Marine Corps seeks to use buddy ethic to stem rise in suicides

A recent news story told how having a "buddy" does work when a soldier pulled the bullets out of his buddy's rifle fearing he would try to kill himself. The soldier did in fact pick up the rifle and tried to kill himself but nothing happened. He's alive today because his buddy was watching out for him the same way they do during combat operations and the enemy is trying to kill them. This is an enemy but it acts like a sniper striking when no one can see it when it starts but sooner or later, they can see the results of this attack. They see it in the changes that someone they know goes through, like a scream for help. If they know what they are seeing with their own eyes, lives can be saved but too many still don't have a clue.

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