Air Force chaplain service officials kicked off a year-long and service-wide “Campaign of Hope” Jan.
3, said Chaplain (Col.) Bob Page, of the Air Force chaplain’s office. The campaign, which came as a
response to an increase in suicides among junior enlisted Airmen, started with a day of prayer and
fasting, Chaplain Page said. “We want to be a counterbalance to what some are experiencing as
hopelessness,” he pointed out. One method is sponsorship of “hope tours.” “This would be
chapel-sponsored, (United Service Organization-style) morale tours,” he explained. The office is also
initiating the Chief of Chaplains Grant Program, he added. “We are calling on wing chapel teams to
look at the needs on their base, particularly among (young Airmen) and ask where can (the teams) serve
them and bring hope into their lives. We will fund the best of those proposals and share their ideas
across the Air Force.”