Everyones job to ensure safety, welfare of wingmen Published Oct. 16, 2008 By Chief Master Sgt. Michael Williams 60th Air Mobility Wing command chief TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Team Travis, I hope you enjoyed your three-day weekend - there's nothing like a little time off to relax. Columbus Day weekend, for me, is an indicator that it will soon be time to carve the turkey, trim the tree and bring in the New Year - man how time flies when you're doing something you love! I love being an American Airman, however, more than that, I love the American Airmen I have the privilege of serving with every day. Our Airmen are at the tip of the spear, deploying time and time again in support of the war against terrorism. They're truly committed to defending our country with their lives. Although the stresses of a deployment can be a life-changing experience, our Airmen are constantly volunteering to serve. At home station I've witnessed our Airmen exhibit a tremendous amount of hard work, long hours and sacrifices to capture the standard of excellence we are renowned for producing. Unfortunately I've also witnessed some stress. Our senior leaders realize that stress sometimes is the result of stretching our Airmen to their limits. The challenging deployment rotation, exercise preparations and inspections are all contributing factors to stress. Regrettably our robust schedule isn't going to change. We are quickly approaching the most festive time of year for most people, but for others the holiday season can be extremely depressing and stressful. For some of our Airmen, this will be their first holiday season away from family and friends. Now is the time for us to develop strategies to ensure not one Airman spends this holiday season alone. We can't afford to wait until the holiday season is amongst us to begin our preparation to defend what I refer to as transparent adversaries: loneliness, depression, domestic violence and suicidal ideations. Therefore, we are relying on you to ensure the safety and welfare of our most precious commodity, our Airmen. It's imperative we remain vigilant to the signs and symptoms of these sometimes transparent adversaries. Communication is vitally important. We must make time to listen to our subordinates, co-workers, peers, family members etc. Often times people reach out for help in some form only for the recipient not to take their plea for help seriously enough to act upon. Our installation has numerous agencies to assist you with identifying the signs and symptoms of a problem before the situation escalates. I encourage you to become intimately familiar with those agencies. But more importantly, I encourage you to know your people, communicate with them and motivate them to adopt a wingman ... don't wait until they commit an infraction or experience a potentially life-threatening incident, by that time it's too late. If we are going to combat this silent adversary, every Airmen must consider themselves the first line of defense. Team Travis; have a great weekend, be safe, make responsible choices and I will see you around campus.