Troops are People, Too

I've been unsure of what to make of the attention given to military suicides. Given that the campaign in Iraq is over and the one in Afghanistan is winding down, the stress on troops from too many deployments is in the past. So why more suicides now? Strategypage provides some useful information.

I wondered if this was the visible proof of the old observation that combat troops need to be kept busy after combat wanes because they will cause themselves harm with suicide and risky behavior in the absence of combat stress. That can't be the case, apparently, since most military suicides aren't even by troops who have deployed overseas (77%) let alone been in combat. Suicides seem to be driven by factors no different than civilian suicides.

And the rate is still less than similar age brackets in the civilian world.

There are still mental health issues for the military to address. PTSD is a real combat wound. Although PTSD doesn't seem to be playing a major role in the increased suicide rate.

The suicide issue is a problem and not an unprecedented crisis.

Read it all.

UPDATE: Some more perspective. Including the likelihood that your daughters are no doubt safer in the military from predators than they are on a college campus.