Newly Released Data Reveals Air Force Suicide Crisis After Years of Concealment

Staff Sgt Quinte Brown never evidenced up for dinner It was a monthly ritual he kept with his friends in the Air Force tacos and tequila meant to remind each other that they were still human Brown was constantly early the one who helped cook played with the kids and stayed late to clean up But on that cold Sunday night in January his friends kept checking their phones wondering where he was For someone as steady as Brown an unexplained absence was peculiar One of Brown s friends offered to stop by his townhouse before heading over The door was unlocked The lights were off On speakerphone with the others he searched the house then stepped outside and looked through the window of Brown s car He exposed him sitting in the driver s seat dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound Everyone on the call heard the moment he realized what he was seeing On the other end of the line several friends fell to their knees sobbing Brown s death was one of hundreds in the past decade that the Air Force has quietly logged and filed away as another isolated tragedy While Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth obsesses over the supposed softening and weakening of American troops the Pentagon is concealing the scale of a real threat to the lives of his military s active-duty members a suicide predicament killing hundreds of members of the U S Air Force Input The Intercept obtained via the Freedom of Information Act shows that of the active-duty Air Force deaths between and about percent were suicides overdoses or preventable deaths from high-risk behavior in a decade when combat deaths were minimal This is the first published detailed breakdown of Air Force suicide facts The dataset obtained by The Intercept formatted in an Excel spreadsheet lists airmen s deaths by unique markers known as Air Force Specialty Code and cause including medicinal conditions accidents overdoses and violent incidents Gunshot wounds to the head and hangings appear frequently While it s long been known that members of the U S Armed Forces often struggle with their mental soundness during or after function the Department of Defense has historically been obstinate in its refusal to supply detailed figures on suicides In the National Defense Authorization Act mandated the Defense Department to document suicides by year career field and duty status but neither the department nor the Air Force complied Congress has done little to enforce thorough reporting The dataset obtained by The Intercept contradicts various of the Air Force s previously circulated statistics and statements about mental robustness resilience and deployment readiness It shows a troubling pattern of preventable deaths that leaders at the senior officer level or above minimized or ignored often claiming that releasing detailed suicide information would pose a threat to national prevention Speaking to The Intercept current and former provision members described a fear of bullying hazing and professional retaliation for seeking mental medical rehabilitation That was unfailingly the fear going to mental soundness I m going to get pulled off the flight line Everyone s going to look down on me disclosed former Sgt Kaylah Ford who was Brown s girlfriend before his death It consistently had that negative stigma Brown and Ford were both Air Force maintainers the aircraft mechanics who keep the Air Force s planes flying Of the airmen who died by suicide and other preventable measures were maintainers according to The Intercept s analysis These troops represent the largest single career field in the Air Force according to the Regime Accountability Office but they account for only a quarter of Air Force personnel and a third of suicides and preventable deaths The Intercept reviewed the dataset line by line identifying deaths likely to be suicides or overdoses and cross-checking them with Centers for Infection Control and Prevention classifications and diagnostic classifications Among maintainers were authenticated suicides were drug overdoses and were other preventable deaths with unclear intent with causes including autoerotic asphyxiation These causes of death whether from outright suicide drug use or other life-risking behaviors all point to deep psychological distress according to Dr Sally Spencer-Thomas a clinical psychologist with years of experience in suicide prevention research Addiction and suicide are deeply intertwined Spencer-Thomas explained Multiple people use substances to cope with emotional pain or stress because it works in the short term but over time dependence sets in and the fallout spreads through their wellness relationships and sense of hope The Intercept reviewed more than two decades of government-funded studies and GAO reports and interviewed Air Force maintainers from multiple major commands for this probe The reporter of this story is a former Air Force maintainer Aircraft maintenance is a grinder disclosed former Air Force Capt Chuck Lee who served as a maintenance officer for nine years before transferring to the Army and has since retired While the greater part maintainers