Army pledges more work to lower suicide numbers

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Army pledges more work to lower suicide numbers
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Friday, March 20, 2009

WASHINGTON — Military officials promised to conduct more suicide prevention education and hire more psychiatrists to stem an alarming rise in the number of servicemembers who have killed themselves in recent years.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, vice chief of staff for the Army, called the suicide figures for his service "unacceptable" and fixing them "the most difficult and critical mission" of his military career.

"The reality is, there is no simple solution," he said. "It is going to require a multi-disciplinary approach, and a team effort at every level of command."

According to the Army, there were 140 confirmed suicides last year and another seven probable suicides still under investigation. That’s up from 115 in 2007, and 101 in 2006.

The other services reported similar trends, each seeing an increase in their suicide rates in the last two years. Wednesday’s hearing was designed to address plans to deal with the rate of military suicides, which is above the national average.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=61448