Air Force Suicides broke record in 2019

UPDATE From Dayton Daily News

Photos of military suicide statistics leaked to social media last week have been confirmed by military officials, a national defense industry publication says. The photo on Facebook shows total “Force” suicides of 136 individuals for calender year 2019.“Officials confirmed the number last week after the latest statistics appeared on social media,” a recent Military.com story says.

Air Force suicides set a record in 2019

San Antonio Express
Sig Christenson
February 1, 2020

More than 800 trainees paraded during the Air Force Basic Military Training Graduation held at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland in this 2019 file photo. Recent data show that the Air Force set a record for suicides last year.Photo: Bob Owen /Staff photographer

The Air Force set a record for suicides in 2019, a stark reminder that a Pentagon all but invincible on the battlefield has struggled to protect its troops from themselves.

There were at least 112 suspected and confirmed suicides among active-duty, reserve and Air National Guard personnel last year. That was a 40 percent jump from the year before and the highest total since the Air Force began tracking suicides in 2003.
read it here

Remind me again why anyone would support raising suicide awareness instead of healing awareness? #BreakTheSilence and #TakeBackYourLife

New Jersey Police Officer, harassed by Chief for military service gets $1.8 million dollar justice award

Jury awards Navy reservist, ex-cop $1.8M in discrimination suit

Associated Press
May 31,2019

FREEHOLD, N.J. — A jury has awarded $1.8 million to a former New Jersey police officer who claimed he was discriminated against because of his military service.

Kenneth Hagel filed suit in 2014, claiming Sea Girt Police Chief Kevin Davenport falsely believed he was gay and stymied his promotion to sergeant because he periodically was absent from his job for training and deployment with the U.S. Navy Reserves.

Jurors in Monmouth County found the chief had engaged in anti-military and false sexual orientation discrimination. The panel awarded the 50-year-old $262,800 in compensatory damages for lost salary and benefits, $500,000 in emotional distress damages and $1 million in punitive damages.

The chief told NJ.com he could not comment.

The town’s administrator also declined comment on the verdict.
read more here

DOD released 3rd quarter suicide report

Department of Defense Suicide Report 3rd Quarter 2018

Really not much more I can say that is more powerful than the report itself~

For the 3rd Quarter of 2018

74 in the Active Component
18 in the Reserves
34 in the National Guard

Sadly on track to average 500 for the year again~

So, how is that "suicide awareness" benefitting anyone other than the people getting publicity and bigger bank accounts?

UPDATE iCasualties.com

These are the combat deaths from 2012 to 2018
Afghanistan 557
Iraq 73

Have you heard enough excuses for veterans killing themselves yet?

When will the VA and DOD admit the awful truth?

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 5, 2018

Yet again, a report came out about how bad it is for our veterans when they come home. Younger veterans are committing suicide in higher percentages, but the facts are missing.

The awful truth is they did not just fail this year, or last year, or five years ago, or even a decade ago. They failed for over 4 of them.

Billions spent every year and billions made by businesses and charities making a profit off of suicides. That should have been a clue but contracts continued to be written and paid for, along with funerals.

Police end up having to respond to someone finding a dead body, as well as respond when one of them is in a mental health crisis and someone called to get them help, only to have to draw their weapons against a veteran they came to help. That happened at least every week in 2017.

This year, there were 22 public suicides where veterans ended their private hell while making a point to let people be aware of what they had driven them to that point. Hoping like hell that someone would pay attention and do something before another veteran lost their life to suicide.

They saw more and more kicked out of the military. 2,300,000 at last count, right after more speeches about how the DOD claimed they were ready to help them heal.

Billions spent on "prevention training" that every member of the military had to take, yet every branch, every rank, every sex, every age group, lives though combat but dies afterwards by their own hands.

We see National Guards and Reservists, return home without a clue they can heal, so they lose hope before they even try to take control of their lives again.

How much are we willing to see while so many are oblivious to the charade? What expert has been fired for incompetence? What business has had to pay back the money they made off what they failed to deliver on? What charity has been held accountable for passing a slogan off as anything but something to benefit themselves?

It isn't as if they had no way of knowing.

Here is a direct quote from Wounded Times posted on May 29, 2009 about how it should have been known that if the DOD pushed resilience training, suicides would increase.

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.

