florida.

AFIMSC, AF Chief Data Office enable readiness through cloud-based visualization tool
September 6, 2019 — The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Innovation Office and the Air Force Chief Data Office successfully built AFIMSC’s highly successful Installation Health Assessments using the Tableau visualization tool hosted on the Air Force’s Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Linked, and Trusted, or VAULT, Data Platform... MORE

The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center first launched the Installation Health Assessment in 2017 as a first-of-its-kind, metrics-based framework to integrate information from authoritative databases across the Installation & Mission Support enterprise. AFIMSC and the Air Force Chief Data Office successfully built the highly successful IHA using the Tableau visualization tool hosted on the Air Force’s Visible, Accessible, Understandable, Linked, and Trusted, or VAULT, Data Platform. The collaboration saved the Air Force months of intense labor and provided more accurate and actionable data analysis for Air Force leadership about installation health.