Date: 5/27/2009
KRISTIN M. HALL
Associated Press Writer
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) — Regular duties are suspended for three days at Fort Campbell, which leads the Army in suicides this year, so commanders can identify and help soldiers who are struggling with the stress of war and most at risk for killing themselves.
The post began a stand down on Wednesday so soldiers can focus on suicide prevention training in the wake of 11 confirmed suicides by Fort Campbell soldiers this year. More deaths are being investigated as possible suicides.
“This is not a place where Fort Campbell and the 101st Airborne Division want to be,” said Brig. Gen. Stephen Townsend. “We don’t want to lead the Army in this statistic.”
From January to March, the installation on the Kentucky-Tennessee line averaged one suicide per week, Townsend said. After an Army-wide suicide prevention campaign in started in March, there were no suicides for six weeks, he said.
“But last week we had two. Two in a week,” Townsend said.
In a series of addresses this week, Townsend will speak to each of the approximately 25,000 soldiers assigned to the division. He told more than 4,000 soldiers Wednesday morning that the suicides must stop.
“Someone here has had thoughts or is having thoughts about hurting themselves,” Townsend said. “Or you know someone who is.”
Army leaders have been developing new guidance for commanders to help installations like Fort Campbell deal with rising suicide rates. Across the Army, suicides from January through March rose to a reported 56 — 22 confirmed and 34 still being investigated and pending confirmation.
The Army has said that soldier suicides reached the highest rate on record in 2008. Officials said the deaths in 2008 would amount to a rate of 20.2 per 100,000 soldiers, which is higher than the civilian rate, when adjusted to reflect the Army’s younger and male-heavy demographics.
Frequent deployments by the division since 2001 have contributed to the stress suffered by soldiers at Fort Campbell, said Col. Ken Brown, the head of chaplains on the installation.
The three 101st Airborne combat brigades have gone through at least three tours in Iraq. The 3rd Brigade also served seven months in Afghanistan, early in the war, and the 4th Brigade has just returned from a 15-month tour in Afghanistan.
“We’ve been at war at this installation for seven years,” Brown said. “I think that has a cumulative effect across the force.”
Fort Campbell leaders have asked soldiers on the post to look out for each other and paired them up through a “battle buddy” system. Unit leaders are also reviewing and updating lists of soldiers who may be a risk for suicide and are reminding them they can seek help from resources such as a chaplain or a hospital.
But Army officials say many soldiers are afraid that seeking help for mental health issues will hurt their career or make them appear weak to their fellow soldiers. Townsend urged soldiers to speak up.
“You wouldn’t hesitate to seek medical attention for a physical wound or injury,” Townsend said. “Don’t hesitate to seek medical attention for a psychological injury.”
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press.
Army general to investigate recruiter suicides
Date: 11/7/2008
By MICHELLE ROBERTS
Associated Press Writer
SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ The Army has agreed to investigate a disproportionate cluster of suicides among recruiters in an East Texas battalion, as well as allegations by other soldiers and family members that they were pressured to cover up serious problems in the battalion, Army Secretary Pete Geren said.
Seventeen Army recruiters have committed suicide nationwide since 2001, but four of them were from the Houston Recruiting Battalion, which recruits soldiers from East Texas. A fifth Houston-area soldier killed himself, but he was assigned to the Army’s Future Soldier Training Program.
There are 38 recruiting battalions nationwide with 8,400 recruiters.
The Army’s suicide rate has been climbing as the war in Iraq has forced multiple and longer deployments.
Last year, the Army’s suicide rate was 18.1 per 100,000, the highest since the service started keeping records in 1980. That’s still lower than the U.S. civilian rate of 19.5 per 100,000.
The investigation was sought by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who heard from soldiers and family members after the Houston Chronicle reported the cluster of suicides earlier this year.
Brig. Gen. Frank Turner has been assigned to investigate the recruiter suicides and the cover-up allegations, Geren told Cornyn in a letter dated Monday.
A chaplain, psychologist and equal employment officer talked to members of the Houston battalion in mid-October, said Douglas Smith, spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command. Their report is not yet complete, but Smith said Friday he doesn’t know of any obstruction.
Cornyn noted in an interview Friday that the all-volunteer service is under heavy pressure to sign recruits and retain soldiers during two wars.
Many recruiters are soldiers with recent combat experience who may be suffering from stress and now must persuade high school students and other young people to join an Army at war.