Yes, I predicted all this because I paid attention. I read reports and I listened to the veterans. No, I was not foolish enough to think the DOD or any of the "experts" would ever listen to someone like me, so not shocked this was ignored. The shocking thing is, they still have not figured it out!!!

It didn't matter that the experts over at RAND Corp investigated this "training" in 2013 and showed why it would not work. Not bad enough that in 2012, suicides hit over 500, or even bad enough they have remained an average of 500 a year since then. It was not even bad enough for them to grasp the concept these men and women were ready to die to save someone else, but did not seek help to save their own lives.

No, none of it was bad enough and today, we have a report where the VA and the DOD still say they have no clue!

Rising Suicide Rates Among Younger Veterans Trigger Alarm Bells at VA

Military.com
By Richard Sisk
December 4, 2018

Suicide rates among veterans 34 and younger have spiked in the last two years, leading the Department of Veterans Affairs to focus more on the 18-to-34-year-old age group than civilian programs for suicide prevention do, a top VA official said Tuesday.

She said another factor that has emerged in analyzing recent statistics has been the suicide rate among National Guard and Reserve veterans who never deployed to a combat zone.

Nearly four of the 20 veteran suicides a day were among National Guard and Reserve members who may have experienced trauma in national disaster duty, but were never in a combat zone, she added.

The number of suicides by veterans of all generations averages 22 each day. But "when we break down the numbers, the national numbers for veterans suicides, we're seeing an increased rate within 18-to-34-year-olds," said Dr. Keita Franklin, the VA's national director of suicide prevention.read the rest here

The thing to pay close attention to is this part

Franklin, who previously served as the Pentagon's Defense Suicide Prevention Office director, also noted that her civilian counterparts in suicide prevention are not facing the same rates of female suicides. "The fact that the female [veteran] rate is 1.8 times higher than their non-veteran counterpart is something we're concerned about."

I won a damn award back in 2008 for a video I did about National Guards and Reservists trying to deal with PTSD! So, if I knew, then why the hell didn't they know and do something about it? Like maybe what people like me had been doing for decades?

Did anyone ask her about how suicides increased within the military and in the veterans' community and they still do not know why? Did anyone ask how it is that after over a decade of "efforts" by the DOD and the VA, this is the outcome?

Notice the number of veterans living has dropped by over 4 million, but the rate went up? Now consider how many years, how many times we have heard "one too many" and how they were focused on doing something about it.

This is from the DOD up to June of this year.

And it is projected to remain about 500 for this year too when you look at the report, then factor in they have revised the numbers in the latest release.

Did anyone ask how it is there were thousands of "awareness raisers" running around the country collected over a billion per year and the suicides still happen even though the veterans are fully aware of all of it?

It is time for us to demand answers, since Congress won't and reporters will not. How much longer are we going to all all of this to go on? When do we actually stand up and fight for the men and women who fight all of our battles?

I am tired of having to try to explain all of this to families when it is too late to do them any good, and then have some "experts" say they still do not know what the hell to do!!! We've known for over 4 decades! When will they? They won't as long as we just let them get away with saying whatever they want.

HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!

Why any of them would want to serve at all?

Military cannot meet recruitment goals, or keep promises

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 24, 2018

"Army struggles with soldier shortage as recruiters miss goals" is the headline on the Gazette by Tom Roeder that came out late last night.

The problem is, the rest of the story was not mentioned. So, let's take a look at what was not printed.

"Combined with other bonus programs, a new recruit could pocket more than $40,000 in addition to their pay with recruiting deals."

Considering the "deal" of additional money was promised, so were a lot of other things promised. 

For starters, the GI Bill, which left thousands with unpaid tuition, housing and funds to live off of putting many into the homeless veterans world of pain. 

"The Army had a goal for 2018 to add 76,500 soldiers to its ranks, and came up with just 69,972."

Well, sure it is easy to blame the economy for the shortage of those willing to serve, but when there were almost 70,000 willing to put their lives on the line, in a "hot economy" that proves to be false reasoning.

Troops are still being deployed into two nations over a decade after they were started. They are deployed into different parts of the world, taking them away from their families and friends. 

As for families, many are on food stamps, lack safe housing and face no accountability or even concern, so they are forced to sue the government. What makes it worse is when the same government pays landlords to provide housing with mold and mice. The reports came out about the Marines, Air Force and other military families, but when you look back, you see it happened in every branch.

