Wingman Day promotes resiliency amongst Airmen

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Charles Dickens
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Resiliency plays a major part in the everyday lives of Airmen in the world's greatest Air Force as the ability to bounce back from less-than positive events and being able to remain afloat during challenging times are key.

Columbus Air Force Base held a base-wide Wingman Day Oct. 24 to help encourage resiliency and take time to slow down and recuperate from the frenzied pace of everyday life.

"The Airmen at Columbus AFB are extremely busy and our mission never stops," said Col. Jim Sears, 14th Flying Training Wing Commander. "Wingman Day is a chance to slow down and think about the personal, professional and social issues facing Airmen today and is time well spent."

The Wingman Day kicked off at 7 a.m. with a 5k run beginning at the base gym, entitled "Run for Recovery," designed to promote sexual assault awareness, domestic violence awareness and alcohol abuse awareness. There were several display tables with SARC, Family Advocacy and ADAPT information available for Airmen to learn more about the services offered on base. The first 50 runners of the 5k also received SARC t-shirts. Throughout the run there were posters for runners to read that described the long recovery process of a person struggling with the after-effects of sexual assault or domestic violence with two water stations manned by SARC Victim Advocates.

After the run there were two performances of the comedy act, entitled "Comedy is the Cure." The performer used comedy to discuss serious issues such as sexual assault, suicide and alcohol awareness, getting the audience to laugh while learning about different services available to them and the severity of these issues.

The event concluded with small-group unit discussions to promote fellowship and unity on the impact of alcohol on oneself and others. The group discussions also served to promote resiliency among Airmen in a smaller setting.

Overall, the Wingman Day event was meant to give Airmen a chance to slow down and rebuild their resiliency while gathering fellowship at a unit and wing level.

"It will make us better at producing pilots, advancing Airmen and feeding the fight in the long run," said Sears.