Pentagon issues 101 recommendations for suicide prevention to be implemented by end of fiscal 2030
By MATTHEW ADAMS
STARS AND STRIPES • September 28, 2023
WASHINGTON — Including unit leaders in more suicide prevention training and increasing mental health services are just two of the more than 100 recommendations that the Pentagon said Thursday will be implemented in the next seven years to help address the suicide crisis in the military.
“Suicide prevention is a long-term effort. Change will not happen overnight, but we have no time to spare,” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin wrote in a memo announcing the initiative.
The Defense Department in recent years has aimed to improve mental health care access for troops, amid increases in suicide rates and outcry from members of Congress and others.
There were almost 29 suicides per 100,000 troops in 2020 — up from 17.5 per 100,000 in 2010, according to Defense Department data. That figure fell to 24.3 per 100,000 in 2021, but it still represented a serious uptick in suicides compared to most of the 2000s and 2010s.
https://www.stripes.com/theaters/us/2023-09-28/military-suicide-prevention-recommendations-pentagon-11527138.html