"The Defense Department said this month that the National Guard saw a recruiting shortfall of more than 9,700 troops and the Army Reserve fell short of its recruiting goals by more than 4,200 troops."

See all of the above for them, but add in how they are taken away from their homes and jobs to be sent to the boarder without a clear mission or timeline.

Add in how many have had to come up with funds to pay the government back because the government messed up and over paid them.

These men and women are great at keeping their promises, but they are not kept from the government.

The question is, not why they cannot meet recruitment goals, but why any of them would want to serve at all?

Marine Corps reservists attacked in Piladelphia

Police: Marine reservists attacked, robbed in Philadelphia

By: The Associated Press
November 21, 2018

PHILADELPHIA — Philadelphia police say a group of men and women attacked several Marine Corps reservists near a conservative rally last weekend.

The "We the People Rally" near Independence Hall drew more counterprotesters than participants Saturday.

Police say a few blocks away from the rally, the reservists were approached by the group that called them "Nazis" and "white supremacists." Police say members of the group used mace on the reservists and punched and kicked them. They allegedly stole one person's phone before running away.

Police released video of some of the attackers from the earlier counter-protest.
read more here

509 U.S. military personnel died by suicide in 2017

Army Wants Sergeants in the Barracks on Weekends to Prevent Suicides

Military.com
By Matthew Cox
November 8, 2018

The U.S. Army's top official said Thursday that he wants to see sergeants making regular visits to the barracks on weekends to help reduce the number of soldiers who die by suicide.

Suicide is a problem that every service struggles to prevent. In calendar year 2017, 509 U.S. military personnel died by suicide, according to Defense Department numbers. Of that number, the Army suffered 298 deaths by suicide across the active duty, National Guard and Reserve.

"It's a tragedy that we have suicide in our ranks, but it's coming into our ranks from society writ large," Army Secretary Mark Esper told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute. "Every week, I am signing letters to families offering my condolences for soldiers who have taken their lives."

The problem typically affects younger soldiers and is usually "related to personal financial problems, relationship problems and career concerns," Esper said, adding that alcohol consumption can be a factor as well.

It's also "typically a Friday night though Sunday morning problem," he said.
read more here

Who are the veterans you count?

What Makes a Veteran?

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
November 6, 2018

On Veterans Day, there will be all kinds of events to honor our military veterans. The term "veteran" can be applied to anyone who has a lot of experience in their field. That would be someone like me, which I never really thought of before. After 36 years, I guess that would be accurate, but it is also in my DNA now.

This day is for the veterans who were willing to die for the sake of others. Once we get that into our heads, then maybe, just maybe, we can grieve more than we have for them.

It is all so easy to push a number that is "easy to remember" and defended by those who have no intentions of getting too close to the subject of losing veterans to suicide. After all, that would make them uncomfortable. They would rather make donations and walk away. Do some pushups and have some laughs. 

Readers already know that the number of "22" came from limited data from just 21 states. You already know that the numbers have gotten worse. We've covered the facts, the ones who were abandoned by the military instead of helped to heal.

We've covered every subject going back to 2007 when we had the first major report on veterans committing suicide. At the time, it seemed only active duty troops were worthy of reporters attention.

In 2009, we warned about how Comprehensive Soldier Fitness training would increase suicides, and we were right. 

We have covered just about everything there is to know on our veterans since the day this site started.

One thing we did not cover much was "Who is a veteran" because there does not seem to be an answer that would do any of those who served justice.

Yesterday we touched on how any service member without an "honorable" discharge, cannot call themselves a veteran. Some have been fighting to make sure that those who have been experiencing mental distress and acted out, are having their discharges reviewed. 

There are even more. If someone served in the National Guard or Reserves, but were not deployed into combat, then they would not be able to be called "veteran." Apparently being sent into some of the worst conditions following a natural disaster, or on humanitarian missions into other countries, is not worth mentioning.

According to Social Security

The term “veteran” means a person who served in the active military, naval, or air service, and who was discharged or released therefrom under conditions other than dishonorable.

It appears that the Social Security Administration did not update their definition of what a veteran is.

Guard and Reserve members receive ‘Veteran’ status

National Guard Bureau

By Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy

Dec. 28, 2016

ARLINGTON, Va. – A recently signed law gives official veteran status to National Guard members who served 20 years or more. Previously, Guard members were considered veterans only if they served 180 days or more in a federal status outside of training. 

