Population Impact of Wingman-Connect Implemented by the US Air Force

February 4, 2026 updated by: Peter A. Wyman, University of Rochester

This study involves collection of implementation data and analysis of USAF de-identified administrative data on base-level suicide attempt rates following US Air Force (USAF) delivery of Wingman-Connect training at 8 operational AF bases, as part of a force-wide scale out of the program. Implementation of Wingman-Connect by the USAF will occur over 51 months. The AF has agreed to stagger implementation based on a randomized stepped-wedge design. Once Wingman-Connect has been initiated at each base, all entering first-term Airmen will receive Wingman-Connect, with ~17,400 total Airmen receiving Wingman-Connect across all bases.

Implementation. The study will directly collect data from USAF prevention personnel who are involved in the delivery of the intervention to measure fidelity and measure implementation barriers and facilitators. These base-level data are essential to test Wingman-Connect impact on suicide attempt rates in a general USAF population, to study Wingman-Connect diffusion, and to refine implementation processes and tools.

Suicide Rates. Bases routinely provide their base-wide suicide attempt rates to the Air Force Medical Readiness Agency (AFMRA). AFMRA will provide these routinely-collected aggregate administrative data to this study in order to analyze changes in base-level suicide attempt rates (USAF administrative data) among the 8 bases.

Study Overview

Status

Enrolling by invitation

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

The US Air Force is putting into regular practice the Wingman-Connect Program in the context of First Term Airmen Courses (FTAC) across all 68 operational bases, beginning with 8 bases in two Major Commands (AFGSC, AMC). University of Rochester researchers will provide facilitator training and ongoing fidelity monitoring. Wingman-Connect uses a network health theoretical framework to strengthen two suicide-protective functions of social networks: 1) Strengthening positive social bonds, and 2) Building healthy norms that incentivize adaptive coping. Implementation of Wingman-Connect by the USAF will occur over 51 months. The AF has agreed to stagger implementation based on a randomized stepped-wedge design. Pairs of bases will begin implementation of the program in all FTAC at 3 months intervals and continue over a 51 month total period. Data collection will begin with the start of implementation at each base.

Implementation. The study will directly collect data from USAF prevention personnel who are involved in the delivery of the intervention to measure fidelity and measure implementation barriers and facilitators at each location. Prevention personnel will complete measures every 6 months. Due to turnover of personnel (training site administrators every 6 months) we anticipate 8-12 individual respondents per site across the study period, and 4-6 respondents at each site per data point, for a possible total of N=96 respondents. These participants are also expected to reflect the demographics of the USAF as a whole. Measures will include base climate, uptake of program, USAF implementers' fidelity delivering Wingman-Connect and engagement in training/technical support.

Suicide Rates. Bases routinely provide their base-wide suicide attempt rates to the Air Force Medical Readiness Agency (AFMRA). To test effectiveness of Wingman-Connect delivered by the USAF on these bases, the AFMRA will provide these routinely-collected aggregate administrative data to this study in order to analyze changes in base-level suicide attempt rates (USAF administrative data) among the 8 bases. AFMRA will provide suicide attempt and suicidal behavior data for Airmen of E1-E4 ranks (incoming first term Airmen) on each base every 6 months.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

17400

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • New York
      • Rochester, New York, United States, 14642
        • University of Rochester

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Data from bases in the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) & Air Mobility Command (AMC) MajComs.
  • 96 implementers (4-5 per base over at each data point, and 8-12 respondents per site across the study period)

Exclusion Criteria:

  • none

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Prevention
  • Allocation: N/A
  • Interventional Model: Sequential Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Wingman-Connect
Wingman-Connect (Wyman et al., 2020) uses a network health theoretical framework to strengthen two suicide-protective functions of social networks: 1) Strengthening positive social bonds, and 2) Building healthy norms that incentivize adaptive coping. Training will be delivered in First Term Airmen classes among all Airmen arriving at base during the study period.
Behavioral: Wingman-Connect
Training occurs in three 2-hr blocks over several days. Targeted Skills focus on protective factors (Four Cores) supportive of mental health, theoretically linked to reduced suicide risk, and essential to an Airmen's job success: (1) Healthy relationships and accountability spanning USAF and family/intimate relationships (Kinship); (2) Meaning and value in work and life (Purpose), (3) Informal and formal help-seeking (Guidance); and (4) Activities that give strength and balance emotions (Balance). Activities progress from individual to group skill-building activities. Kinship modules at operational base (FTAC) expand focus on growing and sustaining relationships with intimate partners, friends, and family; and Guidance more on senior mentors at work.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Total Number Base level suicide attempts among Ranks E1-4
Time Frame: 4 years
Suicide attempt data for the total population of junior Airmen on each base will be collected from the Air Force Medical Readiness Agency (AFMRA) through our study sponsor Office of Integrated Resilience (HAF/A1Z). Suicide attempt data is compiled using ICD-10 codes for patient encounters across multiple sources including records from direct-care within Air Force medical systems (CAPER, SIDR, M2).
4 years

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Rochester

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

August 13, 2024

Primary Completion (Estimated)

February 28, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

August 31, 2027

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

July 25, 2023

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

July 25, 2023

First Posted (Actual)

August 3, 2023

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

February 6, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 4, 2026

Last Verified

February 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • STUDY00008550

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

YES

IPD Plan Description

De-identified data on base-level suicide attempts will be made available at the NIMH Data Archive (NDA). Any coding used to manipulate data (create categories, scales) will be done in either SPSS or R and this code will also be provided via NDA or github.

IPD Sharing Time Frame

All data will be deposited to NDA starting 12 months after the award begins and will be deposited every six months thereafter following the usual NDA data submission dates.

IPD Sharing Access Criteria

To request access of the data, researchers will use the standard processes at NDA, and the NDA Data Access Committee will decide which requests to grant. The standard NDA data access process allows access for one year and is renewable.

IPD Sharing Supporting Information Type

  • STUDY_PROTOCOL
  • SAP

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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