TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Imagine walking into a room buzzing with energy, where every corner offers a new opportunity to meet people, discover a shared hobby or join a club that aligns with your interests perfectly. For Airmen and their families at Tyndall Air Force Base, this is exactly what Tyndall Connects delivers— a lifeline to building relationships and finding community in an ever-changing military environment.
Every year, Tyndall Connects brings together a mix of clubs, organizations and groups from on base and the surrounding area where military members and civilians can come together to build relationships, share experiences and support one another, all aiming to cultivate a stronger and more united community.
“Tyndall Connects is a great way to get connected. It builds that sense of community and is a program to support suicide prevention efforts,” said Master Sgt. Kiernan Judd, 325th Fighter Wing inspector general inspector. “The primer measure and protective factor against suicide is that sense of connectedness or community, and just kind of finding your people. Those people that do what you like to do. That’s what Tyndall Connects is, it is facilitating those connections so that way we can mitigate things like depression, suicide, social isolation and anxiety.”
Tyndall Connects is open to not just new Airmen arriving on the installation, but it is open to all active-duty military members, reservists, guard members, civilian personnel and their dependents. The program plans to hold an annual event that aims to foster social interactions.
“This event is for Team Tyndall [and] everybody, as long as you have base access, we want you to come,” mentioned Shannon Scott, 325th Fighter Wing integrated resiliency office prevention coordinator.
The program seeks to strengthen both mental and emotional health of the Tyndall community by offering opportunities for camaraderie and support with organizations like Rising Four, 5/6, Top Three, sports clubs, video game club, heritage committee and diving club to name a few.
“In terms of goals, if we can help just one person connect with a group and kind of get that sense of community and camaraderie, then it’s a success,” stated Judd. “That is the sole goal for this year making the planning and setting up of this event worth it.”
Judd explained after last year’s event he received a lot of good feedback from clubs and organizations along with Airmen who attended. Some Airmen mentioned how great they thought it was and that they had never experienced an event such as Tyndall Connects.
If you missed Tyndall Connects this year and want to get information on the different clubs that attended the event you can reach out to the resilience office by email at 325FW.IPPW.IPPW@us.af.mil.