Typhoon pounded Tokyo, American airman plunged to his death

Air Force commander grapples with servicemember’s suicide
By Charlie Reed
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 21, 2013
15 minutes ago

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — While most people hunkered down for the night as a typhoon pounded the Tokyo area, an American airman plunged to his death from the 11th floor of a nearby hotel. Before dawn, Yokota base commander Col. Mark August received one of those calls that almost always bring a different kind of turmoil.

August learned he had lost a man — the first since he rose to command level 15 years earlier.

“When you get that phone call first thing in the morning — no one wants to get it, but when it happens, it triggers a very specific response, an AFI-driven response,” August told Stars and Stripes a few weeks after the death last fall.

Among the Air Force Instructions that flashed through his mind was AFI 90-505, the service’s first suicide prevention and response policy update in 15 years. It came last year as the services grappled with an epidemic of suicides — a record 349 in 2012, up 48 from the year before.

Commanders were given comprehensive post-suicide response plans and checklists. One of the first tips: Make the initial announcement with a balance of “need to know” and rumor control.
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