Army Suicide Prevention

Army Vice Chief of Staff Peter Chiarelli spoke with reporters and answered questions following the release of a 15-month study of the increasing rate of suicides in the force. In his remarks he said that the overall Army suicide rate had been driven up by the 21 percent of suicides committed by soldiers with multiple deployments, but acknowledged that 79 percent of Army suicides were by service members who had one or no deployments. He also talked about recommendations in the report for tightened enlistment standards, expanded mental health screening, a confidential alcohol treatment program, and better coordination between primary care physicians and mental health counselors. Several questions also focused on portions of the report that found surprising instances of drug an alcohol abuse among the armed forces. close