Air Force Captain Finds Resilience Through Endurance Running

Oct. 5, 2026 | By Air Force Staff Sgt. Cheyenne Lewis Roberts, Secretary of the Air Force Public Affairs |

Military service demands sustained physical and mental resilience. Air Force Capt. John Blasingame put that standard to the test in the Bigfoot 200, a 200-mile ultramarathon marked by steep elevation changes, unforgiving terrain and up to 107 hours of sleep deprivation.

As the Headquarters Air Force A2 Directorate for Intelligence Analysis, Partnerships and Engagement executive officer, Blasingame is no stranger to demanding operations. More than a distance event, the race tests endurance, judgment and recovery under prolonged stress; it profoundly evaluates how the human mind and body function when pushed past the threshold of complete exhaustion. 

His path to ultra-running was born out of personal crisis, not athletic ambition. In 2022, while stationed at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, he faced severe mental health struggles that led to hospitalization. 

"There were a lot of things in my life that I was trying to fix on my own power ... that I just couldn't fix," Blasingame recalled. "I decided I need to go back to the basics. I need to just try to find peace." 

Seeking that peace, he began waking up before dawn to listen to worship music and run on the Hickam track. 

What began as a coping outlet developed into a disciplined commitment to endurance running. In 2023, he completed his first marathon. By 2025, he ran 12 ultra-marathons in 12 months. In 2026, he won five races outright, set two course records and ranked in the top 100 nationally. 

Bigfoot was a steppingstone toward his ultimate objective of winning the Grand Slam of 200-Mile Ultra-Marathons, a feat few can achieve, even among the world's most resilient athletes.

For Blasingame, ultra-running is more than a physical challenge. The sport builds the physical endurance, mental discipline and resilience that support combat readiness. 

"A warrior, as I understand the concept, is just someone who is willing to be broken and is willing to engage with his or her own weakness," he said. "You don't get strength apart from weakness, and in the same way, I think ultra-running reveals that to me in a very tangible way. No one ever finishes without these really dark moments where you think, 'this sucks,' but you make the decision to take another step forward." 

But just as no solo operator wins on the battlefield, no ultra-runner conquers 200 miles alone. Behind the captain is his father, Don, his ultimate support system, who came to Hawaii during his darkest hours and continues to support him on the trail.

"Running became an expression of the healing, discipline and sense of purpose that were already developing in him," his father reflected. "Over time, running gave John another way to challenge himself and discover what he was capable of. As John's father, I'm incredibly proud of the runner he has become, but I'm much prouder of the man he continues to become. I've watched him grow in discipline, resilience, humility and faith." 

When the race commenced Aug. 14, Blasingame's discipline and his father's support were put to the test. The Cascade Mountains presented a relentless obstacle course of steep climbs, spotty satellite tracking and zero cell coverage — forcing Blasingame's crew to drive nearly 1,000 miles along winding mountain passes to meet him at remote aid stations. 

The physical and emotional toll was immediate. At his lowest points, huddled alone in the dark at mile 37, and again at miles 102 and 118, the mountain fog rolled in and Blasingame's competitive expectations began to slip away. He found himself lying devastated at aid stations, too exhausted to run. During those critical breaks, his support team stepped in to manage the physical toll, ensuring he rested and refueled before sending him back out onto the course. 

With his team by his side, his deep faith and his personal mantra, "stand up again," he was determined to drive forward and conquer the Bigfoot 200. Rather than fighting the clock, he used Scripture as a quiet anchor in the dirt, choosing to fight the simple battle of perseverance one step at a time.

Blasingame pushed through the final, grueling miles toward the finish line, completing the 206-mile course in just over 81 hours. While his athletic drive left him slightly disappointed with his overall competitive standing, the deeper victory was unmistakable. 

"The finish line wasn't a cinematic moment — it was a jumble of gratitude and raw, physical exhaustion," Blasingame said. "The lesson that this race reinforced is that strength isn't about being invincible; it's about what you do after your break. My hope is that when some of my airmen hit their own inevitable breaking points, they will look at my mess, see how I have found strength to stand back up and realize they can likewise find strength in their own brokenness."

