Increasing suicides in US forces raise sticky questions
Recently, a 32 year old Iraqi war veteran of US army Jason Glover was shot dead by on-duty sheriffs when they responded to reports of home violence. Jason apparently pointed his gun at the sheriffs and refused to back down, before being shot dead. Some also commented that Jason could have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (also having been severely injured on duty in Iraq) and may not have received requisite assistance to cope with that. While that may or may not be true, the Jason case exemplifies an issue that is increasingly worrying the US defence forces.
Today, globally, the number of military deaths in a non-battlefield setting is increasing across the world. Since World War II, the pattern of non-combat deaths has taken a paradigm shift. Today, an increasing number of soldiers are dying because of psychological issues.
According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, on an average, 600 off-duty army personnel deaths take place every month while 30 deaths take place for on-duty soldiers! Look into the overall figure and the issue becomes clearer. A report by the US Department of Defence states that “For 2012, there have been 177 potential active-duty suicides." The same figure for 2011 was 165. More interestingly, there were "126 potential not on active-duty suicides (84 Army National Guard and 42 Army Reserve) for 2012 and 118 (82 Army National Guard and 36 Army Reserve) for 2011.” The US Army confirmed last month that the actual 2012 figure of suicides amongst army personal (active and non-active) was 325. "Our highest on record," said Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, Dy Chief of Staff of the US Army to media. Just six years ago, the situation was much different. According to reports from Pentagon, only around 100 American soldiers “died in non-combat incidents, including suicide and illness, in the year ending June 30, 2007.”
In particular, most of these suicides took place either in war zones or amongst those returning from such zones! Pentagon's Medical Surveillance Monthly Report mentioned last year that "...In 2010 and 2011, suicides accounted for more deaths of service members than transportation accidents.” It's not that Obama is blind to the issue, but till date, instead of directly addressing suicides, the Obama administration had assumed that the post service unemployability of the veterans was the main reason for suicides – and therefore all their plans for veterans were focused on either increasing employment or providing better financing facilities.
Recently, a 32 year old Iraqi war veteran of US army Jason Glover was shot dead by on-duty sheriffs when they responded to reports of home violence. Jason apparently pointed his gun at the sheriffs and refused to back down, before being shot dead. Some also commented that Jason could have been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (also having been severely injured on duty in Iraq) and may not have received requisite assistance to cope with that. While that may or may not be true, the Jason case exemplifies an issue that is increasingly worrying the US defence forces.
Today, globally, the number of military deaths in a non-battlefield setting is increasing across the world. Since World War II, the pattern of non-combat deaths has taken a paradigm shift. Today, an increasing number of soldiers are dying because of psychological issues.
According to the US Department of Veterans Affairs, on an average, 600 off-duty army personnel deaths take place every month while 30 deaths take place for on-duty soldiers! Look into the overall figure and the issue becomes clearer. A report by the US Department of Defence states that “For 2012, there have been 177 potential active-duty suicides." The same figure for 2011 was 165. More interestingly, there were "126 potential not on active-duty suicides (84 Army National Guard and 42 Army Reserve) for 2012 and 118 (82 Army National Guard and 36 Army Reserve) for 2011.” The US Army confirmed last month that the actual 2012 figure of suicides amongst army personal (active and non-active) was 325. "Our highest on record," said Lt. Gen. Howard Bromberg, Dy Chief of Staff of the US Army to media. Just six years ago, the situation was much different. According to reports from Pentagon, only around 100 American soldiers “died in non-combat incidents, including suicide and illness, in the year ending June 30, 2007.”
In particular, most of these suicides took place either in war zones or amongst those returning from such zones! Pentagon's Medical Surveillance Monthly Report mentioned last year that "...In 2010 and 2011, suicides accounted for more deaths of service members than transportation accidents.” It's not that Obama is blind to the issue, but till date, instead of directly addressing suicides, the Obama administration had assumed that the post service unemployability of the veterans was the main reason for suicides – and therefore all their plans for veterans were focused on either increasing employment or providing better financing facilities.
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