US Soldier Suicides Outnumber Combat Deaths In 2012

[malz]

Source: CBS News

WASHINGTON (CBS DC) – American soldier suicides continue to outnumber combat-related deaths in 2012, and the trajectory for soldier suicides continues to get worse.

Statistics released by the Department of the Army show that through November potentially 303 active-duty, Reserve and National Guard soldiers committed suicide. As of Dec. 7, Stars and Stripes reports that 212 soldiers have died in combat-related deaths in Afghanistan.

The Army set a grim new record of 177 potential active-duty cases with 2012 coming to a close on Tuesday – 64 of these cases remain under investigation, 113 have been confirmed.

In June of this year, The Pentagon reported there had been at least 154 suicides among active-duty troops – a rate of nearly one each day. The number of suicides continues to increase despite numerous new training and awareness programs put into effect in the past few years.

Read more: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/12/28/us-soldier-suicides-outnumber-combat-deaths-in-2012/

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No foul language? Then I can't comment on this!

[The Wizard]

1. They're being abused

for the benefit of war profiteers.

[malz]

3. Aren't we all?

But it's especially sickening when the chickenhawks are SO gung-ho for war, yet Gawwwd Forbid any tax money should go to help the people who have to ENACT their twisted visions!

[The Wizard]

9. The stressors

on those in uniform and under fire, especially for no reason, are far greater than normal human experience.

[Indi Guy]

14. What's even worse is...

...the fact that the it's the MIC which funds the chicken-hawks. This is a source of corruption that goes to the highest echelons of our government.

[Arctic Dave]

2. Lets talk about ALL suicides.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_in_the_United_States

Seems LGBT have a high rate also.

[Skittles]

5. my eyes are very bad

can you tell me which country is the high line and which is the low line? I cannot tell the difference in colors.

[madrchsod]

7. japan has the highest

netherlands has the lowest. looks like the usa has been varily constant over the years

[Skittles]

16. "varily constant"

I like that; I am stealing that for some work meetings

[lonestarnot]

8. Think I'm calling in with an eye problem too.

My eyes can't see my ass coming to work on Monday if I don't get over this shit.

[Arctic Dave]

11. Looks like Japan is at the tops and Netherlands is at the bottom.

We are kinda in the lower middle.

[Indi Guy]

4. Unconscionable! n/t

[shintao]

6. They are keeping these people engaged way too long

A year of combat is a lot of mental problems. These guys are spending years.

[a11ig8r]

10. I see two main reasons.

Either they can't live with the atrocities they(the military) committed or they thought joining the military would be a money spigot that would solve their financial woes and solve the problems they had before joining.

[L0oniX]

12. +1

[Cal33]

15. I'd say that many among those who volunteer do have some idea of what it would be like, if

they should be sent to a combat area. Their hope is that they would be sent to some
non-combat area. And the number one reason they joined in the first place is they
couldn't find any job. Any one who joins the military as an enlisted person and expects
to make a lot of money must be quite uninformed indeed! Even officers don't make much.
And few officers ever reach the rank of general or admiral.

These are hard times.

[L0oniX]

13. This only one of many reasons why I won't join the military sign up rah rah crowd.

Seen and know too many people who now hate the US government because it shits on them when they come home. Only one of many examples: My cousin became a cop to get back on society for sending him to Vietnam. Seen too many vets in food lines (25% of the line) and talked to many of them. When I express my anti support the troops it's because I don't support joining the military and do not approve of those that do. I don't want them committing suicide because of the wrong choice they made or the children and innocent who die or suffer because they are following orders. I'm not the one giving them orders. If no one joined the military they would be forced to have a draft and that would get a lot more people involved in anti war movements. Other countries get by just fine without a world dominating military at the expense of the tax payers. The real hero is the person who goes out and helps people, not participate in the death machine.

[MADem]

17. These figures are very strange. Some aspects don't add up.

I've never seen a count so high--what doesn't make sense, though, is that more than half of the people who are killing themselves never deployed to a war zone, and eighty five percent of them are not combat veterans. Is it a recruiting issue? A training issue? An "anticipation/uncertainty" issue?

There's something else besides "combat stress" acting on these servicemembers.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers from both the House and the Senate are pushing for new rules that would allow military commanders and mental health specialists to ask unstable troops if they own personal firearms, reports Stars and Stripes.

About 53 percent of those who died by suicide in the military in 2011, the most recent year for which data is available, had no history of deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan, according to the Defense Department. And nearly 85 percent of military members who took their lives had no direct combat history, meaning they may have been deployed but not seen action.

I'm astounded at the push for the "Do you own a weapon" line of questioning. I think it's a great idea, but I never realized such a question was prohibited.