"As long as you were deployed on active duty for at least 180 days and you didn't get a dishonorable discharge or a bad conduct discharge coming off those orders, then you could be considered a veteran," said Army Sgt. Maj. Matthew Krenz, a legislative liaison at the National Guard Bureau who provided background information to Congressional members working on the bill. Prior to the new law's passage, even if  Guard members served for 20 years or longer they were not deemed veterans unless they served on active duty. That included those serving in an Active Guard and Reserve status. 

Massachusetts
FEDERAL DEFINITION: under Federal Law a VETERAN is any person, who served honorably on active duty in the armed forces of the United States. 
(Discharges marked GENERAL AND UNDER HONORABLE CONDITIONS also qualify.)

STATE DEFINITION:DEFINITION OF A MASSACHUSETTS VETERAN, M.G.L. C.4, SEC. 7,cl 43rd as amended by the Acts of 2004 – Effective August 30, 2004. 

To be a “veteran” under Massachusetts law a person is required to have either: 180 days of regular active duty service and a last discharge or release under honorable conditions Such member does not need to have any wartime service. – OR – 90 days of active duty service, one (1) day of which is during “wartime”, and a last discharge or release under honorable conditions. The one-day need not have actually been served in a war zone. For Guard Members to qualify they must have 180 days and have been activated under Title 10 of the U.S. Code – OR – Members who were activated under Title 10 or Title 32 of the U.S. Code or Massachusetts General Laws chapter 33, sections 38, 40 and 41 must have 90 days, at least one of which was during wartime. The Members’ last discharge or release must be under honorable conditions. 

Full time National Guard duty is only considered such when National Guard members are activated to regular service and does not include weekend drills or active duty for training Minimum Service Exception (for Death or Disability) It is not necessary that an applicant have completed the minimum service for wartime or peacetime campaign if he/she served some time in the campaign and was awarded the Purple Heart, or suffered a service-connected disability or died in the service under honorable conditions. Training Duty Exception – Active service in the armed forces as used in this clause shall not include active duty for training in the Army or Air National Guard or active duty for training as a Reservist in the Armed Forces of the United States.

 Just to give you an idea of how confusing this all is, this is a report from the National Guard.

GUARD SUICIDES UP IN LATEST REPORT JAN 6, 2016 

JOHN HARRIS 

UNCATEGORIZED 

“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem that doesn’t end the chances of life getting worse, it eliminates the possibility of it ever getting any better.” Military-Suicide Statistically, we will see 90+ of our Brothers and Sisters in Arms make the wrong decision in the upcoming year. Take some time this UTA and be a Leader. Talk to your fellow Soldier or Airman and find out how they are doing after the Holidays. It is more important than anything you can possibly do on a computer or the paperwork on your desk. Thirty-two National Guard members killed themselves during the third quarter of last year, according to the Pentagon’s latest report released Monday. 

The Quarterly Suicide Report shows five Air Guard members and 27 Army Guard troops committed suicide during the three-month period of July, August and September 2015. 

During that same period in 2014, the numbers were four for the Air Guard and 24 for the Army Guard. In the second quarter of 2015, the figures were five for the Air Guard and 23 for the Army Guard. 

With statistics still waiting to be compiled for the final three months of 2015, the Guard suicide figure for the year seems likely to top that of 2014, when 91 Guardsmen killed themselves. 

After nine months in 2015, the figure was at 89, with 18 citizen-airmen and 71 citizen-soldiers taking their own lives. 

Throughout the military, the latest report shows 142 suicides in the third quarter of 2015, with 72 in the active component and 70 in the reserve component, up from 105 for the same period in 2014. 

The biggest increase for the years was in the Army Reserve, which endured 42 suicides in 2014, but had reported 48 after nine months in 2015. 

The military reported 443 suicides in 2014. The figure was at 383 after nine months in 2015.

As bad as all the seems, we do not know how many members of the National Guards and Reserves, who were not "deployed" committed suicide. We do not know how many returned to their jobs as first responders and took their own lives doing that job. 

Do you still want to use a number to cover the veterans who could not count on us when we cannot even count the number of veterans we counted on?

There is still much we do not know. On Veterans Day, consider all that you have learned over the last few days and maybe, just maybe, that number you hear, will be one that begins a conversation that is actually worthy of all those who are not here anymore to thank for their service.

UPDATE
Just got a reminder about this group of veterans.



