The DoD’s Ticking Time Bomb: Mass Firings Threaten to Spark a Suicide Crisis and What We Can Do Before It’s Too Late!
Ezra Child
?? Defense Analyst Nerd ?? Mission Assurance Fanboy ?? Research Geek ?? Logistics Wonk ?? Grumpy Veteran ?? Loving Father ?? Proud American ??
“The DoD’s Ticking Time Bomb:
Mass Firings Threaten to Spark a Suicide Crisis
and What We Can Do Before It’s Too Late!”
?02 DEC 2021
As the DOD moves toward compliance with President Biden’s vaccine mandate, attention needs to be brought to how this single event, is likely to create a compounding effect of existing and emerging risks to our people and our mission.?Although some US military bases have been the focus of anti-vaccine mandate protests, no attention is being paid to the dramatic shift in the risk of employee suicides and workplace violence.???
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JOB LOSS AND SUICIDE
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It can’t be emphasized enough that losing a job can be an absolutely traumatic experience.?Careers are often tied to our sense of identity and self-esteem.?The ability to support yourself and your family is at the core of what we consider “Being an adult” and often it is what our society considers a requirement to “Be a Man”.?It should come as no surprise that “Loss of job” continues to be of the top events that precede a suicide .?Losing a job also often precedes divorce, financial problems, and substance abuse as well.?All of these individually are leading indicators of suicide risk.?Job loss can be part of a cascading chain of life events, each one being a common contributor to suicide. Truly a person being fired from their job is a test of anyone’s resiliency.?However, being fired and being a veteran makes resiliency even a greater challenge.
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VETERANS AND SUICIDE
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The DoD is the uncontested champion of employing veterans.?The DoD civilian workforce consists of more than 730,000 personnel, of which approximately 47% are military veterans .?This is good news if you are a vet and were looking for a job.?Unfortunately being a veteran also means you belong to a group that is at a significantly higher risk to suicide compared to the average American.?PTSD, mental illness, and substance abuse are typical problems facing our vets, each of which is a leading indicator of suicide risk.
Nearly half of the DoD civilian workforce also consists of people who are at a significantly higher risk for suicide than your average American.?This means that DOD should consider the mass termination of unvaccinated civilian employees as a serious and currently unmitigated risk to our mission and force protection.
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RISK OVERVIEW: Please consider the following scenarios, which individually will significantly increase the risk of teammate suicide and combined are highly likely to exponentially increase this risk.
HOLIDAYS AND SUICIDE
o??No Significant Increase in Risk of Suicide (than other seasons)
o??May Still be Catalyst to Aggravate Existing Problems (Job Loss, Marriage, Mental Health, Financial, Substance Abuse)
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SUICIDE CONTAGION AND MASS SHOOTER CONTAGION
A single Event does NOT “Release Pressure”, rather it Increases the Risk of Additional Events
o??DOD should consider Suicide or Workplace Violence event as a “Starter Pistol” for similar events
PROFILE OF HIGH SUICIDE RISK
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ADDITIONAL RISK AND SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS
o??Many Veterans Have Base Access Beyond DOD Sponsored CAC
o??Unvaccinated Teammates may have Knowledge of Vulnerabilities, Critical Assets
o??Unvaccinated Teammates likely have Knowledge of Security Procedures
o??Unvaccinated Teammates are also Impacted by Pandemic Anxiety
o??Need to Reduce Threats without Simultaneously Inspiring Them
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领英推荐
RISK MITIGATION RECOMMENDATIONS: It is critical that the DOD shifts fire to activities that lower the risk of suicide and workplace violence, by focusing our efforts on lowering the individual high-risk factors.?If left unchecked, these risks will compound and will continue to grow.?Through the use of temporary mitigation measures (Until unvaccinated Teammates successfully transition out of our workforce) we can keep risks in check until the bulk of the threat has passed.
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LAUNCH A CAMPAIGN OF COMPASSION
o??Magnify Commander’s Message of Compassion
o??“DOD Cares”
- President Biden’s Executive Order (Already a Perceived Source of Blame for the Unvaccinated)
- “DOD Leadership Cares”, “Our Hand is Being Forced”, “We Don’t Want to Lose Anyone”, “You are Always Family”
o??Proactive Messaging Targeting the Lowest Levels
o??Get DOD Leadership Off of the Unvaccinated’ “List of People I am Angry With”
- No Test Kit Distribution, Training Events or Meetings
o??Encourage Liberal Use of Holding Discipline in Abeyance
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SURGE WINGMAN ADVOCATE ACTIVITIES
o??Launch High Visibility Awareness Campaigns
o??Special Mental Health Events (Similar to traveling wellness events for blood pressure)
o??Focus on Resiliency for Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Divorce
o??Create a Temporary Augmented Wingman Advocate Force
- Volunteer and Contracted
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LEVERAGE 5-DAY MANDATORY VACCINE TRAINING FOR UNVACCINATED (Current Element in Unvaccinated Progressive Discipline)
o??Imperative that Perception of Training is Changed
o??Identify What Training Event Success Looks Like:
o??Identify What Training Event Failure Looks Like:
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STAND-UP TRANSITION TASK FORCE
o??Leverage 5 Day Training: Prepare Teammates to Transition into Workforce
o??Promote Current Positive Job Outlook and Surplus of Hiring Opportunities
o??Reinforce “DOD Cares”
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PHYSICAL SECURITY AND OPSEC RECOMMENDATIONS: Please consider implementing the following solutions to reduce opportunities for DOD Leadership to be accurately targeted or to be readily accessed by a Bad Actor.?These recommendations are not listed in order of priority, but rather in an order of what may be accomplished immediately and in the near-future.
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Immediately Actionable Items
Near-Future Actionable Items