Solution for an Army epidemic at Fort Gordon

Solution for an Army epidemic Feedback...
Why is it important to give to Combined Federal Campaign?
Staff Sgt. E. Douglas Blair III
Special to The Signal
By Bonnie Heater Feedback...


When I started studying journalism in college I asked my professor what was in a great journalistic piece. He said that the trick was to take a subject and try to answer the questions that the normal person might have by the end of the article. This is no easy task with a subject like suicides in the Army and how to prevent them. The suicide rate has become an epidemic and if that word isn’t scary enough, then numbers like one Soldier every three days commits suicide should mortify you. In fact, according to the Department of Defense, the rate of suicides has increased from a record high of 128 in 2008 to a whopping 147 reported suicides in 2009 and over 170 this fiscal year. Nearly everyone has been touched in some form or fashion by suicide. Soldiers, like myself, are required to attend a class every six months or so and told how to deal with a fellow Soldier that is feeling depressed. Ask, Care and Escort have been the mantra of recent years and each Soldier is required to have an ACE card with them at all times. But what do we ask and how do we care and what if there is no one readily available to deal with a Soldier, friend, loved one, co-worker, etc. that has real feelings of suicide? The ACE card is like putting a bandage on a sucking chest wound (by the way, all chest wounds suck).

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Solution for an Army epidemic