Suicide risk higher among veterans released from prison
Medical Life Science
Reviewed by Alina Shrourou, BSc
Oct 31 2018

Veterans released from prison are five times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers who have never been incarcerated, report UConn Health researchers in an article slated for publication in the November 2018 print edition of the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

"People over 50 are the fastest growing segment of the prison population, and most of them will eventually be released," says UConn Health epidemiologist Lisa Barry.

Regardless of a person's age, release from prison increases the chance of death in the years immediately afterward. But older prisoners tend to have fewer friends and family around when they get released, and may find it even harder to reintegrate into the workforce than the average ex-prisoners, with the double stigma of being a former prisoner and being old.
read more here

Veterans who committed suicide remembered by name at National Mall

Veterans group places thousands of flags on National Mall to draw attention to suicide crisis
STARS AND STRIPES
By NIKKI WENTLING
Published: October 3, 2018

WASHINGTON — Thousands of American flags filled a grassy expanse on the National Mall on Wednesday morning, each of them representing a veteran or a servicemember who died by suicide in 2018 so far.

Maj. Sandra Lee Altamirano of the Army Reserve said she took military leave to help place the 5,520 U.S. flags. She recently lost three friends to suicide, two of whom were veterans.

A couple of years ago, after serving three deployments in Iraq, she contemplated suicide herself.

“Each of these flags is a name, a person. Three of them are my friends, and one could’ve been me,” said Altamirano, now a suicide prevention liaison in the Reserve. “I hope this helps people see how vast of an issue this is. It’s overwhelming. It’s a crisis.”

The flags were placed on the Mall by Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans for America, an advocacy group trying to draw awareness to the issue of veteran suicide.

read more here

126,000 Active Duty National Guard and Reservists may have to leave military?

About 126,000 Troops May Be at Risk of Separation Under Deploy-or-Out
Military.com
By Oriana Pawlyk
October 2, 2018

Special considerations are given to those who've been wounded in combat, Mulcahy said.

Sailors, Airmen, and Soldiers salute in formation during the closing ceremony June 5, 2018, of an Innovative Readiness Training in Thomasville, Alabama. (U.S. Air National Guard/Airman Cameron Lewis)

The number of U.S. military personnel being reviewed under the Pentagon's new deploy-or-out policy is likely to change in coming weeks as each of the services determines who's eligible for retention, the head of the Defense Department's personnel management said Tuesday. The policy, announced by Defense Secretary Jim Mattis in February, officially took effect Oct. 1.

"This retention determination is clearly made on a case-by-case, individual basis," said Patricia Mulcahy, director of officer and enlisted personnel management, during a phone call with reporters.

As of Aug. 31, approximately 126,000 active-duty, National Guard and Reserve component personnel were considered non-deployable, said OSD spokeswoman Jessica Maxwell. While that excludes trainees, it accounts for roughly six percent of the total force, taking into consideration temporary and permanent non-deployable service members, she said.
read more here

Tulsa Police Patrol Car Tribute to Marine

Tulsa Police Unveil Patrol Car Dedicated To Veterans
News on 6
September 27th 2018

TULSA, Oklahoma - A newly wrapped patrol car is making its debut at the Tulsa State Fair. It’s dedicated to a former officer who died while serving as a Marine in Iraq.

Jared Shoemaker was killed in action in Iraq in 2006 after his reserve unit was deployed.

Tulsa Police unveiled the car Thursday. It’s decorated in Marine Corp camouflage with red, white and blue. The department said it’s dedicated to Shoemaker and other veterans who serve on the police department.

"To represent the Marines who work for our department, the Marines who lost their lives, the Marines still fighting for our country," Sergeant Richard Meulenberg said.

After the fair, the car will hit the streets as part of normal patrols.

It will also be used in the upcoming Veteran's Day parade.
go here to see the rest of this patrol car

1st Quarter suicide report for 2018

Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Office just released the 1st Quarter suicide report for 2018.

QSR Data Attachment A provides a detailed breakdown of the number of deaths by suicide, within each Service and Component. 

For the 1st Quarter of 2018, the Military Services reported the following: 

 80 suicide deaths in the Active Component 

 18 suicide deaths in the Reserves 

 23 suicide deaths in the National Guard 

 The number of Active Component suicide deaths is greater, by 5, in the 1st Quarter of 2018, compared to the 1st Quarter of 2017 
(80 versus 75 deaths)

Read the report and look at the chart on the last page.

