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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.

JBSA leaders sign proclamation observing Suicide Prevention Month
September 10, 2019 — Joint Base San Antonio leaders pledged support for programs and initiatives to reduce suicide among service members and their families, retirees, veterans and Department of Defense civilians in a ceremony held Sept. 3 at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Military & Family Readiness Center... MORE

Joint Base San Antonio leaders pledged to support programs and initiatives to reduce suicide among service members and their families, retirees, veterans and Department of Defense civilians at a proclamation signing ceremony in observance of Suicide Prevention Month held at the JBSA-Fort Sam Houston Military & Family Readiness Center Sept. 3. Signing the proclamation were (from left) Lt. Col. Chad Humphrey, U.S. Marine Corps officer in charge, Wounded Warrior Battalion East, Detachment San Antonio; Brig. Gen. Laura L. Lenderman, 502nd Air Base Wing and JBSA commander; Rear Adm. Tina Davidson, Navy Medicine Education, Training and Logistics Command commander; Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson, U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) commander; and Cmdr. Libby Rasmussen, U.S. Coast Guard, Department of Homeland Security, Joint Task Force-West.

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.

Social media security: Tips from an Army special agent
September 6, 2019 — Even the most innocuous data posted to a social media feed can be married up with other publicly available information to provide online criminals the tools they need to exploit members of the military or general public, an Army special agent said... MORE

Even the most innocuous data posted to a social media feed can be married up with other publicly available information to provide online criminals the tools they need to exploit members of the military or general public, an Army special agent said.

410th Contracting Support Brigade returns home from Afghanistan deployment
September 6, 2019 — Leaders from the 410th Contracting Support Brigade uncased their organization colors during a ceremony Sept. 5 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, signaling the end of their nine-month deployment to Afghanistan... MORE

(From left) Brig. Gen. Christine Beeler, Col. Robert McDonald and Command Sgt. Maj. Sol Nevarezberrios render honors during the 410th Contracting Support Brigade uncasing ceremony Sept. 5 at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston following the brigade’s return from a nine-month deployment to Afghanistan. Beeler, the commanding general for the Mission and Installation Contracting Command, officiated the ceremony. McDonald is the 410th CSB commander and Nevarezberrios is the brigade command sergeant major.

Feedback Fridays
September 6, 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.

JBSA-Randolph hosts Retiree Appreciation Day
September 5, 2019 — Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph hosts a Retiree Appreciation Day from 8-11 a.m. Sept. 28 at the Kendrick Enlisted Club. ... MORE

Army North participates in Hurricane Dorian preparation
September 5, 2019 — Members of U.S. Army North (Fifth Army) have been participating in preparations for Hurricane Dorian hitting the eastern seaboard of the United States... MORE

Lt. Gen. Laura Richardson, U. S. Army North (Fifth Army) commanding general, met with leaders at the Federal Emergency Management Agency Region IV Regional Response Coordination Center to discuss Hurricane Dorian response efforts in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina.

Defense Health Agency changes leadership
September 5, 2019 — Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place became the third director of the Defense Health Agency Sept. 4 in a ceremony at Defense Health Headquarters in Falls Church, Virginia. He succeeds Navy Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, who is retiring after 36 years of service and has been the DHA director since 2015. ... MORE

Army Lt. Gen. Ronald Place, the new director of the Defense Health Agency, previously served in DHA as director of the National Capital Region Medical Directorate, the transitional Intermediate Management Organization, and the interim assistant director for health care administration.

Brooke Army Medical Center celebrates women’s right to vote
September 5, 2019 — Staff and visitors at Brooke Army Medical Center celebrated women’s right to vote at the annual Women’s Equality Day observance Aug. 27. The observance was held in celebration of the 19th Amendment, which was passed Aug. 18, 1920, and gave women in the U.S. the right to vote. ... MORE

Jean Aratingi speaks at the Women’s Equality observance at Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston Aug. 27. Aratingi, a member of the League of Women Voters since 1974, talked about the history of the Women’s Suffrage Movement from 1848 to 1920.

WHASC Family Health Center to complete restructure by Oct 1
September 5, 2019 — The Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland is in the final stages of its Family Health Clinic restructure, which formed two separate units of focused care: active duty beneficiaries and all other beneficiaries. The restructure began April 1, 2019 and is anticipated to be complete by Oct. 1, 2019. ... MORE

The Wilford Hall Ambulatory Surgical Center is in the final stages of its Family Health Clinic restructure, which formed two separate units of focused care: active duty beneficiaries and all other beneficiaries. The restructure began April 1, 2019 and is anticipated to be complete by October 1, 2019.