Gen. Peter Chiarelli at Fort Hood to address suicides, mental health in the ranks

Photo credit Chris Haug, III Corps PAO
Vice Chief of the Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli speaks to members of the media while visiting Fort Hood, Texas.

Vice Chief comes to Hood to address suicides, mental health in the ranks
Apr 01

By Heather Graham, III Corps PAO
FORT HOOD, Texas -- When Vice Chief of the Army Gen. Peter Chiarelli began an eight-day trip to seven Army installations across the country, his focus was on combating rising suicides in the ranks. After stops at the first few posts, the focus quickly broadened to include the overall mental health of Soldiers and their families.

Chiarelli and the suicide task force began visiting posts last week, looking at general trends in suicide and hoping to share best practices in prevention and treatment. The findings will be assembled in a plan that will be out soon.

What Chiarelli found is a stretched and tired force.

According to Department of Defense figures, 140 Soldiers killed themselves last year, an average of 20 Soldiers for every 100,000. This is the first time the Army has ever exceeded the Centers for Disease Control's most current statistic for the general population of 19 per 100,000, Chiarelli added.

This year has not started out well.

"We saw an alarming trend in the number of suicides during 2008, and the number - including those suspected, but not yet confirmed - for 2009 is still higher than average," Chiarelli said when he addressed the March 18, Central Texas and Fort Hood Chapter of the Association of the U.S. Army general membership meeting at the Killeen Civic and Convention Center.

Nearly eight years of combat on two fronts and multiple deployments have token a terrible toll on Soldiers and their families.
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Vice Chief comes to Hood to address suicides, mental health in the ranks/