Then look at the numbers of those killed in action during those same years.  

I am sure I do not have to add another word to what you find.

The question is, what are you going to do with what you just learned?

No reporter serves on military suicide watch?

UPDATE

U.S. Army Secretary Mark Esper said reducing suicides in the Army is a priority, and he and his staff are working to study and resolve problems leading to them.After spending the day at Fort Riley speaking with soldiers and their families, Esper spoke with The Mercury Friday afternoon.

How long are we going to hear the same claim while they change absolutely nothing!

When will reporters tell us the truth?
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
May 5, 2018

Why are reporters ignoring the data on military suicides? That is a question we've been wondering about for over a decade, yet, there has been absolutely no answer.

The Department of Defense responds when suicide reports come out, and reporters being what they are, settle for what they are told. They say "most have not been deployed" but then never have to explain how they were supposed to be trained to prevent suicides. If the training did not work for non-deployed, how did they expect it to work for those sent to risk their lives in combat?

No one seems to wonder how it is that when the number of men and women serving in the military has gone down, the number of men and women serving in the military committing suicide remains close to 500 per year.

Active Duty Decreased

That chart shows how the DOD reduced force size.

This chart shows the number of suicides between 2013 and 2015

2013 254 Active, 220 "Reserve Components" Total 474
2014 273 Active, 170  "Reserve Components" Total 443
2015 266 Active, 209 "Reserve Components" Total 475

2016 280 Active, 202 "Reserve Components" Total 482
2017 285 Active, 219 "Reserve Components" Total 504

Congress started to hold hearings and passed bills with their names on it back to 2007. No reporter has bothered to ask then to account for the loss of life increasing at the same time the numbers of those serving decreased.

No reporter has asked the Department of Defense to account for any of this after they implemented mandatory "prevention" training after spending millions on funding programs that did not work.

No reporter has tied that training to the increase of suicides in the younger veterans population after they survived combat and had this training.

No reporter has tied the report of suicides from the VA to the decrease in the number of veterans living in the country while the numbers they know of remained about the same.

The simple truth is, when we say we value the "free press" that should never equate to them being free from responsible reporting.

Had they been paying attention to all the facts, all along, how many lives could have been saved because the American public had the facts? Do you think all the "awareness" raisers out there would have gotten away with using a number that is not even close to real if reporters paid attention?

In April of 2007, I wondered why we had a non-caring media about the non-combat deaths.

When I was searching for reports on suicides it became apparent that more were dying because they served than from combat itself. Why am I still asking the same question?

Clergy learning how to heal veterans with PTSD

Lay leaders learn veteran and military culture
Tyler Morning Telegraph
By LouAnna Campbell
Apr 12, 2018

Enlisted. Officer. National Guard. Reserves. Active duty.

These were just some of the terms about 30 lay leaders, pastors and community leaders learned Thursday at Central Baptist Church.

With 15 military installations in the state, Texas has become a veteran-friendly place to live, and the Smith County Behavioral Health Leadership Team and Texas Veterans Commission teamed up to give free training to faith, community and lay leaders.

“Texas is home to almost 1.6 million military veterans, many of whom have experienced one or more forms of military-service-related trauma,” said Craig Combs, Texas Veterans Commission community partner coordinator.

The training gave those in attendance a glimpse into military culture and the stress and effects that continuous readiness has on military members and their families.

Local mental health authorities like the Andrews Center are part of the programs the Texas Veterans Commission relies on to reach veterans. Now they are reaching out to faith-based communities to help veterans and those serving in the Reserves and National Guard.

The veterans group is working with faith community members to give them skills in suicide awareness, military sexual trauma, alcoholism, post-traumatic stress disorder and moral injury.
read more here

DOD Released Suicide Report for 2017

For the fourth quarter of 2017, the Military Services reported the following:
• 83 suicide deaths in the Active Component
• 16 suicide deaths in the Reserves
• 19 suicide deaths in the National Guard

Reminder

2012

Active 321 

Reserve Component 204 

2013

Active 256 

Reserve Component 220 

2014

Active 276 

Reserve Component 170 

2015

Active 266 

Reserve Component 214 

2016

Active 280 

Reserve Component 202 

2017

Active 285 

Reserve Component 219

Take a look at the casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan during the years from 2012 thru 2017