A look back at military suicide reports from last year

Still trying to finish The Warrior SAW, Suicides After War and what I am seeing cannot wait until the book is finished.

I was reviewing some of the articles on military suicides in Wounded Times achieves and I am deeply troubled because it is all being repeated again. The same claims made last year are being made all over again and just as last year stared out, we're seeing numbers to horrible to ignore.

By January 19, 2012 when the military suicide numbers showed a decline, “for the first time in four years” General Peter Chiarelli said “I think we’ve at least arrested this problem and hopefully will start to push it down.” Then he cited an increase in hospitalizations for soldiers who talked about suicide, adding “For all practical purposes,,, it has leveled off.” (Army suicide rates declined in 2011, Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, January 19, 2012)

In February that report was followed by these.

Army Releases January Suicide Data
February 22, 2012

The Army released suicide data today for the month of January. During January, among active-duty soldiers, there were 16 potential suicides: 5 have been confirmed as suicide and 11 remain under investigation.

For December, the Army reported 11 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, 8 have been confirmed as a suicide and 3 remain under investigation.

During January, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were 6 potential suicides (5 Army National Guard and 1 Army Reserve): none have been confirmed as suicide and 6 remain under investigation.

For December, among that same group, the Army reported five potential suicides. Since the release of that report, one case has been added for a total of six cases (four Army National Guard and two Army Reserve). Six were confirmed as suicides and none remain under investigation.(Army Times)

As of late January, the Air Force has recorded 15 suicides — including active duty, National Guard, Reserve and civilians — up five from the same period last year. The increase in the beginning of the year led Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James Roy to issue a memorandum to major commands requiring that all units schedule a one-day standdown to “refocus on resiliency.”

“Our Airmen are too important to lose in this manner, and the costs to individuals, families, friends, co-workers, and our mission are beyond measure,” the Jan. 12 memorandum states.

Suicides through Jan. 26 total almost half of the 29 active-duty suicides in 2011. No January in the past eight years has had more than 10 airmen commit suicide.

In 2011, the Air Force confirmed 29 active-duty suicides, along with 27 in the National Guard and Reserve. An additional 13 active-duty cases were still pending confirmation.

Even while bases around the world were holding their resiliency days, two more airmen were suspected of committing suicide, including a 21-year-old airman first class at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo., on Jan. 18 and a 43-year-old chief master sergeant on Jan. 21 at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D.
(Rise in suicides leads to 1-day standdown Air Force Times, Brian Everstine January 30, 2012)

In Daytona Beach Jason Pemberton killed his wife and them himself. Friends and relatives said the three-tour Iraq veteran had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He was 28. (Daytona murder-suicide brings light to PTSD struggles, Daytona Beach News Journal, Lyda Longa, February 7, 2012)

In February of 2012 the report from Fort Bragg came out that 6 soldiers there had committed suicide in 6 weeks and there were 25 cases of spousal abuse at the installation in just 30 days.
(North Carolina Town Plagued by Crimes by War Veterans, Fayetteville Observer, David Wallechinsky and Noel Brinkehoff February 8, 2012)

Statistics on Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, obtained in 2011 through a Freedom of Information Act request by a San Francisco newspaper, found that more than 2,200 soldiers died within two years of leaving the service, and about half had been undergoing treatment for post-traumatic stress or other combat-induced mental disorders at the time.
(US military suicides high even as wars wind down The military has finally admitted to the problem, but hasn't been able to curb the deaths, Global Post, Michael Moran February 10, 2012 )

A 27-year-old Marine sergeant from New River Air Station completes two deployments in Iraq and re-enlists, then takes his own life with a handgun, leaving behind a wife and two children. A 19-year-old Camp Lejeune artilleryman with a fiancée hangs himself. A 21-year-old sergeant with three years of service and a single tour in Afghanistan dies of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

These are three of the seven local troops who died by their own hand in 2011, five of them within Onslow County or aboard Camp Lejeune.

