U.S releases report of souring suicide rate among troops

Admin l Friday, September 27, 2019

PENTAGON – The United States today released a report detailing soaring suicide rate among troops.

According to the report,    541 service members across the military’s active and reserve components died by suicide in the year 2018. Within the active component,  suicide rate was 24.8 percent per 100,000 personnel, showing an increase in percentage compared to 22.9 percent rate recorded in 2017.

 The report presented by director of  Defense Suicide Prevention Office Karin A. Orvis showed that within the active component, the suicide rate was 24.8 per 100,000 personnel, an increase from 2017’s rate of 21.9.

 In the service reserves, the suicide rate for 2018 dropped to 22.9 suicides per 100,000 from the 2017 rate of 25.7. 

But in the National Guard, the suicide rate rose to 30.6 per 100,000 in 2018 from 2017’s 29.8.

“Across all of our populations, active component, reserve and National Guard, the 2018 suicide rate is statistically consistent over the past two years,” said Elizabeth P. Van Winkle, DOD’s executive director of force resiliency. 

“However, rates from the active component are statistically higher than rates from the last five years”, she said.

Van Winkle also explained how suicide rates within the military, a population that is younger and has more men than the nation’s overall civilian population, compares to a similar populations among civilians. 

“While we hold ourselves to a higher standard than the civilian population, we are often asked how we compare,” Van Winkle said, adding “this year’s report indicates that suicide rates for active-component and reserve members are comparable to U.S. population rates after accounting for age and sex. But rates for the National Guard are higher than the U.S. population after similar adjustments.”