Air Force Featured Stories

  • Adaptive sports shift outlook on life

    “I was sitting at home alone one night and had taken out my pistol; I remember how cool it felt in my hands and knowing I was moments away from taking my life. In that split second, my phone went off with a text from one of my Airmen who said he needed my help getting to work the next morning, and I

  • Healing from invisible wounds: The other side of the story

    Chanda D’Angelo was in a frenzy; she quickly washed all the clothes in her home, zoomed the vacuum across every floor, wiped down every surface, cleaned out the refrigerator and stove and scrubbed the windows and mirrors until they were spotless. Exhausted, she had just enough time to get her hair

  • PTSD treatment confronts the trauma behind the disorder

    Post-traumatic stress disorder is considered one of the “signature wounds” of the current conflicts in the Middle East. But many people may not know that there are highly effective treatments for this invisible wound being deployed at Air Force hospitals and clinics today.

  • Healing from invisible wounds

    On Jan. 15, 2008, Senior Airman Christopher D’Angelo, a heavy equipment operator, was the lead gunner in an armored vehicle convoy on a road near Baghdad. The sun was shining and the air comfortable. His unit had just transported construction materials to forward operating bases and was currently

  • Invisible wounds

    I’m an ambassador for the Air Force Wounded Warrior Program. As an ambassador, I’m an advocate for the program and I work in my local area to plan events which bring our wounded together.

  • New program to help ISR aircrews cope with different kind of PTSD

    Finding targets by watching and listening is, by nature, intensely personal and can have a long-lasting effect, to include post-traumatic stress disorder, on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance Airmen involved. The 361st ISR Group is developing a ‘Re-Fit’ program which will assist Airmen

  • Around the Air Force: July 6

    In this look around the Air Force, an F-35A Lightning II makes a trans-Atlantic flight, an Airman runs 694 miles for post-traumatic stress disorder awareness, and the Minnesota Air National Guard deploys to South Korea.

  • PTSD awareness leads to positive treatment

    Post-traumatic stress disorder can be debilitating in some patients, but thanks to advancements in research and the continued training of mental health providers, treatments are getting better all the time. Maj. Joel Foster, the chief of Air Force Deployment Mental Health, said treating PTSD has

  • BLUE: Charlie Mike to Recovery

    Through the fog of post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic injuries, and illness, American veterans realize that the ability to regain control of their minds and bodies lies within their own hands.

  • AF program increases access to behavioral health care

    Nearly half of people with a treatable behavioral health disorder do not seek help from behavioral health professionals, according to the Department of Health and Human Services. However, 80 percent of this population does visit a primary care manager at least once a year. An Air Force program seeks

  • Mental maintenance: Tools to keep the mind fit

    Airmen often go to the fitness center; some spend several hours a week toning their bodies, while others go to simply maintain their physique. But what about strengthening the mind?

  • Art therapy helps close the wounds of Air Force vets

    As a mortuary affairs Airman, retired Master Sgt. Justin Jordan handled dozens of bodies of service members, many of whom were killed downrange. But one mission at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona, finally made him crack.

  • AF vet uses marathon training to cope with PTSD

    As a disabled Air Force veteran living with post-traumatic stress from military sexual trauma, I’ve had my good days and bad days but all of my hard work over the past two years paid off Oct. 25 when I achieved one of my goals -- completing my first full marathon, the Marine Corps Marathon.