WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. -- The U.S. Air Force has had programs to help Airmen and their spouses with mental health issues for some time, but not to help spouses spot those issues ahead of time; until now.
Spouses on Alert is a program focused on educating and empowering military spouses to see the signs of mental distress in their loved ones, knowing what resources are available, and maneuvering through the barriers to finding help.
The program was created a year ago at Whiteman AFB by Chelsea Ecklebe, former True North program manager and a military spouse herself. She used her own experiences to develop Spouses on Alert into what it is now.
“There were no in-person programs dedicated to educating spouses on mental health and that made me want to develop one of my own and fill that gap,” Ecklebe declared. “I think it’s really scary being a brand-new spouse, lots of them are young, never been away from home, and that’s how my story started, because It’s intimidating to know what resources are available.”
She didn’t develop the program on her own though.
With the help of Captain Oliver Bauer, 509th Bomb Wing Mental Health Element Chief, the strategies to spot signs that lead to mental distress were implemented into comprehensive classes for spouses.
“As mental health professionals, we understand that a service member’s well-being is intrinsically linked to the well-being of their family,” claimed Bauer. “By providing spouses with the support they need, we are directly supporting the readiness and effectiveness of our service members, creating a more supportive and resilient military community.”
These classes created a space for spouses to share their stories and build connections between each other to develop a strong support system. This support is intended to combat suicide rates in the military. In 2023, 523 service members died by suicide according to a 2023 annual report on suicide in the military; 44.4% of them were married.
“The goal is that I give them the knowledge to help either their spouse or another spouse to overcome a mental health struggle”, Ecklebe said. “If that class helps a spouse use that power to help somebody else, that would be extremely rewarding.”
The goal isn't to just stop with Whiteman.
Ecklebe and Bauer hope for this program to spread across every military branch at a Department of Defense level. They believe strongly in this program and that drives them to spread it to more people at other installations.
They believe Spouses on Alert could be highly successful if it ever reaches the DoD level and becomes bigger.
“As someone who saw how much of a struggle it was for my military spouse to get help for his mental health, I don't want anyone else to ever go through that”, said Ecklebe. “So if we fill that gap by educating spouses, it could be extremely impactful.”
Spouses on Alert could be a key to keeping warfighters from all branches mission ready and help their families take on whatever military life may throw at them.