Military Needs Leaders to Address Suicide Issue

Mullen: Military Needs Leaders to Address Suicide Issue
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea, July 21, 2010 – Leadership and the effects it can have to help bring down the suicide rate were among the topics the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed with servicemembers here today.


Navy Adm. Mike Mullen spoke to 2nd Infantry Division soldiers about the stresses the Army is under after almost nine years of war. He took time from participating in high-level meetings in Seoul to meet with more than 200 soldiers and airmen.

Last month, 32 soldiers committed suicide – a figure not seen since the Vietnam War when the Army was twice as large.

Mullen said the suicide issue is not going to just magically disappear – it is a tragedy that leaders at all levels must address. “We can’t just keep reading the numbers every single month. They just keep going up,” he said.

Suicides in the military are increasing, the chairman said, because of the stress of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Military Needs Leaders to Address Suicide Issue