Bad outcome:Awareness up, spending up and so are military suicides

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
July 26, 2014

In 2009 I was able to figure out that Comprehensive Soldier Fitness would increase military suicides.

"If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them."

Finally the reduction of military personnel is being factored in on the suicide reports like this.

After years of attempting to prevent suicides, these numbers are more proof it isn't working. One more factor to include in this is there are less serving this year than last year. According to the DOD Army 537,135 April 2013 went down to 518,576 April 2014. Marines had a decrease from 194,703 to 191,599 and the Air Force went from 334,255 to 329,979. The Navy had an increase from 318,999 to 323,788. But why include the other side of the numbers that do in fact matter?

When you think of the design of the Capitol it is totally appropriate it is a huge circle. Members of Congress keep running around and arriving right back at the same place others started.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images

Over and over again members of Congress come up with Bills to address suicides but other than doing a lot of talking, they simply repeat what has already failed. The military is just as guilty. How is it that no one has been held accountable for the billions spent each year when the result has been more suicides and less recovering?

How is it that Generals like Army Gen. Raymond T. Odierno got away with blaming soldiers and their families for suicides and was not ever forced to apologize for what he apparently believes?

"First, inherently what we do is stressful. Why do I think some people are able to deal with stress differently than others? There are a lot of different factors. Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations."

"But it also has to do with where you come from. I came from a loving family, one who gave lots of positive reinforcement, who built up psychologically who I was, who I am, what I might want to do. It built confidence in myself, and I believe that enables you to better deal with stress. It enables you to cope more easily than maybe some other people."

What exactly would he say to veterans after they survived? What would he say to all the Medal of Honor Heroes talking openly about their own issues with PTSD and thinking about suicide? What would he say to Dakota Meyer's face after he did in fact try to kill himself with a gun put up to his head and he pulled the trigger not knowing his Dad removed the bullets?

No one has been held accountable for any of this and we got excuses while families were forced to plan funerals instead of retirements. Think the problem in the VA is bad with claims and wait times for appointments? Then think of this other fact. Senator Joe Donnelly said, "43 percent of service members who committed suicide never sought help. He says trying to combat the problem of military and veteran suicide needs to involve erasing the stigma of seeking help." avoiding the fact that also means 57% committed suicide after seeking help. Next time you read a report on the over 22 veterans a day ending their own lives remember that fact. Next time you read a story on servicemembers committing suicide think of the rest of what you read. If you were not already pissed off then you were not paying attention!

Number of military suicides showing uptick
By Patricia Kime
Staff writer
July 25, 2014

The number of military suicides so far this year is running slightly higher than for the same time frame last year, but without the context of force reductions, the raw data say little about current suicide trends in the armed services.

This year, the four services have seen 162 confirmed or suspected suicides — 151 among active-duty troops and 11 among reserve component members — through July 20, according to Pentagon documents obtained by Military Times.

The Navy and Air Force both had an uptick in suicides, while the Army and Marine Corps are down from their 2013 year-to-date numbers.

In the same period last year, there were 160 total deaths by suicide across the four services. In 2012, there were 209.

While the numbers appear to signal a reversal of the decline in military suicides in 2013 compared to the year before, the breadth of the change, if any, will be determined when the Defense Department calculates the current incidence rate of suicide — a measure that weighs the number of suicides against the number of personnel serving.

The most recent rates published by the Pentagon show that in 2013, the incident rate among active duty personnel was 18.7 per 100,000. In 2012, it was 22.7 per 100,000 — the highest it has been since DoD began closely tracking the data in 2002.

A current incidence rate was not included in the 2014 year-to-date suicide report. The figure is challenging to calculate, since it is based on the number of troops on active duty as well as the number of mobilized Guard and reserve troops — numbers that fluctuate as service members train and move between active and reserve status.

Of the 162 confirmed or suspected suicides to date this year for both the active and reserve components, the service breakdown is Army, 71; Air Force, 34; Marine Corps, 21; and Navy, 36.

This time last year, the figures were Army, 85; Air Force, 25; Marine Corps, 26; and Navy, 24.

The Navy is well ahead of its pace at this time last year and in fact is already closing in on its total of 43 for all of 2013.
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