rarely see combat the field is known for an unsustainable work tempo with airmen often working - to -hour shifts for years in high-risk environments The constant exposure to toxic chemicals and the deafening sound of fighter jets can cause chronic wellbeing problems inflaming the work s psychological toll The evidence points to structural failures and systemic negligence across Pentagon and Air Force leadership During two major periods of restructuring known as the sequestration and the readiness plan the Air Force consolidated jobs leaving fewer troops to maintain the fleet while flight demands remained the same Both times suicides increased Experts like Spencer-Thomas say that instability and uncertainty during such transitions can heighten suicide liability Mental wellbeing in the military is a joke if you don t take it into your own hands Now another round of consolidation is coming The Air Force plans to consolidate more than aircraft maintenance specialties into seven starting in according to an Air Force memo made inhabitants earlier this year A senior compliance leader with nearly two decades in the Air Force who requested anonymity for fear of professional reprisal called the move do more with less on steroids raising concerns that the next wave of reforms could contribute to a rise in suicides You know the phrase Mission first but people inevitably revealed Lee referring to a common military slogan To the Air Force maintainers are just a crowd of nameless faceless people Their job is to scurry about and get the planes ready Leadership doesn t care as long as the aircraft can fly It s just mission first In a comment to The Intercept a Department of the Air Force spokesperson reported the function takes a comprehensive integrated approach to increase protective factors and decrease suicide menace citing peer promotion programs such as Wingman Guardian Connect unit-level resilience programs that encourage Airmen and Guardians to reach out for aid and new post-suicide guidance for commanders The spokesperson noted the guides were recognized as best practices by the Defense Department s Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee and recommended for use across all services But the Air Force maintainers unanimously agreed that the current protections are insufficient and in chosen cases actively harmful Mental robustness in the military is a joke if you don t take it into your own hands revealed former Senior Airman Azhmere Dudley If I had gone through the proper chain of command and hadn t just signed myself up for healing I would be screwed right now Every maintainer who spoke to The Intercept noted they had lost a friend or unit member to suicide overdose or a tragic accident before their first enlistment ended often before age U S Air Force maintainers perform maintenance on a B- Spirit stealth bomber at Keflavik Air Base Iceland on Aug Photo Robert Hicks U S Air Force The air in your lungs rattles as the plane takes off as if the jet were trying to steal your breath If you try to speak on the tarmac while the jet is at full throttle your phlegm crackles and your loudest yells may as well be silent Your insides feel like a plastic grocery bag filled to the brim with scrap meat and fish heads being jostled This is the experience of working on a flight line the heart of every Air Force base where planes park for organization and between missions Often tucked away behind fences and danger signs the troops on the flight line rarely face the enemy up close or carry rifles in combat By Hollywood or Hegseth s standards they would seem to have one of the safest roles in any branch The common assumption that combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder is the primary driver of military suicides would seemingly put maintainers at a lower hazard But their disproportionately high share of suicides and overdoses tells a different story Nearly percent of maintainer deaths between and were the upshot of suicide or overdose more than deaths from car accidents biological conditions and workplace mishaps combined Maintainers face constant exposure to chemicals irregular schedules and extreme noise Fighter jets can reach decibels during takeoff far above the Air Force s hearing conservation limits of decibels over eight hours on shift and the -decibel threshold for impulsive noise which are brief bursts of sound powerful enough to cause instant hearing damage Even with double hearing protection vibrations can shake internal organs For maintainers working -hour shifts was the norm Shifts could extend up to hours with approval from the group commander or the first general officer in the chain which was almost reliably granted Lee reported Unit leaders would assign the extended shifts to meet maintenance and flight goals and maintainers had little choice but to comply All other maintainers interviewed for this story agreed with Lee s account Although double ear protection is meant to guard against extreme sounds specific fighter jets namely F- s produce a high-pitched whine so intense it pierces the double ear protection Maintainers describe it as feeling like the sound is piercing their skull from the mouth up and