The outgoing and incoming commanders of the Ogden Air Logistics Center pledged to do everything possible to stem a rash of suicides at Hill Air Force Base during a change of command ceremony on Thursday.
Brig. Gen. Andrew Busch assumed command of the center at a time in which the suicide rate among the base's civilian workers has seen an unabated rise, despite programs intended to curtail the problem. At least four employees are believed to have taken their own lives so far this year, following at least five suicides in 2008 -- including one instance in which an employee hung himself in an aircraft hangar at the base on New Year's Eve.
Base officials have said they are working hard on the issue, seeking to provide employees a broad support base and easy access to mental health services.
"It is our base policy and our commanders' policy to make the best working environment and take care of people the best we can," said base spokesman George Jozens. "Whether it's the outgoing commander of the new commander, we do the best we can for employees that work here on the base."
Some employees have complained that Hill's leaders talk a lot about the issue but haven't followed through. Several have contacted The Salt Lake Tribune recently to complain that the voicemail inbox at a hot line established to file complaints about work conditions often is full. The officer in charge of the base's Equal Opportunity Office said on Thursday he would look into the matter.
Another phone number, publicized as a place Hill employees could call for help in a recent Deseret News article, rang through on Thursday to a recorded message offering another "talk line" number "for exciting people nationwide."
Jerry Christensen, who has lost several Hill coworkers to suicide, said he is frustrated that the system still doesn't seem to be working to handle the concerns and complaints of base employees.
"You have to wait until you are damaged to file a complaint, you have to be hit by the train, or allow yourself to be hit by the train, or to stand by and watch your wingman get hit by the train," he said. "Then you can file your complaint."
He fears that fellow base workers "are as hot and discontented as I have ever seen."
The flag officer who inherits that charged atmosphere has served in the Air Force for 32 years -- including a prior stint at Hill from 1998 to 2000. Busch, who is awaiting confirmation of his promotion to major general, comes to Hill from Virginia, where he was the commander of the Defense Supply Center at Richmond.
Maj. Gen. Kathleen Close, whose tenure at Hill was marred by a spate of tribulations, including the wave of suicides and the wrongful shipment of ballistic missile components to Taiwan, leaves to become the director of Logistics and Sustainment at Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
She told The Tribune last month that the base had hired 13 "wellness advocates" to help troubled employees find assistance on or off base and was providing suicide prevention and communications training to all employees.
Busch is expected to continue those programs.
Tribune photographer Jim Urquhart contributed to this report.
