Headline on military suicides misleading

This headline on military suicides misleading for several reasons. The first is that there are less in the Army than there were in 2012, and as bad as 2012 was, there were less serving then compared to 2011.

Army
2011
As of March 31, 2012
557,780

2012
Total as of December 31, 2012
535,247 (-22,533)

Total as of July 31, 2013
530,382 (-4,865)

(-27,398)

These are the number of suicides for those same years

For 2010, 156 potential active-duty suicides and 145 "among reserve component soldiers."

CY 2011: 166 and 116 (80 Army National Guard and 36 Army Reserve)

For 2012, there have been 182 and 143 potential not on active-duty suicides (96 Army National Guard and 47 Army Reserve) (Revised to 185 in December of 2013)

For calendar year 2013, there have been 139 potential active duty suicides and 139 potential not on active duty suicides (89 Army National Guard and 50 Army Reserve (Up to November)

Suicides among younger veterans has also increased 44%.

The department said the suicide rate increased nearly 44 percent for male veterans between the ages of 18-29 from 2009 to 2011. During the same period, the rate among female veterans increased more than 11 percent.

Now they claim suicides are down 19% but fail to mention the fact there are less serving and fewer deployed into Afghanistan. They also did not count the number of National Guards and Reservists. As of today the DOD has not released the Army yearly suicide numbers or the December numbers. I have seen no data on the other branches. The DOD has not released the Suicide Event Report for 2012 or 2013 containing detailed information including attempted suicides and all branches.

Suicides in the Army decline sharply
USA TODAY
Gregg Zoroya
January 31, 2014

A historic pattern of rising suicides among soldiers that tormented the Army for nearly 10 years reversed dramatically in 2013.

FORT CARSON, Colo. — Suicides in the Army fell by 19% in 2013, dramatically reversing a rising trend plaguing the Army for nearly 10 years.

There were 150 suicides among soldiers on active-duty status last year, down from a record 185 in 2012, according to Army data. The numbers include both confirmed and suspected suicides.

Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, chief of Army personnel, says he is cautiously optimistic in seeing success in Army programs to avert suicides by giving soldiers coping strategies for keeping a positive or optimistic outlook.

"I'm not declaring any kind of victory here," Bromberg says. "It's looking more promising."

Within the ranks, it has meant that people such as Levertis Jackson, an Afghanistan War veteran whose despair led him several times to try to kill himself, have chosen life.

"It was like before, all my doors were closed, and I'm in a dark room," says Jackson, 41, married and father of four. "(Now) I look for reasons why I need to continue to live."
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