Mental health, "To go or not to go"

by Airman 1st Class Christian Clausen
432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

7/13/2015 - CREECH AIR FORCE BASE, Nevada  -- The clinic buildings themselves aren't scary; add the words mental health and the image of being studied like a frozen caveman, and most people will avoid them like a tiger were on the loose. That's why the 432d Wing Human Performance Team was stood up--to alieve that stigma, provide help and make those who can help easily available.

In the minds of some service-members, there is a false image of the mental health clinic as a dark hole where clearances are lost and careers are ruined. This very connotation ran through the mind of Capt. David, 432nd Wing RPA pilot, as he prepared to make an appointment.

In the previous months David battled depression on a daily basis, his motivation slowly wilted away until he found it a struggle to even find the energy to enjoy playtime with his children.

"I love my kids with all my heart," he said. "It just got to a point where I was under so much stress and felt so depressed. I didn't want to do much of anything."

His troubles began while on deployment. As if being away from his family and missing birthdays and holidays weren't enough, he faced problems with his daily duties.

"While on deployment it felt as if I wasn't a part of the team and while I was doing great work, for some reason I had a negative reputation. On top of that I was having some marital issues," he said.

His frustrations seemed to follow him home, opportunities to make instructor pilot or flight commander passed him by and he saw junior officers with less experience fill these slots instead.

"I felt I was getting ignored for no reason," he said. "I tried my best, I did great work, but I was being bad-mouthed and I didn't know why."

Everything seemed to keep piling up, daily struggles of shift work, lack of sleep, and time away from family combined with a million other things led his mind to start to wander.

"I thought about committing suicide," he said, trembling with the memories. "I couldn't do that to my family. I also remembered hearing that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I knew deep down my feelings of despair would subside. For the time of despair, it really hurt."

He and his wife decided he needed to get help immediately. While David was still hesitant for fear of career repercussions, at the time, he decided that was the least of his worries.

"I finally had to accept that I was most likely going to lose my clearance and not be able to fly. At that point I knew I just needed help," he said.

David sought out the chaplain for guidance where he learned about the other services of the human performance team. The HPT is unique to Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, and is comprised of the chaplain corps, operational psychologist, operational physiologist, and flight medicine doctor and aims to help Airmen in the spiritual, psychological, physical, emotional, and intellectual areas of wellness.

The chaplain determined David needed psychological help and referred him to the operational psychologist. David met with him for weekly sessions but ultimately it wasn't enough.

"(The psychologist) recommended I go to the mental health clinic," he said. "I was still really nervous, I really didn't want to be put on DNIF (Duty Not to Include Flying) status."

After the nerve-wracking visit to the clinic, David was diagnosed with depression and his fear of being DNIF became a reality.

"When they put me on DNIF I was angry," he said. "I was angry at the chaplain, the psychologist, just everyone."

While he was no longer on flying status, David retained his clearance and was transferred from his flying squadron to the 432nd Operations Support Squadron as the chief of operational planning and exercises.

His frustration and uneasiness started to subside. His new assignment gave him the opportunity to support the operations rather than fly them.

"The change gave me a much needed break," he said. "Now I work a normal day shift with weekends and holidays off which let me spend some much needed quality time with my wife and kids."

Couple a new mission with his ongoing treatment and David began to notice a positive change.

"I felt refreshed, I have more self-confidence, self-esteem, and I'm more sociable and motivated at work," he said. "I even won company grade officer of the quarter for my squadron and I'm getting praise from my bosses. It's been a total change."

If not for the advice and counseling he received from the HPT, as well as, the support from his family, it's possible he wouldn't be here show that he wouldn't have seen this positive change in his career.

"I was very hesitant following the advice from the HPT to go to mental health," he said. "In the end they were right, and I'm very thankful to them and my family."

In light of his new success, David talks about the HPT and shares his experiences to help others who may be going through similar struggles.

"The HPT is a great tool for Creech and ultimately the entire Air Force," he said. "Having all of the members together in one team and each one having high level clearances means they can go into the squadrons and talk to Airmen about how they're doing. They're unique because we're unique."

Along with the HPT, David also wants Airmen to know even if they're on a medication they can apply for a waiver to get back to flying.

"I personally know a pilot who is on a depression medication and was able to get back to flying," he said.

David went on to say, "If anyone is going through hard times and needs help, don't hesitate because in most cases your career won't be affected and you will actually improve it."

