Three decades of failed forever wars may be the cause of suicide among U.S. military personnel, but the Pentagon can’t admit it. “A recent study found suicide to be the leading cause of death among active-duty U.S. Army personnel, far greater than combat fatalities. From 2014 to 2019, of 2,530 soldiers who died, 35% took their own lives, while only 96 died in combat. The suicide rate among veterans is estimated to be 57% greater than non-veterans, according to the medical journal JAMA Neurology. An unpublished internal study from 2017 by the U.S. Special Operations Command advised a need for a comprehensive system to monitor the demographics and characteristics of Special Operations Force (SOF) members who have taken their life by suicide. Among veterans, SOF members specifically have an increased risk of suicide which has been linked to their increased likelihood of incurring traumatic brain injuries. SOF members have suicide rates 56% higher than other veterans and three times higher than the civilian population. Millions of dollars have been spent by the Pentagon to investigate this sad reality, although it does not appear much progress has been made. The Navy mandated that suicide-prevention hotline numbers be included on the homepages of every Navy website. But an internal audit in 2022 revealed that 62% of the homepages did not comply with the mandate. Much military suicide-prevention training has been likened to “checking the box.” Official explanations of high suicide rates among military members cite “military culture,” access to firearms, excessive head and brain trauma, and the protracted length of the so-called War on Terror.
— LA Progressive, July 25; Boston University, July 15, 2024
Leave a Reply