OMG! Will the Army ever get it right?

I was very hopeful when I started to read this article, but then I got down to where a Chaplain, of all people, discussed that new soldiers needed to build "resiliency" and I screamed "Oh My God! " because they still don't get it. They still don't understand it and worse, they won't even open their eyes to see what is right in front of their face!

A recent Army study shows that 60 percent of suicides are carried out by first-time deployers.

Who did this "recent study" and why didn't they include all the veterans that committed suicide after multiple deployments? There is the key right there. They didn't because when they come home, they are no longer part of the military. Easy to skew numbers when they omit so many from their figures. You've read a lot of their stories right here over the last couple of years.

Apparently Col. Stice and the rest of the Army has been kept out of the loop when it comes to what is real and what they really think.

The Army will begin suicide prevention chain-teaching March 15 through June 15. The new briefing includes an interactive video, suicide prevention tip card and an "ACE" of hearts guideline on how to help a buddy who might be considering suicide. Photo credit J.D. Leipold

Army Takes New Approach to Suicide Prevention
June 2009
By Sgt. Lindsey Bradford, Multi-National Corps-Iraq Public Affairs Office




BAGHDAD, Iraq (Army News Service) - As the number of Soldiers committing suicide continues to rise, the Army's suicide prevention campaign shifts its focus to junior leaders in an effort to arm them with the tools they need to help their Soldiers before a problem reaches a tragic end.

A recent Army study shows that 60 percent of suicides are carried out by first-time deployers. That percentage may be hard to believe as news agencies continue to report on how the Army is stretched thin and Soldiers are on their second, third or fourth tours here.
"Soldiers who have deployed before have been able to build resiliency, and they are able to adapt to situations because they have been placed in similar ones before," said Chaplain (Col.) Kenneth Stice, Multi-National Corps-Iraq command chaplain. "First time deployers need to build that same resiliency, and that is hard to do."

The MNC-I Suicide Prevention Action Plan, December 2008, puts chaplains in theater at the forefront of unit-level suicide prevention training. Stice and his religious support team are ready to take the lead, providing an outlet for Soldiers to come to if they need help, as well as provide additional suicide prevention training to units.

The first step is to educate Soldiers on suicide prevention in three phases.

Phase I is the Army's "Stand Down" video, and is usually shown at a Soldier's home station prior to deploying.

Phase II, which is currently being conducted in theater, is the "Shoulder-to-Shoulder: No Soldier Stands Alone" video, followed by a discussion where Soldiers are able to share their personal experiences, discuss the causes of suicide and ways they can help their fellow Soldiers.

"The video is very transparent, very candid and the goal of it is to reduce the stigma of seeking help, because the cost of suicide hurts families and units alike," Stice said.

Phase III is annual training that reiterates lessons from the previous two phases.

go here for more
http://www.army.com/news/item/5334

Putting Chaplains in theater is a good idea as long as they are there for the soldiers to talk to and not there to proselytize. A Chaplain can be able to get them to open up and should be trained to spot the signs of a soldier in need of psychological help. The concern for me right here is that after Col. Stice said new soldiers were more at risk, are they assuming this is true, focusing on the new soldiers at the expense of soldiers on multiple tours? Is this part of the problem we've been seeing when they become veterans and commit suicide? Considering PTSD is best treated early, what kind of a difference would this have made if they were treated before discharge adequately.

The Army still does not get it. They are a lot closer to where they need to be but they are far from really helping the soldiers and preventing them from taking their own lives. If what they've been doing had been right, the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides would have gone down, not historically high. I'll try to check out these videos and will post about them after I see them.