David is now back on track both in his personal and professional life and currently has a waiver to get back on flying status in the works.

"I'm so thankful for everyone who has been there to help me and I'm really excited to get back to flying," he said."

Army Surgeon Shares PTSD Struggles to Help Others

By Lisa Daniel

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Sept. 27, 2012 – As the Army conducts a worldwide stand-down today to draw attention to preventing suicide within the force, those who have survived attempts to take their own lives may take notice. One is Dr. Tara Dixon.

Army leaders and military officials, overall, say there are multiple reasons why service members commit or attempt suicide. Some are combat-related, but at least half are not. Many involve personal problems with love, money and the law, some that simmered for years before they even entered the military. The problems are complicated by each person’s coping abilities, or resilience, and other factors, they say.

Dixon’s story is less complicated; it is the story of one soldier’s struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder that eventually left her feeling so hopeless that death seemed the only way out.

Dixon, 38, of Georgia, was in her medical residency to become a trauma surgeon when she enlisted in the Army Reserve in 2004 after hearing that the military needed surgeons in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. She deployed as a trauma and critical-care surgeon to Iraq with forward-deployed units in 2008 and 2010 -- “me and some guys in a tent,” she said as part of a Sept. 13 panel discussion at the annual Warrior-Family Symposium, sponsored by the Military Officers Association of America and the National Defense Industrial Association.

“We got bombed routinely,” she said. “This was not a Geneva Convention war. We had to take the big red cross off the top of our tent because that’s where [insurgents] aimed.”

Dixon described the stress of treating “the guy I had breakfast with that morning” for critical injuries, and of having to make split-second decisions about whether to amputate a limb or risk transporting a soldier hours away to a Baghdad hospital. Then there were the abused Iraqi children brought in as decoys for insurgent attacks on the unit and the female soldiers who needed treatment for sexual assaults -- crimes she was legally bound not to report at the victims’ request, she said.

Dixon said she coped with the stress through the only outlet she had: running, sometimes 80 miles each week.

Still, she said, “It messes with your mind a bit.” And even though she felt the strain of post-traumatic stress from her first deployment, she soon returned for a second one.

Dixon returned to the United States in the fall of 2010, but the war was still with her. Among the many problems, she said, was returning as a reservist to a city without a military base and no means of support. “I was very much an outcast, and I felt very much alone,” she said.

She described the frustration and embarrassment of post-traumatic stress, of dropping her bags and running to pick up patients at the sound of a helicopter, only to realize she was at her local grocery store.

“It was very embarrassing and frustrating to me that I was nervous in crowds, that helicopters bothered me,” she said. “When you get back to a normal place, somehow your body and your brain don’t shut off” from the survival instincts of war.

“If we didn’t hit the ground when we were in Iraq, if we didn’t duck when someone shoots at us, we would be dead,” she said.

Even when she was fully aware of being thousands of miles from the war, Dixon said, she couldn’t stop from reacting instinctively. “If someone drops the communion plate in church and you hit the ground, that one part of your brain knows you’re in church, but you’re still going to react,” she said.

Dixon said she sought counseling, but her problems seemed only to get worse. Six months after returning from Iraq, she tried to end her life with an overdose of pills.

“I felt lost,” she said. “I was without hope.”

After struggling to find an inpatient facility through TRICARE and the Department of Veterans Affairs, Dixon said her family found a private treatment center where she would spend the next nine months recovering from PTSD. “They gave me my life back,” she said. “They gave me hope back.”

Today, Dixon says she is much improved. She has learned to understand PTSD as “a normal reaction to an abnormal situation.” And she has learned important tactics in treating flashbacks, skills known as “dissociation” and “reorienting.”

“In treatment, they teach you to look around,” she said in an interview with American Forces Press Service from Ocala, Fla. “Here in Florida there are big, beautiful oak trees. There are no oak trees or anything lush in Iraq.” Similarly, she said, “If you hit the ground and you look around and see Starbucks, you know you’re not in Iraq.”

Dixon is processing out of the reserves, and is using some of her medical skills as a veterans service liaison for The Refuge -- A Healing Place, in Florida, where she works with veterans and their families and helps them find treatment. She gets lots of calls for help, she said, including Vietnam War veterans who still struggle with flashbacks and nightmares and even a World War II veteran whose post-traumatic stress surfaced more than 60 years after he left the battlefield.

