Military Brass Answer to Congress on Suicides
SUICIDES
The New London Day
Katie Koch
Boston University Washington News Service
3/18/09
WASHINGTON—In response to what a senator called an “alarming” increase in the number of military suicides over the past year, several top military officials gathered to defend their efforts to prevent suicides before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee Wednesday.
“The numbers in every service have increased in the past two years, and that trend must not continue,” said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., the chairman of the Personnel Subcommittee.
“We know that more is needed, and it’s needed now,” Nelson said.
The hearing included testimony from military branches’ “number twos”: Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli, vice chief of staff of the Army; Adm. Patrick M. Walsh, vice chief of naval operations; Gen. James F. Amos, Marine Corps assistant commandant; and Gen. William M. Frazer III, vice chief of staff of the Air Force.
The group was quick to stress that realistic declines in the suicide rate would not occur until external pressures on the overburdened forces are relieved. They emphasized that active-duty deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan, which has remained relatively steady over the past year, has an effect on the stress levels of all military personnel, not just soldiers stationed abroad.
“You could say it’s not entirely dependent on [combat-related] stress, because one-third of those [who committed suicide] don’t have any deployments at all; but I don’t buy that,” Chiarelli said.
“The reality is we are dealing with a tired and stretched force,” he said. “We must find some ways of relieving this stress.”
All the officers present agreed the military’s culture played a role in hindering their efforts’ success. The armed forces’ perceived attitude of “don’t ask, don’t tell” often extends to mental health problems and personal troubles, they said, preventing soldiers from seeking help.
“We must eliminate the perceived stigma and shame and dishonor of asking for help,” Walsh said.
The Army has taken the most criticism since it released its 2008 data on suicides Jan. 30. Those figures revealed that 140 active-duty soldiers committed suicide last year, an all-time high for the Army.
It also marked the first time the Army’s suicide rate—20.2 per 100,000 soldiers—surpassed the public’s, according to 2005 statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the most recent national figures available.
While the Navy’s 2008 suicide rate of 11.6 per 100,000 sailors was much lower than the Army’s, the Navy still faces a challenge in locating the root causes of the problem.
Unlike the Army, the Navy has found no correlation between serving in Iraq and Afghanistan and increased risk for committing suicide. Since 2003, veterans of the two wars accounted for only 3 percent of Navy suicides.
Maj. Gen. David A. Rubenstein, deputy surgeon general of the Army, underscored the difficulty targeting which soldiers could be at risk for suicide. Just hours before the hearing, he said, he learned that a former soldier who suffered a traumatic brain injury more than two years ago—and who had been a model patient since, even giving motivational speeches to groups of wounded veterans—had committed suicide Tuesday.
“This solder was treated, was compliant and was supported in every way,” Rubenstein said. “And yet, he’s dead today.”
###
