A Maine man helped get the Defense Department to release detailed suicide data. He’s not satisfied.
He began to realize that the high demands of the job led to what he considered emotional abuse by his supervisors. And the worst part, he said, is that he eventually became an abuser, too.
“A culture of essentially ignoring people’s humanity and low emotional intelligence created a hostile and toxic work environment that wasn’t even recognized as such,” said McGhee, now a lawyer from Scarborough.
by Eric Russell
New DOD Suicide Report Falls Short in Key Areas
“Anecdotally we know [suicide rates are] really bad in certain career fields,” said retired Master Sgt. Chris McGhee in an in an April interview with Air & Space Forces Magazine. The report was supposed to prove that point. But after seeing the report, McGhee expressed disappointment. The report, he said, is “absolutely not in line with the explicit direction of the law as it was written.”
by David Roza
Clearing the Air On the Nellis Boonie Hat Controversy
McGhee argued that waivers to Air Force regulations are supposed to serve as a pathway for common sense solutions to specific problems.
“When people or organizations submit waivers that are common sense solutions, and those waivers are denied, it undermines the trust of those below the waiver authority that the authority either has the intelligence, empathy, or both that would make them a capable leader,” he said.
by David Roza
Pentagon Running Late to Release Suicide Data by Job Specialty
On March 12, about two months after the deadline passed, McGhee penned an open letter to members of the House and Senate Armed Services Committee urging them to pressure the Pentagon to release the data.
“You are vested with a sacred duty to execute oversight authority over the Department of Defense,” he wrote. “By not employing your full authority to expedite the release of this study, you become complicit in the ongoing delay.”
by David Roza
Lawmakers push Pentagon for overdue data on tanker suicide rates
Maine resident and retired Air Force Master Sgt. Chris McGhee, who suggested the suicide report to King, published an open letter Tuesday calling for members of Congress to use their “full [oversight] authority to expedite the release of this study.” McGhee told Army Times he was inspired to dig into specialty-specific suicide rates after a series of deaths among Air Force aircraft maintainers.
by Davis Winkie
Meet the lawyer who got disabled Maine vets a bigger vehicle tax break
While fairly technical, McGhee said the vehicle issue was nonetheless important to him and his peers, especially those struggling financially. Maine leads New England and is fourth nationally in having veterans make up 9 percent of its population, according to 2022 Census data.
McGhee, 45, said he wanted to ensure Maine’s veterans with the 100 percent disability rating “receive the recognition and support they deserve without unnecessary struggle.”
by Billy Kobin
I-Team: Disabled vets say Maine's rollout of tax break left them in the dark, out money
"It should not be the burden of the disabled veteran to compel the state to do what they said they would do," McGhee said.
by Marissa Bodnar