Commentary: Don't be afraid to seek out assistance

Suicide doesn't care about age, race, religion, gender — it's across the board. Within the Air Force, troops old and young are committing suicide at alarming rates and we have to get this issue under control now!

The concepts we keep trying to drive home regarding wellbeing won't sink in if the people speaking about them don't make affirmative connections.

If you want people's attitudes to change toward a particular issue, your message must be compelling. Your attitude and thought process must hit the right chords, or the intent of your message will be lost on the audience.

Resiliency refers largely to the ability to bounce back and see things in a positive light even when life throws you a curveball. It is a mental toughness and a mindset that helps you overcome issues and situations that challenge us daily. At Cannon, resiliency means taking a hard look around and not feeling like the Air Force "owes" you.

Air Force Special Operations Command is doing amazing things around the world. The 27 SOW is standing up new weapons systems, testing various capabilities and deploying worldwide. When you take a look on the other side of the flightline, there is another mission with a unique set of challenges.

We're also dealing with military construction and access to care for our medical group and personnel services. These are all challenging endeavors that require our airmen to be just as resilient as those working on the flightline.

Being at Cannon and learning to adapt to this level of adversity develops strong airmen. Each generation of airmen are called to perform greater missions than their predecessors.

It all comes down to readiness — you're not ready if you're not resilient. If you haven't figured out how to be strong and professional in all challenges, you aren't ready to go fight tomorrow's fight. We are consistently asked to perform to the highest standards with limited resources in the most remote locations on the planet. How can we accomplish these feats if we are incapable of doing so stateside?

Because of how much the Air Force has given me since I've joined, I'm not ready to give up. That's what keeps me going and resilient. I haven't yet paid my debt back to the Air Force.

As someone who's personally been affected by suicide, I can honestly say it's always a shock, particularly within our community. Military members make up a small percentage of the U.S. population so the numbers seem to stand out more. I've never realized more than I do now that suicide can happen to anyone.

Our force puts a lot of trust in its leaders. We wouldn't invest so much time sending them to NCO academies and training courses and supervisory development if we didn't genuinely care about the well-being of our personnel. All NCOs should be connected to the norms of their troops.

For instance: I am one of those leaders that make it my business to know my people's norms. If someone's having a bad day or something is bothering them, I'm going to pick up on it, because I have taken the time to know the routine personalities of people who work around me. When airmen feel valued and recognized for their work, productivity increases.

I would encourage all supervisors to take a step back and look at the big picture of what the Air Force has charged us with when dealing with our enlisted troops. We as NCOs are responsible for the wellness, training and mental and spiritual health of our airmen.

Supervisors must compartmentalize the different portions of their duties, then evaluate and understand how it all contributes to our wing's mission and readiness.

People need to understand that there are plenty of individuals who care about them. They may not see it from their supervisor on a daily basis. They also have to understand that most problems they face can be fixed or addressed.

We can get anyone the help they need. It will not affect their career, standing or reputation within their work center or with their leadership. The Air Force will not allow that kind of treatment toward people who seek assistance.

Military members are encouraged to seek help following their chain of command. Start with supervisors, first sergeants, then commanders, and, if necessary, obtain a referral to a helping agency.