“Military suicide stats released, Army saw highest increase
of deaths”
(A line of flags is placed in remembrance of each member of
the Department of Defense who was lost to suicide in 2021 at Minot Air Force
Base, North Dakota, Sept. 1, 2022.)
Editor’s note: This report contains discussion of suicide.
Troops, veterans and family members experiencing suicidal thoughts can call the
24-hour Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255, text 838255 or
visit VeteransCrisisLine.net.
The number of suicides across the active-duty military
increased from 75 in the first quarter of 2022 to 94 in the first quarter of
2023, according to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office. The Pentagon’s office
on prevention said to be wary of extrapolating and interpreting the data. “Caution
should be used when making comparisons across groups and/or interpreting
changes in suicide counts across time because counts do not account for changes
in population size,” the report warned. “Rates account for differences in
population sizes; and, as such, provide a more standardized way to make
comparisons over time or across groups,” it continued.
The Army experienced the highest increase in suicides, where
49 service members died by suicide in the first three months of 2023, compared
to 37 service members a year ago. This comes as the service still waits for its
suicide prevention regulation. An Army spokesperson said in an email that the
service is “working urgently but deliberately to complete this effort.” Army
Times reported previous delays and how the service blocked public access to a
report cited in an April 2022 story about the wait. The service passed its
latest self-imposed deadline of June.
The Marine Corps also experienced an increase, from 8 deaths
in 2022 to 14 in 2023. While the Space Force and Navy saw no increases from a
year ago, the Air Force saw a small increase, from 16 deaths by suicide in 2022
to 17 deaths by suicide in 2023.
Deaths by suicide in the military’s reserve components stayed
the same in the first three months of 2022 and 2023, with 41 service members
dying by suicide. This is the largest number of deaths by suicide in a single
quarter since the second quarter of 2021, when 97 active-duty service members
died by suicide.
Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly
stated that the Air Force experienced no increase in suicides in the first
quarter of 2023, compared to the first quarter of 2022. That was incorrect. The
Navy experienced no increase in suicides in the first quarter of 2023, while
the Air Force experienced 17 deaths by suicide in 2023, compared to 16 in 2022.
^ The Suicide of any Active-Duty Soldier and any Veteran is a
shame that all Americans need to deal with. More needs to be done to help
Soldiers and Veterans BEFORE the Suicide. ^
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