Army Suicides Hit A Monthly High In June

Army Suicides Hit A Monthly High In June, Washington Post, 17 July 2010

By Greg Jaffe

count of 32 is most since January 2009; stresses of war blamed

The U.S. Army suffered 32 suicides in June, the highest number for a single month since January 2009, when the suicide rate in the Army began to spike.

The boost in the number of suicides in June was likely driven by the “continued stresses on the force” caused by the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, said Col. Chris Philbrick, the director of the Army’s suicide prevention task force. The Army has poured money and other resources into getting a handle on the suicide rate and, until last month, had begun to see some tentative signs that the rate was trending downward among active-duty troops.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/07/16/AR2010071605839.html