“Sometimes it helps knowing others have been through the same thing,” she said.

Dixon said she hopes her work will prevent the 9/11 generation of war fighters to not repeat the hard times so many Vietnam War veterans have had with post-traumatic stress.

As for her own struggles, Dixon said, “I’d like to say it’s curable and it’s done and it’s fine,” but she said she doesn’t know when she might stop reacting to things like fireworks.

“I know it’s a lot better,” she said.

Dixon is proud of her work in combat. “I never lost a coalition force in two tours,” she said. But the PTSD has made her career as a surgeon uncertain.

“I really enjoyed what I did,” she said. “It’s something I was very good at. That part is sad to let go. We’ll just have to see how time progresses.”

Dr. Woodson Says Have The Courage to Intervene for Suicide Prevention

By Dr. Jonathan Woodson, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month.  The Military Health System has an important role to play in educating the military community and the civilian communities where we live on how to recognize the signs of suicide risk, where to access care and treatment, and how to intervene.

 I don't need to recite the statistics for you. All of you follow the news, and know that action is required to address the incidence of suicide among our Service members and Veterans. Both the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs are united in our approach and our outreach.  Earlier this summer  Secretaries Panetta and Shinseki joined our most senior military officers, our top enlisted leaders, and mental health experts for our annual DoD-VA Suicide Prevention Conference where the focus was on getting back to basics.

There are a few important points that have emerged from our research and our experts in the field.  First and foremost, there is no one-size-fits-all solution to eliminate suicide. This is a complex issue with many contributing causes. Yet, there are actions that we can and are taking to ensure everyone is more aware of what can be done.

Leaders, family members, friends and coworkers...the entire military community...MUST be engaged in identifying and helping those at risk.  Many suicidal acts are impulsive. When we can intervene to assist an individual in crisis, we can often prevent the suicide from occurring.

Step one is to get them help. We have made great strides in reducing the perceived stigma of seeking mental health care, but this is just the beginning.  Getting help is a sign of strength, not weakness. It takes more than the medical community to deliver this message, but I am very encouraged by the active engagement in this message from our line leaders, and - more importantly - from our senior enlisted leaders who have such a tremendous influence over our young men and women.

We also better understand how to build up our abilities to manage difficult life challenges, and bounce back from adversity. Each of the Services has introduced resilience training to provide leaders, individuals and family members with the skills to prepare for and manage personal and organizational stressors.

I'm proud too of the role that TRICARE has played in expanding access to critically needed services. Our networks serve an important role in supplementing our direct care system.  For our brothers and sisters in the National Guard and Reserves, who often live far from their units and military installations, this network is a lifeline. As a longtime member of the Army Reserve, I can personally attest to the importance of these services to men and women who live in every state in the nation.

The National Suicide Prevention Hotline (1-800-273-TALK), www.militaryonesource.com, and other resources are readily available.  We need to regularly communicate their value and easy accessibility to our friends and families in need and maybe even more importantly, to those close to someone who may be in need.

Bottom line: The key is recognizing others at risk and in crisis and not being afraid to step in.  Our job as military health care providers, paraprofessionals, and members of the DoD community at large is to have the courage to intervene.

So, we have messaged that there is no shame in seeking help, but how do you overcome the shame and anger you may be met with by taking someone by the hand and doing everything in your power to get them to help if they haven't asked for it?  You run the risk of being wrong and then what?  How can our medical community become a force multiplier in educating the larger community about where to find help for someone else and how do you coax a person on the edge to get help? These are the questions we must continue to address in order to save our comrades, our families, our neighbors, and fellow humans.

Suicide prevention will be a prolonged effort. Awareness and perseverance matter. We can do more, and we are doing more to strengthen our team. To be better prepared, check out our suicide prevention awareness information and resources at Health.mil.  Become the light of hope for someone by helping others learn where to go for help so as a larger DoD family, we can take care of each other!

US Surgeon General Announces National Strategy for Suicide Prevention

The U.S. Surgeon General, Vice Adm. Regina M. Benjamin and the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention have teamed up on a national strategy to guide suicide prevention efforts in the United States over the next ten years. The plan highlights four directions with various goals and objectives meant to prevent suicide.