The hours can be long and many work in offices in shopping malls or elsewhere far from Army posts. Cornyn said those conditions isolate soldiers, particularly ones who have recently returned from combat, and may make many of the Army’s support services out of reach.
Cornyn, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, complained to Geren in a letter that current recruiters and family members felt some battalion leaders were “working to cover up serious problems that evidence a toxic command climate and poor unit morale.”
Cornyn told The Associated Press on Friday that he’s concerned about the Houston battalion but noted “it also has implications militarywide.”
Cornyn has questioned the policy that places recruiting commanders without combat experience over hardened combat veterans.
Geren acknowledged in a letter dated Nov. 3 that some recruiting commanders don’t have combat experience, but he said Army officials don’t believe the lack of experience makes them ill-equipped to mentor and supervise combat veterans assigned to the recruiting command.
Geren said he directed Army officials to ensure recruiters have full access to the Army’s mental health services.
Cornyn had hoped for an independent investigation rather than one directed by the Army, but he said he is willing to give commanders a chance to handle it themselves.
“I’m hopeful they’ll take the matter seriously,” he said. “We’ll see whether the product is something that’s credible and demonstrates that they’ve taken it seriously.”
The senator said he also plans to seek a Senate hearing on the issue.
___
On the Net:
Houston Recruiting Battalion: http://www.usarec.army.mil/5thbde/4ebn/
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn: http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
By MICHELLE ROBERTS
Associated Press Writer
SAN ANTONIO (AP) _ The Army has agreed to investigate a disproportionate cluster of suicides among recruiters in an East Texas battalion, as well as allegations by other soldiers and family members that they were pressured to cover up serious problems in the battalion, Army Secretary Pete Geren said.
Seventeen Army recruiters have committed suicide nationwide since 2001, but four of them were from the Houston Recruiting Battalion, which recruits soldiers from East Texas. A fifth Houston-area soldier killed himself, but he was assigned to the Army’s Future Soldier Training Program.
There are 38 recruiting battalions nationwide with 8,400 recruiters.
The Army’s suicide rate has been climbing as the war in Iraq has forced multiple and longer deployments.
Last year, the Army’s suicide rate was 18.1 per 100,000, the highest since the service started keeping records in 1980. That’s still lower than the U.S. civilian rate of 19.5 per 100,000.
The investigation was sought by Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, who heard from soldiers and family members after the Houston Chronicle reported the cluster of suicides earlier this year.
Brig. Gen. Frank Turner has been assigned to investigate the recruiter suicides and the cover-up allegations, Geren told Cornyn in a letter dated Monday.
A chaplain, psychologist and equal employment officer talked to members of the Houston battalion in mid-October, said Douglas Smith, spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Command. Their report is not yet complete, but Smith said Friday he doesn’t know of any obstruction.
Cornyn noted in an interview Friday that the all-volunteer service is under heavy pressure to sign recruits and retain soldiers during two wars.
Many recruiters are soldiers with recent combat experience who may be suffering from stress and now must persuade high school students and other young people to join an Army at war.
The hours can be long and many work in offices in shopping malls or elsewhere far from Army posts. Cornyn said those conditions isolate soldiers, particularly ones who have recently returned from combat, and may make many of the Army’s support services out of reach.
Cornyn, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, complained to Geren in a letter that current recruiters and family members felt some battalion leaders were “working to cover up serious problems that evidence a toxic command climate and poor unit morale.”
Cornyn told The Associated Press on Friday that he’s concerned about the Houston battalion but noted “it also has implications militarywide.”
Cornyn has questioned the policy that places recruiting commanders without combat experience over hardened combat veterans.
Geren acknowledged in a letter dated Nov. 3 that some recruiting commanders don’t have combat experience, but he said Army officials don’t believe the lack of experience makes them ill-equipped to mentor and supervise combat veterans assigned to the recruiting command.
Geren said he directed Army officials to ensure recruiters have full access to the Army’s mental health services.
Cornyn had hoped for an independent investigation rather than one directed by the Army, but he said he is willing to give commanders a chance to handle it themselves.
“I’m hopeful they’ll take the matter seriously,” he said. “We’ll see whether the product is something that’s credible and demonstrates that they’ve taken it seriously.”
The senator said he also plans to seek a Senate hearing on the issue.
___
On the Net:
Houston Recruiting Battalion: http://www.usarec.army.mil/5thbde/4ebn/
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn: http://cornyn.senate.gov/public/
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
