The Army’s suicide epidemic continues to grow
Today the Army released a new report on violence, drug abuse, and suicide in its ranks, a “hard-hitting and transparent” document, according to the man who commissioned it, Vice Chief of Staff General Peter Chiarelli.
The findings couldn’t be more grim:
- 239 active duty and reserve soldiers committed suicide last year.
- 1,713 attempted to kill themselves.
- 146 active duty soldiers died last year from “high risk behavior”, including 74 from drug overdoses.
- Last month alone, there were 32 potential suicides among active duty and reserve soldiers. Some are still being investigated.
Perhaps even more troubling is the Army seems ill-prepared to deal with the epidemic. From NPR’s reporting:
According to NPR’s Rachel Martin, “Defense officials say commanders on the ground don’t have the training to make suicide prevention a priority — or to recognize the signs of a soldier on the brink.”
Chiarelli promises “a holistic, multidisciplinary approach to address this risk.”
Yet the suicide problem – widely considered the by-product of repeat deployments to nightmarish war zones – has been around for years now.
And the stigma within the Army on seeking help for mental health issues has been around practically as long as the institution itself. In fact, one military families advocate, Kristy Kaufmann, says it runs so deeply in Army culture, spouses buy in, too:
“We’ve been remarkably silent so far — in a sense, we have the same stiff-upper-lip culture as the guys. You know, ‘Put on your big girl panties and deal with it,'” she says. “But the family-member numbers are high enough that we need to make this a part of the national dialogue about military suicides. We can’t ignore it any longer.”
No one’s doubting Chiarelli’s best efforts – or those of any of the Army’s leaders. It goes without saying commanders don’t want their troops taking their own lives.
But how long does it take to change an entire military culture? Is it possible? How long can we afford to wait?
And at one point do we as Americans say, “this is what being the policeman of the world looks like, fighting wars on two fronts for the better part of a decade, ‘rooting out the terrorists where they live’. And we don’t like what we see.”
More evidence of the costs of these ongoing wars. It seems it’s everywhere but still no real debate about ending them. We just keep walking toward the cliff. We can try all we like to treat the symptoms but none of this will change until we address the disease itself. And that means real debate about the insanity of our perpetual wars. Don’t look to Washington, however, as any questioning of our war machine and its apparatus is unthinkable. After all those who supposedly represent us are a part of that apparatus as well.
Let’s look back more than a couple(2 years) and see. And imagine what the conversation might have been.
Dick: Hmm we have a recruiting problem George.
George: How about a draft?
Dick: No way the country won’t stand for it.
George: Well, what if we make the economy suck just enough that kids won’t have much choice except entering the military.
Dick:Yeah, that should do it.
George: Hear those black helicopters?
First, there is something wrong with that first link to the report.
I wanted to look because I wanted to see if there are comparisons with years before the current wars.
I would also like to see comparisons to the same age groups not in the military because I do know suicides and drug abuse are not limited to the military.
As an aside note: When I was in Navy boot camp (before anyone knew there was a place called Viet Nam) one recruit tried to kill himself by tying sheets together, tying one end around his neck and the other end to the railing of a fire escape on the second floor of his barracks. He jumped and broke both legs because the sheets were too long.
I don’t mean to make light of a real problem (especially among the young or very old), although being kids, we thought it was funny at the time.
I only mean to point out this is not something new and you don’t need a war for it to happen.
Instituting a draft might be the one way to end our escapade in the Middle East. I believe Barney Frank raised this issue prior to the election in 2008. He point blank stated that America wouldn’t stand for it and it would force the populace to question the purpose of our continued insistence that would could “win” these wars. Truth is there’s no “winning” to be had. We can’t build a democracy in either region (Iraq or Afghanistan) and we can’t occupy them indefinitely.
Gee Bob, I’ll bet that conversation really took place, and there was one to follow it-
George- “Look Barry, I want control and I want it now. So keep doing what they did and don’t change anything. We’ll drive these capitalist idiots into the proper socialist economy I want in a few years.”
Barry- “Yes sir Mr. Soros, whatever you say sir.”
So Soros, a self made Billionaire via capitalism, wants socialism to replace the system that made him rich? Just so I’m clear what you’re suggesting Bret.
Hey, no problem with continued re-deployments. People are fungible.
This I know,
‘Cause Rummy told me so.
Rummy is long gone.
The reality is the military needs to invest in better services for the veterans who have seen combat.
Suicide, depresssion, PTSD, domestic violence, substance abuse, these are another cost of war one of the many that we never calculated or cared about.
Hopefully the current Comander in Chief of the military will stand by his promises to leave these wars.
“Hopefully the current Comander in Chief of the military will stand by his promises to leave these wars.”
I hope you’re right, Mervel, but I’m beginning to have my doubts. On top of that, the inertia of this insanity seems to be too much to overcome. I fear we’ll collapse as a nation before we leave either theater. A pessimistic attitude I know, but nothing coming out of Washington seems to indicate otherwise. And given we’ve built huge bases in both regions, it would seem the plan at the Pentagon and the State Dept. is to be there indefinitely.
Wouldn’t it be great if we had a system of national health care? If so maybe some of these men and women might have gotten care they needed without the worry that military doctors would turn report them as being unfit.
You hit on the head, knucklehead. It is a shame that we can’t get more people to realize that.
Okay now think about what you said, the VA is the BIGGEST government health care system to date, how is that working out for these guys? Government is government what we need is to give them the ability and funding to go to private providers away from any government system and /or the military itself to fund decent treatment options that are of high quality for all Vets. But you don’t honestly think that the military and the government itself is NOT going to monitor what health care is being provided to who do you?
Government health care will mean much much less privacy for anyone using that system it will mean the government and the military will actually have more access to your health care records.