From Military.com:
“Lawmakers Demand the Army Come Up with a Better Plan for Alaska-based Soldiers After String of Suicides”
A bipartisan group of lawmakers
is raising the alarm over an ongoing suicide crisis among troops in Alaska,
saying the Army needs to rapidly pour more resources into those rural bases. Alaska
Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski, along with Rep. Jackie
Speier, D-Calif., sent a letter to Secretary of the Army Chrstine Wormuth
outlining troubling findings of delayed mental health care and poor economic
situations isolating junior enlisted troops as key points the service needs to
fix. "Service members stationed in Alaska are under an outsized level of
stress from several angles, including behavioral health specialist shortages,
financial challenges, infrastructure and transportation limitations, and the
adjustment to living in a remote location with extreme cold weather," the
lawmakers wrote in their joint letter.
Leaders in Alaska have been
scrambling for resources after at least 11 soldiers died by suicide last year,
with another six deaths still under investigation. That's an increase from
2020, when seven soldiers committed suicide, and eight in 2019. One of the key
issues, those lawmakers found, was extensive wait times for a first appointment
with a mental health care provider -- often taking more than two weeks.
Compounding that issue is a lack of providers. Right now, Fort Wainwright has
11 unfilled mental health care positions. "This has put unbearable
pressure on the uniformed and civilian providers who are filling those billets,
increasing the likelihood that they quit and further exacerbate the
problem," the lawmakers said.
Another major concern is the
inherent isolation in Alaska and the major time difference from where most of
the U.S. population lives, making it difficult for troops to stay connected to
their friends and family at home. Lawmakers also noted economic concerns,
mostly among junior enlisted soldiers finding it difficult to afford flights to
the lower 48 states, and requested Army leaders to provide solutions to ease
soldiers' financial burdens. One idea, the lawmakers suggested, was an extra
$300 pay per month to troops based in Alaska. "Furthermore, soldiers told
us that they cannot always get leave approved for trips outside of block leave
periods which usually only occur around the major holidays," they added.
In March, Military.com spent more
than a week in Alaska, interviewing senior leaders and rank-and-file soldiers.
Most troops were concerned about the lack of consistency with seeking care;
some had anecdotes of appointments taking up to a month. In other cases, some
said there's still a stigma tied to seeking care, with soldiers afraid they'll
not be allowed to do their jobs, which often includes handling weapons. In
other cases, service members were afraid that seeking care made it appear they
were being disciplined, given troops are forced into similar care after
drinking incidents or other disciplinary cases.
Maj. Gen. Brian Eifler, commander
of U.S. Army Alaska, told Military.com he is mandating all troops have at least
one mental health care appointment this year. While that mandate is likely
contributing to the backlog, Eifler says those appointments are catching
soldiers who were having problems but weren't seeking care. Eifler said the
biggest issue is recruiting mental health care workers to relocate to rural
Alaska, as well as other personnel for the Army's civilian workforce --
including people to operate the gym and dining facilities. Some of those
amenities not being fully staffed is likely contributing to quality-of-life
issues among the 20,000 troops, half of whom are soldiers, across Joint Base
Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Greely and Fort Wainwright. Senior Army leaders are
hoping to morph Alaska into a mostly volunteer assignment. Right now, new
enlistees can be guaranteed to be stationed there if they elect to. But Speier,
Sullivan and Murkowski want the Army to develop a plan so that the ranks in
Alaska aren't being filled ad hoc, like most other duty stations. In their
letter to Wormuth, they said this could include screening new recruits ahead of
time to see whether they're a good fit. They also suggested additional
incentives.
Alaska represents a relatively
small part of a growing suicide crisis within the ranks. Data from the Defense
Department shows 176 active-duty soldiers died by suicide in 2021. In the same
year, 74 Army reservists and 101 National Guardsmen died by suicide, respectively.
Data shows the bulk of those suicides were not immediately tied to combat
trauma, with most deaths occuring among troops with no past combat deployments.
Army leaders and lawmakers on Capitol Hill have struggled to come up with
solutions to counter the crisis, which is also being seen among civilians. For
now, the service's main tactic is training junior noncommissioned officers to
identify red flags early among the soldiers they lead, which in many cases
involves rocky romantic relationships and financial trouble.
If you are a service member or
veteran who needs help, it is available 24/7 at the Veterans and Military
Crisis Line, 800-273-8255 (press 1), by texting 838255, or through the online
chat function at
^ Clearly something is not right up
in Alaska and the VA, the US Air Force, the US Army, Congress and others need
to step-up and do a lot more to make sure the Men and Women stationed there get
whatever help they need so the suicides stop. No Soldier should die of a suicide
(in Alaska or anywhere.) ^
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