WASHINGTON — An Army report on the record number of soldier suicides says the trend reflects a rise in risky behavior, including drunken driving and drug abuse in a military stretched to the breaking point by the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The report says the Army is failing its soldiers by missing signs of trouble as commanders try to keep to tight schedules required to meet deployment schedules.
The Army counted 160 suicides last year, the highest total ever and a rate above that of the civilian population for the second year in a row. There also were 1,713 known suicide attempts. The study counted an additional 146 deaths in 2009 that it says were due to murder, drug overdose or other causes the Army lumps together as risky behavior.
The ramped-up tempo of Army life, with faster deployments and too little time at home, underlies the problem but is not its sole cause, said Gen. Peter Chiarelli, the Army vice chief of staff.
Most suicides occur early in a soldier’s Army career.
The report raises the possibility that part of the increase in risky behavior comes from an increase in young soldiers attracted to the wartime force precisely because it is dangerous. The Associated Press
