Source: Stripes.com
Suicide rates among troops in the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps for the first quarter of 2024 topped pandemic-era rates while the Army saw a significant dip, according to new data released by the Defense Department.
Seventeen active-duty airmen, 24 sailors and 13 Marines died by suicide from Jan. 1 to March 31 of this year, according to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office. The Air Force and Marine Corps met or surpassed first-quarter suicide trends for the fourth year in a row, and the Navy set a record, toppling its previous high of 23 suicides set in early 2018.
The Defense Department began collecting and reporting quarterly surveillance data on service member suicides in 2018 to help guide prevention efforts. The data for the first quarter of 2024 includes all known or suspected suicides — confirmed and pending — as of April 15.
The Navy had the greatest increase in suicide deaths, from 17 to 24. The Air Force increased from 13 to 17. There was no change for the Marine Corps, which has sat at 13 for the first quarter in two consecutive years. Meanwhile, the Army saw a significant decrease, from 48 to 39, and the Space Force decreased from two to one, the Defense Department report states.
There were 94 service member suicides in early 2024 — up from 91 in the first quarter of 2023. Among Reserve troops, there was an increase from 18 to 24 suicides, and a decrease from 26 to 21 among National Guard members.
“At this time, it is too early to determine whether suicide rates will increase or decrease for calendar year 2024,” the report read.
Pentagon data has shown a rise in military suicides in the past decade, including a significant spike from 169 suicides in the first half of 2020 to 214 in the second half of the year after the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Defense Department has spent millions of dollars on efforts to try to prevent suicides, including enacting the long-awaited Brandon Act in 2023 to let troops seek mental health services confidentially and any time that they need it, moving sailors off ships in shipyards and working to provide free Wi-Fi in barracks.
But for years, troops and their families have grappled with soaring living costs, substandard housing, limited access to child care, long wait times for medical care and spousal unemployment.
Lawmakers have also worked to improve quality of life within the military ranks.
Efforts have focused on addressing quality-of-life shortfalls across the military with increases in defense spending, including in the Servicemember Quality of Life Improvement and National Defense Authorization Act bill in the House. The bill calls for a 19.5% pay increase for junior enlisted members, as well as a 4.5% pay increase for all troops, and the creation of a panel focused on improving life in the military.
The Senate’s draft version of the NDAA, which sets policies and recommends expenditures for the Pentagon, includes authorizations to increase funding to repair and improve enlisted barracks, raise rates for a housing allowance and give junior service members without dependents the ability to receive a basic needs allowance for housing while assigned to sea duty.
“We can no longer ignore the clear warning signs that more must be done to protect and preserve the all-volunteer force,” said Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., the chairman of House Armed Services Committee’s quality of life subpanel. “It’s vital that we fix these quality-of-life issues.”
The second quarter of 2024 ended June 30. The Defense Suicide Prevention Office traditionally doesn’t issue an updated suicide report covering that quarter until October and the annual report for the prior year is traditionally released in October too.
For service members and veterans struggling with mental health, call the Suicide Crisis and Lifeline at 988, then press 1.
