The Department of Defense Task Force on the Prevention of Suicide by members of the armed forces this week submitted a comprehensive and uncommonly candid report to the Secretary of Defense as the culmination of a year-long study into the rising incidence of suicide among members of the military.
While reports from similar studies have recently been issued by individual branches of the service, the DoD Task Force is unique in its charter as an independent body of uniformed and civilian experts and in its honest and forthright recommendations.
Addressing the disturbing increase in suicide among military personnel, task force co-chair Major General (Dr.) Philip Volpe, United States Army, said in a statement, "Having any one of our nation's warriors die by suicide is not acceptable; not now, not ever. This report is a call for more effective action. The opportunity is here, and the time is now. Suicide is preventable."
Membership in the Task Force consisted of a total of 14 members with seven DoD and seven non-DoD experts, including at least one representative each from the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps; and one family member with a background in working with military families.
The investigative process included personal visits by Task Force delegations to 19 military installation sites over the course of the year. The site visits were typically two days long and included Army, Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps installations around the country. The delegations met and spoke with a variety of groups, including junior enlisted members (including recruits and trainees), NCOs, commissioned officers of varying ranks, and family members.
The task force outlined what it refers to as 13 actionable proposed changes that it believes will have the most significant impact on reversing the rising trend of military suicides:
- Create a “Suicide Prevention (SP) Policy Division” in the office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness to achieve unity of effort through standardization.
- Keep SP programs in the leaders’ lane (with the Services) and create tools to assist leaders in preventing suicide.
- Reduce stress on the force; balance the supply and demand mismatch.
- Focus efforts on Service Member (SM) well-being and total fitness (mind, body & spirit); develop SM life skills & resiliency.
- Develop a comprehensive stigma reduction campaign plan to enhance “help seeking” behaviors.
- Strengthen strategic messaging to emphasize positive messages that influences behaviors.
- Develop skills-based training for SMs and their buddies, families, supervisors and leaders, clergy, and behavioral health personnel.
- Incorporate program evaluation into all SP programs to assess effectiveness.
- Coordinate & leverage “community” health services; both on and off our installations.
- Ensure continuity & management of quality behavioral health care; and actively manage transitions.
- Mature & expand the Department of Defense Suicide Event Report (DoDSER) to serve as the main surveillance tool to inform SP efforts.
- Standardize suicide and attempted suicide investigations, to include the use of psychological autopsies; and pattern suicide investigations after aviation safety investigation processes and procedures.
- Support and fund ongoing DoD suicide prevention research to close knowledge gaps, inform suicide prevention efforts, and enhance evidence-based practices and solutions.
"The number of our service members who have lost their lives to suicide is a tragedy," said Task Force co-chair Bonnie Carrol in a statement. "They were heroes of our nation, who volunteered to serve and sacrifice when our country called. We must empower our military and our families to support our troops in theirtroubles as well as in their triumphs." For more information on the DoD Task Force on the Prevention of Suicide by Members of the Armed Forces, please visit: http://www.health.mil/dhb/subcommittees-tfpsmaf.cfm .
