Suicide In Military: Suicides In Army National Guard And Reserve Doubled Last Year

WASHINGTON — Suicides among active duty soldiers dropped slightly in 2010 after five years of record increases, Army leaders said Wednesday.

But there were twice as many self-inflicted deaths last year than the year before among the Army National Guard and Reserve, the nation's "citizen soldiers."

The big increase in suicides for members of the Guard and Reserve involved soldiers who were not on active duty at the time.

The number of active duty suicides declined in all services except for the Air Force last year.

"The bottom line is, this is a significant issue," the Army's vice chief of staff, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, told reporters at the Pentagon. He said the Army remains committed to improving access to training, health care and other resources.

Chiarelli said the Army must continue to educate soldiers about the overuse and abuse of prescription drugs.

Lt. Gen. Jack Stultz, chief of the Army Reserve, said reservists are spread out geographically, often living in one state and belonging to a unit in another state, and that presents a major challenge.

He said leaders are looking for more ways for commanders to keep in contact with the members of their Reserve units during the bulk of the month, when they are not gathering for their training exercises.

Maj. Gen. Raymond Carpenter, acting director of the Army National Guard, said for his soldiers it is a "young white male problem," that does not appear to be linked to war deployments or lack of jobs. Instead, he said, about half the cases of Guard soldiers' suicides involved people who had some type of relationship problem with a spouse or partner.

Comments

[ErnestDervishian]

02:42 PM on 02/24/2011

I have a friend who committed suicide because of PTSD. His name is Arman T. Manookian (U.S.M.C.). I too have PTSD. I would like to grieve for him and put his soul to rest but can't because he is buried in an unknown/unmarked site in Hawaii. I've asked my local congressmen for help but he has refused because of his military contract slush funds. Apparently, Secretary Gates, the Commandant of the Marine Corps and the President need permission from Turkey before I can take him to final rest because Arman's last name ends in IAN and his Christian faith.

[flow555]

11:46 AM on 01/29/2011

"suicides involved people who had relationship problems"..... and WHAT do you think led to their relationship problems?!?!

It is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG.... for us to send Americans off to war, with multiple deployments, and then to turn away from dealing with the mental health consequnces of these actions.

The thing is.... there are plenty of known tools. Therapy, brain research, addiction treatment facilities. We have the tools. We could successfully confront this problem, is we had THE WILL to confront it.

It's not like we have to figure out how to build a space ship that we can send to the moon. What we have to do is overcome the STIGMA of mental health and addiction problems.

This makes me so mad. Can you tell? We should be marching in the streets on behalf of our Vetrans. Instead, our silence keeps them in the shadows..... suffering

[Holly Smoke]

09:07 PM on 01/26/2011

These wars are meaningful to Bush/Cheney.. It is the dump dump who kill himself over their follies.

[blogisti]

05:31 PM on 01/21/2011

The Oligarchs need to control strategic resources so they can maximize their profits and power are to blame. If they cannot exploit these resources peacefully, then they take America to war to get them. You can bet no Oligarchs children are even in the military never mind suiciding because they are locked in to a military that is fighting a war for reasons, greed and power, nobody should have to die for. You should only die defending your country or loved ones, no other reason is worth your life.

[Blackorpheus]

12:36 PM on 01/19/2011

Abuse of prescription drugs is not to blame. Brutal, fruitless wars are to blame.

[Howmanyreally]

09:15 PM on 01/19/2011

True.