The U.S. military likes to put a positive spin on even the grimmest news. In the summer of 2010, for example, both the Pentagon and the Army issued reports probing the rash of suicides in the ranks.
The Defense Department called its study The Challenge and the Promise: Strengthening the Force, Preventing Suicide and Saving Lives.
The Army’s title spun even faster: Army Health Promotion, Risk Reduction, Suicide Prevention. In journalism, we call that burying the lede.
On Tuesday, the Center for a New American Security is issuing its study into the topic. Its title doesn’t beat around the bush: it’s called Losing the Battle: The Challenge of Military Suicide.
It warns, in unblinking prose:
If military service becomes associated with suicide, will it be possible to recruit bright and promising young men and women at current rates? Will parents and teachers encourage young people to join the military when veterans from their own communities have died from suicide? Can the all-volunteer force be viable if veterans come to be seen as broken individuals? And how might climbing rates of suicide affect how Americans view active-duty service members and veterans – and indeed, how service members and veterans see themselves?
Check out the full study – and some proposals to battle the tide – here. And check back Thursday when co-author Margaret Harrell joins us for the first of four Command Post episodes on the challenges of military suicides.
