Military suicides up 20% amid host of challenges
WASHINGTON — Military suicides have increased by as much as 20% this year compared to the same period in 2019, and some incidents of violent behavior have spiked as service members struggle under COVID19, warzone deployments, national disasters and civil unrest.
While the data are incomplete and causes of suicide are complex, Army and Air Force officials say they believe the pandemic is adding stress to an already strained force.
And senior Army leaders — who say they’ve seen about a 30% jump in active duty suicides so far this year — told the Associated Press that they are looking at shortening combat deployments. Such a move would be part of a broader effort to make the wellbeing of soldiers and their families the Army’s top priority, overtaking combat readiness and weapons modernization.
The Pentagon refused to provide 2020 data or discuss the issue, but Army officials said Defense Department briefings indicate there has been roughly a 20% jump in overall military suicides this year. The numbers vary by service. The active Army’s 30% spike — from 88 last year to 114 this year — pushes the total up because it’s the largest service. The Army National Guard is up about 10%, going from 78 last year to 86 this year.
The Navy total is believed to be lower this year.
Army leaders say they can’t directly pin the increase on the virus, but the timing coincides.
“We cannot say definitively it is because of COVID. But there is a direct correlation from when COVID started, the numbers actually went up,” Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy said in an interview.
Preliminary data for the first three months of 2020 show an overall dip in military suicides across the active duty and reserves, compared to the same time last year. Those early numbers, fueled by declines in Navy and Air Force deaths, gave hope to military leaders who have long struggled to cut suicide rates. But in the spring, the numbers increased.
“COVID adds stress,” Gen. Charles Brown, the Air Force chief, said in public remarks. “From a suicide perspective, we are on a path to be as bad as last year. And that’s not just an Air Force problem, this is a national problem because COVID adds some additional stressors — a fear of the unknown for certain folks.”
The active duty Air Force and reserves had 98 suicides as of Sept. 15.
Army leaders also said troops have been under pressure for nearly two decades of war. Those deployments, compounded by the virus, hurricane and wildfire response and civil unrest missions, have taken a toll.
Soldiers’ 10month deployments have been stretched to 11 months because of the twoweek coronavirus quarantines at the beginning and end. McCarthy said the Army is considering shortening deployments.
Gen. James McConville, Army chief of staff, said there’s new attention to giving service members “the time that they need to come back together and recover.”