The Surgeon General recognizes that suicide is a serious public health issue that causes deep pain for victims and for those left behind. The new strategy outlines four strategic directions aimed at prevention:

 ■Create supportive environments that promote healthy and empowered individuals, families and communities

 ■Enhance clinical and community preventive services

 ■Promote the availability of timely treatment and support services

 ■Improve suicide prevention surveillance collection, research and evaluation

The strategy seeks to change the way the way suicide is spoken about and to reduce stigmas associated with depression and other mental health issues. The partnership has released a public service announcement to highlight the role we can all play in preventing suicides.

If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, or know someone who is, call the National Veterans/Military Crisis Line at (800) 273-8255 (press 1).

Read more about suicide prevention awareness on health.mil.

Face of Defense: Soldier Intervenes to Help Troubled Friend

By Army Sgt. Megan Garcia

3rd U.S. Infantry Regiment

ARLINGTON, Va., Sept. 25, 2012 – The day Army Sgt. Sheldon Benjamin’s friend asked him if he wanted his TV, Sheldon knew that something just wasn’t right.

“He was real teary faced -- a way that I just wasn’t used to seeing him,” said Benjamin, an infantryman with Honor Guard Company, 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment (The Old Guard). “I told him to [unlatch] his door and that I would be over there in a little bit.”

When Sheldon arrived to his friend’s room, he was shocked at what he saw. Instantly, he knew his friend was in trouble.

“When I went into his room, there were weird things I just wasn’t used to seeing,” Benjamin said. “His room was really messy. There were little pills on the floor and the desk counter, and when I looked at his computer, I saw a MoneyGram website for transferring money.”

However, no warning sign was more apparent than when Benjamin heard these four words: “I’m done with this.”

Immediately, Benjamin staged an intervention, calling on other soldiers to come and sit with his friend while he went and sought help.

“I was relieved,” said Army Spc. Andre Whyne, an infantryman with 4th Battalion, Headquarters and Headquarters Company. “I was really stressed out. I had a lot on my mind at that time, like family and a little bit of financial issues, and it all just caved in on me. When Benjamin and the other guys responded the way they did, I knew someone actually cared about me and was there for me.”

Whyne gained hope after seeing how his comrades reacted to his distress. He credits the quick actions of Benjamin and his battle buddies, as well as the immense support of his unit, for saving his life. As he took steps toward his recovery, he said, members of The Old Guard were with him every step of the way.

“After everything happened, I was in the hospital for two weeks, and every day someone from my platoon came to visit me,” Whyne said. “It felt good to have people there who understood me and what I was going through.”

Whyne said Army Chaplain (Capt.) Mark Denning reached out to him not only as a source of spiritual strength, but also as a friend and a listening ear.

“At first I was very closed and didn’t want to talk about it, but we continued to have regular meetings, and sometimes he would take me out to lunch,” Whyne said. “Eventually, I was able to open up to him.”

Denning said relating to Whyne on a more personal level was key.

“For me, the difference I can make is to get to know someone for who they really are outside of just the Army,” the chaplain said. “I think everyone has worth, and being able to walk through that journey with Whyne was important. Caring about someone is not just what I say, but what I do.”

Whyne went back to work immediately following his release from the hospital, although he said his chain of command was willing to give him as much time as he needed.

“The biggest role that the unit has to play is leaders and other soldiers not only have to be aware and alert to a soldier who is suicidal, but also have to be willing to step up and take action,” said Army Col. Michelle Roberts, Military District of Washington public affairs officer, who worked for two years on an Army suicide-prevention task force.

“With the way everyone rallied around [Whyne] and helped him through that rough time, it was natural for him to come back to work, because he still felt like part of the team,” she added.

Thanks to tremendous support, Whyne said, his outlook on life has definitely changed.

“I really didn’t see where my life was going at that time, but now I know things aren’t as bad as I thought they were,” he said. “I once thought everyone was in their own world and nobody cared about each other, but now I know differently.”

Whyne said he hopes his story will inspire other soldiers to reach out to someone if they are in a desperate place.

“Talk to your closest buddy in the Army or someone in your squad or platoon,” he said. “They will help you through it. Without the help of my battle buddies, I never would have made it.”