The other thing is that we've heard this from the Marines before, just as we've heard this from the Army and the National Guards. The years of hoping they finally got it have resulted in a higher suicide rate. I'm beginning to wonder if they will ever get it for real almost as much as I wonder who is telling them what they should do because so far, it has not worked. It's done more harm than good and this is proven when the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides went up!
Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent, the top enlistee in the Marines, speaks last month at a town hall meeting at Camp Leatherneck in Afghanistan. (Sgt. Steven Williams / U.S. Marine Corps)
Marine Corps seeks to use buddy ethic to stem rise in suicides
52 Marines killed themselves last year, compared with 42 the previous year. The corps wants Marines to rescue other Marines from the edge, just as they would come to their aid in combat
By Tony Perry, Los Angeles Times
September 10, 2010
Reporting from Helmand province, Afghanistan — The young Marine had just gotten a Dear John letter from a woman he had described as "my everything." Days later, he killed himself while on guard duty here in Helmand province.
None of his buddies, even those who had known him since boot camp, had seen the signs of the man's downward emotional spiral.
The pain of his death was visible on their faces as Sgt. Maj. Carlton W. Kent, the senior enlisted man in the Marine Corps, delivered a message he has repeated at a dozen bases and outposts throughout this dangerous Afghan desert region: Marines are committing suicide in record numbers, and something has to be done about it.
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Marine Corps seeks to use buddy ethic
This is what the National Guards is talking about...
Army Maj. Gen. Carpenter: More needs to be done to prevent soldier suicides
by: Army Staff Sgt. Jim Greenhill National Guard Bureau Thursday, September 9th, 2010
More vigilant leadership, pre-screening recruits for compatibility with military service and better post-deployment follow up are among solutions proposed by the acting director of the Army National Guard for stemming soldier suicides.
Army Maj. Gen. Raymond W. Carpenter sounded the alarm about the Army’s current high suicide rate at a breakout session of the 132nd general conference of the National Guard Association of the United States on Aug. 21.
“We [could] be at 100 suicides by the end of this year,” said Carpenter, who periodically briefs Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, the Army’s vice chief of staff, on the Army Guard’s suicide rate and specific cases.
“We have an incredible amount of brainpower to put against this,” he said. “We can solve this.”
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More needs to be done to prevent soldier suicides
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