ripping off the top of their head Researchers have also raised concerns about infrasound low-frequency jet engine vibrations that may resonate with human tissue and contribute to fatigue or stress Mostly studied outside the military infrasound s effects have received little research under real flightline conditions Every maintainer interviewed broadcasted chronic wellbeing problems including insomnia headaches digestive issues such as irritable bowel syndrome or constipation memory lapses attention deficits depression anxiety and in rare cases psychosis Multiple of these markers mirror those seen in traumatic brain injuries or blast exposure Several days I don t want to get out of bed because I don t know how the day will go I am going through my disability alleges and part of it is anxiety with panic attacks I get severe anxiety now that I did not have before commented former Staff Sgt Dallas Sharrah He described a latest experience at a grocery store where he exploded in anger at a shopper who bumped into his shopping cart with his small child inside He noted his anger was extreme and shockingly out of character leaving him confused and embarrassed Various days Sharrah stated I don t want to get out of bed because I don t know how the day will go Combined with chemical exposure and long shifts maintainers are also exposed to toxic substances including JP- jet fuel and chaff which involves releasing clouds of tiny metallic strips from an aircraft to confuse enemy radar and protect the aircraft from detection or missile targeting Inhaling chaff can be fatal as the tiny metallic or fiberglass fibers can shred lung tissue causing severe respiratory distress or hemorrhaging The Occupational JP- Exposure Neuroepidemiology Survey issued in unveiled that JP- can slow reaction times cause chronic neurological impairment sleep disturbances irritability and depression-like markers A assessment Dermal Exposure to Jet Fuel JP- in U S Air Force Personnel substantiated that JP- can be absorbed through the skin and detected in the bloodstream All the maintainers who worked on the evolving flightline mentioned they experienced near-constant exposure with fuel sometimes pouring into their ears mouth or onto their skin for entire shifts Air Force enlistment contracts typically last four years with an option to extend to six Maintainers interviewed painted a picture of such intense suffering and mental anguish that for chosen suicide seemed more bearable than serving four years in that climate We had an airman who tried to take his own life multiple times announced former staff Sgt Michael Hudson In one instance he was determined unconscious in his dorm after swallowing an entire bottle of Tylenol A inadequate months later he was located walking along train tracks saying he sought to lay down in front of a train From to active-duty maintainers had a suicide rate of per personnel nearly twice the per among U S civilians a times higher exposure FOIA records show the preponderance common methods were self-inflicted gunshot wounds to the head and hanging Other methods included sodium nitrite ingestion helium inhalation and carbon monoxide poisoning In the days before his death Brown had been developing under the weight of exhaustion and expectation Ford communicated The Intercept His squadron had switched his schedule three times in as countless weeks bouncing him from day to nights with little sleep between He petitioned for help or even a short break but his leadership brushed him off He was the reliable one He was a perfectionist He never made a mistake Ford explained Then he did During a routine engine run he left a flashlight inside the intake of a fighter jet and shredded the engine It was the kind of error that ends a career He blamed himself thoroughly Ford reported We all knew that would eat him alive Former Senior Airman Azhmere Dudley lights a candle during a Holocaust Remembrance candle vigil at Nellis Air Force Base Nevada on April Photo Jordan McCoy U S Air Force after dudley the former senior airman spoke up by questioning leadership about how personnel dealing with mental wellness conditions were treated he soon unveiled himself struggling too Dudley noted he often fell asleep in his car outside his unit at Nellis Air Force Base or dozed off behind the wheel citing extreme fatigue from overnight shifts known in Air Force parlance as mids that he believes leadership had assigned as punishment Maintainers in good standing with unit leadership can often choose shifts that suit their lifestyle Troops who are vocal or opinionated however may be assigned night duty for months or even years despite Air Force plan limiting night shifts to three months The flight chief purposely kept me on mids There were crews willing to swap with me but leadership refused My medical expert was baffled there s no waiver for a work schedule yet they ignored therapeutic guidance Dudley revealed I felt powerless to change it even though it was affecting my strength Car crashes are a common cause of death among maintainers often linked to sleep deprivation or alcohol-related incidents Beyond the suicides overdoses and preventable deaths discussed in this story