Army suicides highest in nearly 2 decades, study finds

[Auburn85 436]

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/29/army.suicides/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More U.S. soldiers committed suicide in 2007 than at any time since the first Gulf War, according to an Army study to be released Thursday.

There were at least 115 suicides last year, or 18.8 for every 100,000 soldiers serving in the Army, said an Army official with access to the report.

The military still is investigating another two possible suicides.

The new figure is up from 102 in 2006.

More than two in five of the suicides came after soldiers returned home from deployments, the study shows.

The military is set to announce the findings officially later Thursday. CNN obtained some statistics from the study before publication.

Roughly one in four of the soldiers who killed themselves were on their first deployments, according to the study. About the same percentage killed themselves without ever having been deployed. Forty-three percent committed suicide after coming home.

The statistics cover active-duty Army troops, including National Guard and reserve soldiers. The numbers do not account for other branches of service.

There are about 1.08 million troops serving in the Army, according to the Defense Department, comprising 525,000 on active duty, 194,000 in the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard's 356,000.

The Army recorded 87 suicides in 2005, 67 in 2004 and 79 in 2003, the year the Iraq war began. The war in Afghanistan began in October 2001.

It is difficult to compare the military suicide rate with that of the private sector because of demographic differences and overall human stress factors, officials have said.

According to a Pentagon report released last summer, the overall suicide rate for the United States was 13.4 per 100,000 people in 2006.

For all men ages 17 to 45, it was 21.1 per 100,000 people, compared with 17.8 for men in the Army.

And it was 5.46 per 100,000 for all women, compared with an Army rate of 11.3 women soldiers per 100,000.

The Army concluded in the 2007 report that the "main indicators" for the 2006 suicides were failed relationships, legal and financial problems and "occupational/operational" issues.

The "typical profile" of a soldier who commits suicide is a member of an infantry unit who kills himself with a firearm.

[autigeremt 7,159]

Sad. Suicide is high (21 per 100,000 is high to me) nationwide, but I hate to see it happen to my brothers and sisters. They come home to wives/husbands gone astray, kids they never watch being born or growing up, financial pressure, etc. It happens in peace time too, but not at the rate you see during combat operations. God Bless them all!

[arnaldoabru 11]

What gets me is the soldiers who are being electrocuted in the showers in Iraq from faulty workmanship by contractors.

[CCTAU 3,494]

What gets me is the soldiers who are being electrocuted in the showers in Iraq from faulty workmanship by contractors.

You must have tripped and bent over again, because something else just flew out of your A$$.

Are there records on suicide from WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam? I would think that the rate would climb during war time. Man is not built to be full time killers. Some choose to train for it as a profession, but the actual performing of it is something that probably never will be explained in terms of how it truly affects the psychy.

May all of the men and women serving find peace from the things they have seen and done.

[arnaldoabru 11]

What gets me is the soldiers who are being electrocuted in the showers in Iraq from faulty workmanship by contractors.

You must have tripped and bent over again, because something else just flew out of your A$$.

Are there records on suicide from WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam? I would think that the rate would climb during war time. Man is not built to be full time killers. Some choose to train for it as a profession, but the actual performing of it is something that probably never will be explained in terms of how it truly affects the psychy.

May all of the men and women serving find peace from the things they have seen and done.

I'm not making that up. It's really been happening

[CCTAU 3,494]

What gets me is the soldiers who are being electrocuted in the showers in Iraq from faulty workmanship by contractors.

You must have tripped and bent over again, because something else just flew out of your A$$.

Are there records on suicide from WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam? I would think that the rate would climb during war time. Man is not built to be full time killers. Some choose to train for it as a profession, but the actual performing of it is something that probably never will be explained in terms of how it truly affects the psychy.

May all of the men and women serving find peace from the things they have seen and done.

I'm not making that up. It's really been happening

It's old news and doesn't apply here.

[Tigermike 3,673]

What gets me is the soldiers who are being electrocuted in the showers in Iraq from faulty workmanship by contractors.

You must have tripped and bent over again, because something else just flew out of your A$$.

Are there records on suicide from WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam? I would think that the rate would climb during war time. Man is not built to be full time killers. Some choose to train for it as a profession, but the actual performing of it is something that probably never will be explained in terms of how it truly affects the psychy.

May all of the men and women serving find peace from the things they have seen and done.

I'm not making that up. It's really been happening

OK if it has then provide a link for it. See how easy that would have been?

[arnaldoabru 11]

What gets me is the soldiers who are being electrocuted in the showers in Iraq from faulty workmanship by contractors.

You must have tripped and bent over again, because something else just flew out of your A$$.

Are there records on suicide from WWII, Korea, and Viet Nam? I would think that the rate would climb during war time. Man is not built to be full time killers. Some choose to train for it as a profession, but the actual performing of it is something that probably never will be explained in terms of how it truly affects the psychy.

May all of the men and women serving find peace from the things they have seen and done.

I'm not making that up. It's really been happening

It's old news and doesn't apply here.

I'm sorry, I guess 12 American soldiers being electrocuted in their showers because of faulty contractor work is "old news".