Critical Times

By Gary Ater
The American Chronicle
Sunday 19 August 2007

Many of you have seen the headlines regarding the military suicides that have reached the highest level in 26 years. There were 99 confirmed Army suicides in 2006 (2 additional deaths are pending investigations), up from 88 in 2005 and the highest since 1991 during the Persian Gulf War. The rate of suicides grew in 5 years from a low of 9.1 per 100,000 soldiers in 2001 to the 2006 rate of 19.4 per 100,000. (The suicide rate for the general population is 11 per 100,000.) Preliminary figures indicate that the number of suicides for troops that have served in either Afghanistan or Iraq will also increase for 2007. What you did not read in the headlines is the explanation for the major increases nor the numbers of those that attempted suicide but were somehow saved at the last moment. The other items that were left out of the articles from the Pentagon were how many suicides were committed after the soldiers were back from active duty in the Middle East and how many women serving in Iraq or Afghanistan committed suicide. For the last item, the Pentagon did not give a number for the women serving in the war zones, but they did admit that twice as many women serving in Iraq and Afghanistan committed suicide as did women in the service not sent to war. As to where were the male suicides committed? Per the Pentagon report: “Iraq was the most common deployment location for both suicides and attempted suicides.” Twenty eight (28) of the suicides occurred to soldiers deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, the remainder were committed after returning or stationed back in the US. The sad circumstance that has gotten very little notice is that the 99 confirmed suicides are a small number of the 900+ confirmed suicide attempts. This is an increase of 42% over the attempted suicides for military personnel in 2005. Finally, just what are the explanations for these suicides and the subsequent increases? Needless to say, the stress on anyone that is being shot at or expecting a road-side bomb to explode at any turn has to be a tough situation to deal with on a day-to-day basis. In addition, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and other psychiatric disorders are very difficult to diagnose and are conditions that most soldiers won’t admit to as they are not “real, physical war wounds” that you can see. Let’s look at some of the issues that have driven these soldiers to the ultimate action of taking their own lives while serving in the military: * In past wars, the normal tour for being in a war zone was 6 months and then a month off before moving on to another assignment. In Iraq and Afghanistan, that was first increased to 12 months and is now at 15 months. Even when these tours are over, they can be sent back again and again. Some soldiers today are on their 4th tour of duty in the Middle East. * Also in past wars, there was a war “front” to go to and the soldiers could look forward to being away from the “front” for short times where they could relax. Today, being in the middle of a local religious civil war, with the enemy not wearing a uniform and not fighting at a “front” or able to tell the “friends” from the “foes”, the stress level never ceases. Every time they get into a truck or a Humvee, they could be, and many times are, a target for the insurgents. * Being away from their families for these longer tours puts a major stress on the families of these soldiers. The number of divorces has increased and there are more failed relationships. Legal and financial troubles and the on-going stress of their military jobs were all motivating factors for the soldiers to commit suicide. * The Pentagon report has also stated that there was a significant relationship between suicide attempts and the number of days deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan or near-by countries where troops were participating in the war and occupation efforts. This applies to both the suicide attempts and those that succeeded in killing themselves. * Unfortunately, all of the military personnel have ready access and the knowledge for handling loaded weapons. Firearms are the most common method of the military suicides. The increased suicides in 2006 came just as the Army officials had started working on setting up a number of new and stronger program for providing mental health care to the military. A military force that is currently stunned by the longer-than-expected war and occupation in Iraq and the so called war on global terrorism. Let’s hope the Army is genuinely successful in their attempts at this greatly needed cause for all of our US soldiers serving in harms way.