A month-and-a-half into 2012, Camp Lejeune has lost two of its active-duty Marines to suicide. Spread across a base of more than 50,000 troops, the numbers are small making it difficult to determine if preventative measures are working, or even where to focus assistance, said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Andrew Martin, suicide prevention manager for Marine and Family Programs.
(Camp Lejeune continues battle against troop suicide HOPE HODGE - DAILY NEWS STAFF February 19, 2012)

The Army released suicide data today for the month of January. During January, among active-duty soldiers, there were 16 potential suicides: five have been confirmed as suicide and 11 remain under investigation.

For December, the Army reported 11 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers. Since the release of that report, eight have been confirmed as a suicide and three remain under investigation.

During January, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were six potential suicides (five Army National Guard and one Army Reserve): none have been confirmed as suicide and six remain under investigation.
(ABC News 23 Kero-Bakersfield February 22, 2012)

We also have this about our veterans and the VA.

VA knows when a veteran in its care commits suicide, but only 6 million of the nation’s 22 million veterans are enrolled in VA health services.

This came out in March about Marines

Eight active-duty U.S. Marines have taken their lives this year, signaling that widespread efforts aimed at reducing troop suicides in the service may not be working.

The latest Marine and Family Programs Suicide Prevention Program office report shows that four Marines killed themselves in February and an additional 15 attempted suicide.

That follows 12 attempts and four suicides reported in January, according to the report.
(Four Marine suicides in February raise year's total to eight, Mark Walker, North County Times March 6, 2012)

Now you have a better idea of what has been going on here and why I keep saying the DOD refuses to change. They refuse to stop using what does not work. They refuse to give up on Resilience Training and stop telling these men and women they can "train their brains" to be mentally tough.

February 10, 2013

Total military suicides for 2012 is closer to 500
This has been gnawing at me since last week when I posted how Military Suicide reports do not add up. I went to the DOD website to see if there were any corrections released. I just found the Army report with these numbers.

Army Releases December 2012 and Calendar Year 2012 Suicide Information
The Army released suicide data today for the month of December and calendar year 2012. During December, among active-duty soldiers, there were 7 potential suicides: 3 have been confirmed as suicides and four remain under investigation. For November, the Army reported 12 potential suicides among active-duty soldiers: four have been confirmed as suicides and 8 remain under investigation. For 2012, there have been 182 potential active-duty suicides: 130 have been confirmed as suicides and 52 remain under investigation. Active-duty suicide number for 2011: 165 confirmed as suicides and no cases under investigation.

During December, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were 15 potential suicides (10 Army National Guard and five Army Reserve): four have been confirmed as suicides and 11 remain under investigation. For November, among that same group, the Army reported 15 potential suicides (12 Army National Guard and three Army Reserve): 10 have been confirmed as suicides and five remain under investigation.

For 2012, there have been 143 potential not on active-duty suicides (96 Army National Guard and 47 Army Reserve): 117 have been confirmed as suicides and 26 remain under investigation. Not on active-duty suicide numbers for 2011: 118 (82 Army National Guard and 36 Army Reserve) confirmed as suicides and no cases under investigation.

182 for the Year 2012 Army
143 for Year 2012 Army National Guard and Reservists
335 Total Army but the article did not include the Guards and Reservists in the total.
That was from the Department of Defense for the Army, National Guards and Reservists.
This is from Marine Corps Times article Chiarelli: Suicide a nationwide problem

It listed
182 Army Active Duty
48 Marines
59 Air Force
60 Navy

In 2012, the Army had 182 active-duty suicides, the Marine Corps, 48; the Air Force, 59 and the Navy, 60, according to the services.

Adding in the Army National Guards and Army Reservists the total is 492.

The truth is, we will never know how many for sure. Sometimes the cause of death is ruled accident when it was suicide and the other way around. What should concern us more than anything else is these numbers continue to go up but nothing in the way the military treats it has changed anymore than they way they treat PTSD.

The rate for veteran suicides actually increases with age. One more thing to be concerned with as this generation ages.