Ft. Drum lowest suicide rate in Army

It’s tragic news when even one soldier takes her/his own life, as may have been the case in last week’s death of Private Tam Nguyen in the barracks at Fort Drum.

But according to the Journal of the American Psychiatric Association, Fort Drum has the lowest level of suicide rate of any Army base in the country. The article also has some fascinating insights that challenge common wisdom on what’s become one of the Army’s biggest problems:

Stress from repeated deployments has been suggested as one cause, but about one-third of the deaths have occurred among soldiers who had never deployed overseas.

The article also lists these efforts the Army is taking:

Prevention programs have included everything from wallet cards (“Ask, Care, Escort”) to an interactive DVD video to an Army-wide training day last March.

In my experience with the Army as a reporter, I’ve been surprised, and sometimes a bit shocked, at how often problems are attacked with pamphlets, forms to fill out, and that ubiquitous Army pedagogical technique, the Powerpoint presentation.

It seems obvious that preventing suicide will require a much more one-on-one approach.