Time Based Prevention

Department of the Air Force Integrated Resilience

Chief Master Sgt. of the Space Force Roger A. Towberman - Lethal Means Safety

CMSSF Roger A. Towberman Lethal Means Safety

CMSAF Joanne Bass urges Airmen and Guardians to "Connect to Protect." Connection is a protective factor for Airmen and Guardians at risk of self-harm.

CMSAF Joanne Bass Connection

Encourages Service members and their families to practice safe storage of lethal means (such as firearms and medications)

Research indicates a quarter of suicides occur within the first five minutes of an individual’s decision to take his or her life. In the Air Force, personally-owned firearms are used in 70% of suicide attempts. So in many cases, just five minutes can mean the difference between life and death. That’s why during September – Suicide Prevention Awareness Month – the Air Force is introducing a new approach to suicide prevention called Time-Based Prevention – to focus on the “means” of suicide. Suicide attempts with a firearm are 90% lethal. Safely stored firearms, or firearms safely removed from the home and stored securely, require deliberate access actions to operate, creating a barrier and assisting in the prevention of suicide attempts using firearms. Time-based Prevention efforts are not intended to limit or prohibit the legal ownership or use of firearms for individuals. Airmen are encouraged to go “SLO” by storing firearms in proper storage safes, use cable locks when firearms are not in use and use local armories or ranges with storage options.

Time Based Suicide Prevention

Military Crisis Line

Employee Assistance