Army says suicides down but crimes up?

There are less deployed this year than last year.

From CNN
June 22nd, 2011
On Tuesday, an Obama administration official told CNN that Obama will announce that 30,000 U.S. "surge" forces will be fully withdrawn from Afghanistan by the end of 2012. Members of Congress are being informed that 10,000 troops will be withdrawn by the end of this year, followed by another 20,000 next year, a congressional source said.

Then we know the troops have been withdrawn from Iraq, well, most of them. I want to be hopeful on this but when the DOD would rather report crimes up and not point out that there are less deployed this year, it is another terrible comment on the men and women serving today.

When the Marines release their suicide data, it will be the same case. Numbers down but numbers of deployed down as well. Then there is the factor of attempted suicides and soldiers going into the hospital for wanting to die.

When we read about any of these numbers, we need to keep in mind that if they are discharged but are not in the VA system, no one is counting any of them.

Army Releases December and Calendar Year 2011 Suicide Data

POSTED: 1:57 pm PST January 19, 2012

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- The Army released suicide data Thursday for the month of December and calendar year (CY) 2011.

During December, among active-duty soldiers, there were 11 potential suicides: two have been confirmed as suicide, and nine remain under investigation.

For November, the Army reported seven potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, five have been confirmed as a suicide, and two remain under investigation.

For CY 2011 there were 164 potential active-duty suicides of which 140 have been confirmed as suicides, and 24 remain under investigation.

During December, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were five potential suicides (four Army National Guard and one Army Reserve): three have been confirmed as suicide and two remain under investigation.

For November, among that same group, there were eight potential suicides. Since the release of that report, three cases have been added for a total of 11 cases (11 Army National Guard and no Army Reserve).
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Army suicide rates declined in 2011
By Gregg Zoroya - USA Today
Posted : Thursday Jan 19, 2012 14:01:07 EST
Army suicide rates declined for the first time in four years in 2011, the result of a complex effort to identify soldiers engaged in risky or self-destructive behavior, according to the outgoing vice chief of staff, Gen. Peter Chiarelli.

“I think we’ve at least arrested this problem and hopefully will start to push it down,” Chiarelli said Thursday,

citing additional numbers showing an increase in hospitalizations for soldiers who talk of suicide.

“For all practical purposes ... it has leveled off.”

But he said there also remain second- and third-order effects from a decade of war and multiple deployments, including a sharp rise in sexual assaults and child and domestic abuse in the Army.

“We see these problems, we see where we’ve had successes. And we’re attacking those areas where we’ve got problems,” Chiarelli said. “After 10 years of war ... we had problems that no one could have forecast.”

Suicides among active duty soldiers and those in the National Guard and Reserve who are not on active duty fell by 9 percent last year from 305 deaths in 2010 to 278 in 2011.
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