My condolences to the families/loved ones of those lost.
I was at Shaw for almost 4 years...the advent of political cowreckedness within the services has a lot to do with the shitty morale in the USAF. It's sucked any fun or levity out of what could be considered a stressful occupation. One misstep and one's career is over nowadays. I keep in touch with many current active duty folks and the contrasts between when I was in and now are stark.
The work/ops tempo at Shaw has always been very high. Lots of stress, pressure to get jets turned or fixed, weekend duty, quarterly exercises in all weather, etc., etc.
Little credence is given to the fact that practically every flight flown at Shaw is for training and the tempo should reflect that. But in reality, it doesn't.
MX supervisors keep their boots on the troops throats to keep their stats up in order to look good at staff meetings.
It also doesn't help that Shaw is a higher headquarters base, which causes additional "visibility" by the Commanders.
Sumter, the town near Shaw, is basically an armpit of a town...so the troops have very few options to unwind or decompress.
"Resiliency Days" are not going to fix the problem...there is and always will be a stigma attached to seeking counseling. People know that is about the fastest way to derail one's career.
Just my $0.02.
