Army suicides rose last year, Pentagon says 115 troops killed themselves in 2007, the most since at least 1990 A picture of Tim Bowman sits on the witness table as Mike Bowman, his father, testifies at a Dec. 12 House Committee on Veterans Affairs hearing on military suicides. Tim Bowman was with the Illinois National Guard and killed himself after returning from combat in Iraq. View related photos Shawn Thew / EPA file Video: Military news Steak dinners for soldiers May 29: Several Minnesota restaurants have banded together to create a special meal for troops in both the U.S. and in Kosovo, on the same night. KARE's Pat Evans reports. Presidential chest bump! Fugitive's Web use helped authorities Bush addresses Air Force grads Arlington Ladies offer company, condolences Photos of soldiers who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pictures and messages from U.S. troops overseas and their friends, family at home. 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The 115 confirmed deaths among active duty soldiers and National Guard and Reserve troops that had been activated was a lower number than previously feared. Preliminary figures released in January showed as many as 121 troops might have killed themselves, but a number of the deaths were still being investigated then and have since been attributed to other causes, the officials said. Steady rise since 2004 Suicides have been rising during the five-year-old war in Iraq and nearly seven years of war in Afghanistan. The 115 deaths last year and 102 in 2006 followed 85 in 2005 and 67 in 2004. The only Army records immediately available go back to 1990, and show no year with a higher number of suicides than 2007. The figure in 1990 was 102. More U.S. troops also died overall in hostilities in 2007 than in any of the previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Overall violence increased in Afghanistan with a Taliban resurgence and overall deaths increased in Iraq, even as violence there declined in the second half of the year. Increasing the strain on the force last year was the extension of deployments to 15 months from 12 months, a practice ending this year. The increases in suicides come despite a host of efforts to improve the mental health of a force stressed by the long and repeated tours of duty. Click for related content 38,000 Army troops diagnosed with PTSD Private counselors for troubled soldiers War strains Army mental health system The efforts include more training and education programs, such as suicide prevention programs and a program last year that taught all troops how to recognize mental health problems in themselves and their buddies. Officials also approved the hiring of more than 300 additional psychiatrists, psychologists and other mental health professionals and have so far hired 180 of them. They also have added more screening to measure the mental health of troops. Earlier this year, Lt. Gen. Michael Rochelle, the deputy chief of staff for personnel, directed a complete review of the Army’s suicide prevention program, according to the Army’s Web site. He called for a campaign that would make use of the best available science, and would raise awareness of the problem. 'Startling' suicide attempts “Since the beginning of the global war on terror, the Army has lost over 580 soldiers to suicide, an equivalent of an entire infantry battalion task force,” the Army said in a suicide prevention guide to installations and units that was posted in mid-March on the site. “This ranks as the fourth leading manner of death for soldiers, exceeded only by hostile fire, accidents and illnesses,” it said. “Even more startling is that during this same period, 10 to 20 times as many soldiers have thought to harm themselves or attempted suicide.” The numbers kept by the Army only show part of the picture because they don’t include guard and reserve troops who have finished their active duty and returned home to their civilian jobs. The Department of Veterans Affairs tracks the number of suicides among those who have left the military. It says there have been 144 suicides among the nearly 500,000 service members who left the military from 2002-2005 after fighting in at least one of the wars. The true incidence of suicide among veterans is not known, according to a recent Congressional Research Service report. Based on numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the VA estimates that 18 veterans a day — or 6,500 a year — take their own lives, but that number includes vets from all wars. More from msnbc.com
There, I cleaned it up a little. I feel really bad for the troops, and I hope ther either Obama or McCain will serve as a better commander in Cheif than the guy that sent them there in the first place.
115 out of something like 1.5 million troops in uniform. What percentage is that and how does that compare to civilian rates for the same time period?
In 2004, suicides in the 20-29 age range, presumably the age range involved in most of these military suicides, was about 12.4/100,000. 115/1,500,000 is about 6 times as high a rate. Even once you account for men successfully committing suicide significantly more often than women, you're still talking about a suicide rate 3-4 times higher than in the general public. edit: Misplaced decimal point. Oops.
From last year's Army suicide report, a report with a just slightly lower number of suicides than this year's
1.5 million is only an estimate, though. Your 186 means NOTHING until you get the total amount of troops.
You're right, my mistake. I misplaced a decimal point. That doesn't mean that the increase isn't worrying, and I'd like to see what national suicide rates are for people who are well employed with good benefits, which is a better comparison point. I suspect that once employment and benefits, and state of mind prior to recruitment--I'd that recruits with high potential for suicidal tendencies are weeded out-- are controlled for this means that the suicide rate in active military has moved from somewhat below normal to normal or higher, but not to a level where the level itself, as opposed to the increase in suicide rate, is inherently troubling.
Knowing how inept Army detectives/investigators are? I wouldn't even want to guess. I've seen crime scenes compromised, people murdered in a barracks full of people with so many clues it's like Columbo's wet dream but the case goes cold , etc. One reason the Army suicide rate could be high: because the demographic is increasingly married, or single but have a couple kids from different men/women, etc. Their problems are very complex. People commit suicide because they feel there is no solution to their problems. So, you take a guy physically separated from his wife and kids, maybe owns a home and managing that from a distance is tough, his investments are tanking, husband/wife is fucking half the town, he's about to be kicked out for being .25 percent over in bodyfat, etc. etc. When I was in Iraq one guy's wife was fucking her drug dealer while their kids ran wild. This shit is like a daily thing all over The Army.
