When Hill employees are feeling down, there's help

HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Tyler Adams can look you in the face and tell you that if it weren't for some caring co-workers, he wouldn't be here today.

And then he might look down at his soda bottle as that thought rings true for him.

Just over six months ago, Adams went through a heartbreaking divorce, and things got so bad that he contemplated suicide. Work on generators in the 526th Maintenance Squadron was slow, and he had too much time to think.

The self-described social butterfly began to clam up, didn't want to talk. He called in sick a lot. When asked, he told people he was fine and walked away.

"I hated that old me," he said. "I couldn't find Tyler. I was searching, but I couldn't find him."

About the time he was in the darkest of dark places — the time he didn't care who would be hurt if he killed himself — one of his co-workers suggested Adams talk to a wellness advocate on base. With nothing to lose, Adams made a phone call.

Things began to change after his first visit.

Wellness advocates are relatively new at Hill Air Force Base. They are a team of eight people who know how to listen and how to make people feel important.

And Adams could see that the wellness advocate he talked to wasn't just out to get a paycheck. He had already gone to counselors outside of the base. But this was different.

"They really do care about you," he said.

Adams called it a relief to unburden himself, and his outlook began to change.

"My job is worth me coming to work," he said. "I do make a difference. … They saved me, man."

One visit turned into many, and Adams doesn't hesitate to recommend the wellness advocates to his fellow airmen in the squadron. He knows he can't help everybody, but he doesn't want anyone to end up like he could have.

In that, he has an ally in Brig. Gen. John Cooper, who has had eight employees — one military and seven civilians — kill themselves since 2008. The rate is well above the suicide rate in Utah.

Since 2001, there have been seven military and 24 civilian suicides among employees of the 309th Maintenance Wing, where Cooper is the commander.

And Cooper wants to help, because suicide doesn't just destroy one life; it shakes families and rattles co-workers.

Cooper knows he has employees who have financial, relationship, medical, substance-abuse or emotional problems.