there were another maintainer deaths percent of which were listed as multiple blunt force injuries or blunt trauma with at least explicitly coded as traffic collisions confirming that this is how the Air Force tracks bicycle and motorcycle crashes Dudley stated he spent a year on the night mid shift and was later diagnosed with obstructive sleep apnea which he attributes to prolonged disruption of his circadian rhythm Nine others interviewed for this article described a way of life of retaliation for speaking up You aren t allowed to complain because others have it worse mentioned Colby Abner a former maintenance staff sergeant stationed at Hill Air Force Base in Utah So you learn to shove it down with either pure will or a vice I ve watched so several people lose themselves altogether in addiction strictly because of the Air Force In maintenance units airmen are often pulled off duty when they seek care a guidelines meant to prevent accidents but one that fuels stigma It creates the perception that those who ask for help are trying to avoid work and are therefore lazy Several maintainers explained that after seeking care they faced hazing harassment or other abuse from peers and supervisors which only worsened their mental fitness Ford mentioned that as the only Black female crew chief in her unit she faced intense discrimination and isolation during her time in amenity Although Air Force plan imposes strict standards for confidentiality and what providers may disclose to commanders or supervisors all maintainers interviewed by The Intercept stated seeking care can unofficially ruin a career It was widely understood that if you go to mental wellness you are not going to advance Your career is going to stagnate you re going to be ostracized noted Micah Templin a former Air Force weapons systems maintainer Spencer-Thomas the psychologist commented it s clear that environments like those described in this story could increase a person s menace for suicide The research on work environments is clear long hours lack of autonomy and toxic cultures of bullying or hazing all raise suicide pitfall Spencer-Thomas commented Sleep deprivation is another major factor The science is unequivocal When people are denied rest their brains cannot recover Over time that drives depression cognitive decline and suicidal behavior Mama I m tired I m just so tired Ford recalled Brown s extreme exhaustion in the week leading up to his suicide She remembered him calling his mother saying Mama I m tired I m just so tired The Air Force does mandate mental healthcare and suicide prevention trainings But they re widely seen as ineffective and performative Abner reported They push out these mandated trainings that don t do anything because no one takes them seriously Abner reported They put support in place but openly mock them when presenting them to people Former Senior Airman Foy who urged to have his first name withheld over the sensitivity of the subject survived a suicide attempt in December while on leave with his family He was rushed to the urgency room after taking pills and was hospitalized for seven days over the Christmas holiday After healing he returned to work where he commented he faced intense ostracization and hazing and the stigma followed him even after separating from the Air Force Foy mentioned it seemed like people were avoiding him because he was seeking mental wellness remedy When he needed assistance the most of it seemed like people I was close with kept their distance U S Air Force maintainers perform maintenance on a B- Spirit stealth bomber at Keflavik Air Base Iceland on Aug Photo Robert Hicks U S Air Force After years on advancing duty former maintainer Chris McGhee became an attorney focused on veteran advocacy Among other misconduct he disclosed he d witnessed two decades of hazing and abuse within the maintenance career field he advised The Intercept and he has since dedicated his legal career to giving a voice to maintainers he noted have had their tongues snipped to keep them silent I was part of the abuse maintainers experience and I share the blame for it McGhee stated I m speaking out now because silence only protects the system that s hurting them After years of frustration with ineffective military leadership and inspector general and GAO reports that in his view documented problems but didn t provide solutions McGhee turned to Sen Angus King I-Maine and pushed for intervention via the Fiscal Year National Defense Authorization Act King sponsored Section a mandate requiring the Defense Department to release a account on military suicides including a breakdown by year and service-specific job code by December When the bill passed McGhee received a copy of the NDAA personally signed by then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi Senate Appropriations Chair Patrick Leahy President Joe Biden and King King included a handwritten note To Chris With thanks for the idea The account came out on July Seven months late McGhee disclosed it failed to comply with the law It did not disaggregate suicides by year or by service-specific occupational codes both explicit requirements of Section King s office took a domination