Somehow this got missed in the notables. Notable 17 (Q)
Air Force Won't Disclose Causes of 17 Deaths at Tinker Air Force Base This Year
This year, 17 personnel have died at Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma, but Air Force officials have refused to say what the causes of those deaths were, citing concerns for families and units on base.
Kimberly Woodruff, a Tinker Air Force Base spokesperson, told Military.com on Wednesday that the base lost the personnel to "various causes, and several deaths remain under investigation."
Tinker Air Force Base has more than 30,000 personnel, and it's unclear how many of those deaths were service members, government employees, contractors or civilians tied to the base. One individual connected to the installation told Military.com that they had been informed of deaths connected to base this year including potential suicides, as well as COVID-19-related deaths.
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"We are deeply saddened by the losses we have experienced at Tinker Air Force Base," Col. Abby Ruscetta, the Tinker installation commander, said in an emailed statement. "Our focus moving forward is to let everyone know we value them, and we stand together as a team."
Woodruff initially told Military.com on Tuesday that Air Force policy prohibits the installation from disclosing the number and causes of deaths, including suspected suicides still under investigation.
"I'm sorry, but we are not going to release the number of deaths at Tinker," Woodruff told Military.com in an email. "We have ongoing investigations and to protect the families and the units, we won't comment on those numbers. It is Air Force policy that we do not disclose information about deaths or their circumstances."
Department of the Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said it's up to the Department of Defense to release suicide statistics at the Pentagon level every quarter – although those numbers are service-wide and don't specify commands or individual bases. She added there's no prohibition against a base releasing the total number of deaths at that installation.
Tinker Air Force Base public affairs later released the number of deaths this calendar year to Military.com but did not specify which deaths were being investigated as due to suicide, accidents, illnesses or other causes.
If you're a service member, civilian or government employee with close knowledge of any deaths in 2023 at Tinker Air Force Base, you can send an encrypted email to tomnovelly@protonmail.com to speak with a reporter and can be offered anonymity if you fear retribution.
Other services have quickly identified deaths and suspected suicides. In 2022, Army leaders and a bipartisan group of lawmakers in Washington, D.C., began bringing attention to a string of at least 11 suicides from soldiers stationed in Alaska the year prior.
The lack of transparency on the deaths at Tinker is especially concerning to military advocates such as Teri Caserta. As the mother of the late Brandon Caserta, a 21-year-old sailor who died by suicide in 2018, she pushed for the federal creation of the Brandon Act, which aims to help address mental health crises in the ranks.
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/16/air-force-wont-disclose-causes-of-17-deaths-tinker-air-force-base-year.html