The active-duty Army is facing a record suicide rate. Leaders have no idea how to fix it
“Is there something we’re missing?”
By Haley Britzky | Updated Oct 14, 2021 1:25 PM
Army leaders continue to struggle to find a way to address suicide in the ranks as the problem worsens, with 2020 marking the highest rate of suicides among active-duty soldiers in years.
Army leaders say they are looking to try just about anything to better respond to and prevent suicides. In the Army Reserve, that includes giving commanders the ability to put a soldier on paid, active duty status to respond to a teammate in crisis.
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f one of our junior noncommissioned officers or officers become aware that somebody’s reaching out for help, our commanders have the ability to say ‘You’re on active duty right now, if you’re within a reasonable commuting distance go escort that soldier to get some help at a community care center,’” Army Reserve Command Sgt. Maj. Andrew Lombardo said on Tuesday at the annual Association of the U.S. Army conference.
The policy Lombardo was referencing was made official in November 2020, though it has received little public attention since it was enacted. The policy directs leaders and soldiers to take “rapid action to ensure care of soldiers who express suicidal ideations.” It’s one of many tools Army leaders are hoping will reverse a devastating trend of suicides in the service. And as the numbers continue to rise, the Army is focused on getting ahead of the problem and ahead of the crisis, in the hopes that policies like the one Lombardo referenced would never need to be used in the first place.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-suicide-rate-2020/