lap anyway Requested by Senator King after working with a Maine constituent an office spokesperson wrote in a press release the description identifies key trends to help the Department of Defense DoD address suicide pitfall amongst higher hazard job specialties and identify underlying cultural issues affecting the mental medical of America s institution members Emails calls and recorded meetings provided in full by McGhee and verified by The Intercept show King s staff had not reviewed the analysis closely before issuing their praise I think I got the review Friday night just hours before it went populace Jeff Bennett II a national defense adviser and legislative aide to King informed McGhee in a phone call shared with The Intercept Sen King read the summary page by page but he s been focused not so much on the issue we raised King s office knew the Defense Department did not follow the law as written Bennett commented in the recording but considered it a step in the right direction The official who signed off on the review Under Secretary Ashish Vazirani had testified to Congress shortly before its release that negative news about military suicides could affect recruiting In his testimony Vazirani framed the findings within broader recruiting challenges noting that a large number of young Americans are unfamiliar with the military distrust institutions and face competing opportunities in a strong economic system He called for a whole-of-government and whole-of-nation effort to engage youth and promote system McGhee saw the statement s glowing reception as an example of Congress letting the military off the hook celebrating the fact that it existed at all with little regard for its efficacy or compliance If Congress will not enforce its own laws if oversight is nothing but theater then what exactly was I defending McGhee announced This experience has left me feeling that two decades in uniform were wasted on a republic that no longer exists in practice King s office did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Intercept This experience has left me feeling that two decades in uniform were wasted on a republic that no longer exists in practice A Pentagon spokesperson did not provide an explanation of why the Air Force violated the law and withheld the input from the population despite repeated requests from The Intercept They referred questions about the Defense Department s summary to congressional defense committees and added that a FOIA request is the appropriate avenue for requesting historical suicide input The Air Force has a lot to hide because it s embarrassing The Air Force claimed they didn t have that records and you know look how hurriedly The Intercept got it Lee noted A lot of shady shit going on A quarter-century of internal maintainer discussion GAO reports scientific studies and death records shows that this mental wellness and preventable death dilemma has been tracked by multiple authorities entities including Congress the Defense Department the Department of the Air Force and oversight committees Senate Judiciary Committee investigators contacted McGhee and stated they were in the early stages of gathering facts related to expert concerns about the Air Force maintenance society More than half of the maintainers interviewed for this article experienced suicidal thoughts while in operation Several were hospitalized for psychiatric care and one former maintainer survived a suicide attempt Various remain terrified of speaking out about their experiences even years after leaving progressing duty for fear of retaliation from former peers These are people s lives you re dealing with Just like in maintenance where you re a number to be traded and thrown away after use I can see Congress viewing us the same way Dudley explained As of publication no lasting corrective measures have been implemented The Trump administration s effort to shame military leaders over combat readiness and so-called softness within the ranks stands in sharp contrast to the reality a great number of facility members experience And if historical trends are any indication the planned consolidation of maintenance specialties could trigger another rise in suicides In Ford s incident the weight of Brown s death still haunts her At one point she recalled he d helped her when she was going through her own suicidal ideations He saved my life once I was on the side of the road and he sat with me for two hours until I calmed down Ford commented I just wish I could ve saved his As the administration informally reverts the Department of Defense s name to the Department of War authorities have echoed an old saying often repeated in military circles We are in the business of killing What they don t advertise is how that slogan applies to their own members The Suicide Dilemma Lifeline offers -hour sponsorship for those experiencing suicidal thoughts or for those close to them by chat text or telephone Provision members can dial and press to reach the Military and Veterans Dilemma Line Patronage is free and confidential The post Newly Circulated Input Reveals Air Force Suicide Predicament After Years of Concealment appeared first on The Intercept