- The suicide rate among active-duty US military service members hit a five-year high last year, a new Pentagon report released Thursday revealed.
- The suicide rate among active-duty personnel was 24.8 suicides for every 100,000 service members, much higher than the 18.5 figure from five years earlier.
- The Pentagon determined that the suicide rate is consistent with that for the general US population, but that is unsatisfactory. “Our numbers are not moving in the right direction,” a spokesman said Thursday.
By Ryan Pickrell | 27 September 2019
BUSINESS INSIDER — The suicide rate among active-duty US military personnel spiked to a five-year high in 2018, a new Pentagon report revealed Thursday. Indeed, the toll of 325 troops who died by their own hand is the highest toll since the Pentagon began tracking this in 2001.
The latest annual report said this death toll was 40 more than the previous year. The suicide rate for active-duty personnel last year was 24.8 suicides for every 100,000 US service members. This marks a significant increase over the 18.5 figure from 2013.
The Department of Defense, after accounting for age and sex, concluded in its report that active-duty suicides are consistent with the rates for the general US population.
“Although the suicide rate among most of our military populations is comparable to civilian rates, this is hardly comforting, and our numbers are not moving in the right direction,” Elizabeth Van Winkle, Pentagon executive director of force resiliency, told reporters Thursday, The Washington Post reported. […]
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