Suicide Rate of Army Soldiers

“How is the U. S. Army leadership managing the signs and symptoms,

gaps in policies and the awareness of the suicide rates after soldiers return from the war?”

October 10, 2010

Abstract

According to the Department of Defense (report dated August 23, 2010), the army has experienced a significant rise in suicide rates since 2004. Statistics show that there were a total of sixty-seven suicides of army personnel in 2004. In the USA today news release, suicides among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans are likely to “double from fifty-two in 2004 to 110 in 2006” (Army suicides rise as time spent in combat increases. http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-01-12-suicides_N.htm). In 2008, the number of military suicides rose to 128 and in January of 2009 alone, the army reported a number six times higher than that of 2008 statistics. The New York Daily News published an article sighting “Army suicides in 2009 hit highest level, accounts for 20% of national suicides”. Now in 2010, Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, the former Army chief of staff, reports that the suicide rate for men aged 18-29, who have been discharged, has risen 26% since 2007.

Introduction

This report will analyze the Department of Defense’s Report on Suicide Prevention as outlined in their September, 2010 issue of DCoE in Action. Specifically, my report will discuss in depth the army’s response to developing a comprehensive suicide prevention program. Per Congress via the National Defense Authorization Act, a task force has been established to further study and create an action plan to address the issue of suicide of army personnel post-war. The task force’s research caused them to recommend a comprehensive approach to decreasing the rate of army personnel suicides. It was suggested that the approach should focus on...