Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin ordered the creation of an independent panel to review military suicides, a problem the Pentagon has repeatedly attempted to address.
The Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee will review nine military bases stateside and overseas to “conduct a comprehensive review of the Department’s efforts to address and prevent suicide,” Austin wrote in a memo on Tuesday.
“As I have said many times, mental health is health — period. I know that senior leaders throughout the Department share my sense of commitment to this notion and to making sure we do everything possible to heal all wounds, those you can see and those you can’t,” he wrote. “We owe it to our people, their families, and to honor the memory of those we have lost.”
The Pentagon recorded 580 suicides from military members during the 2020 calendar year, which represents a 15% increase from the 504 tallied the year before. There is no data for 2021 yet.
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Dr. Karin Orvis, the director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, told reporters in September when its annual report was released that “impulsivity” was a major contributing factor as to why 75% of those who committed suicide during 2019 were under 30 years old.
“It’s the secretary’s intention that this independent review committee will help us wrap our arms around this and really try to come up with some more innovative solutions for how to how to prevent suicide and how to make sure that everybody’s getting the mental health support that they need and deserve,” said Pentagon press secretary John Kirby on Tuesday.
He also said many service members believe seeking treatment for suicidal thoughts or depression worry it will hurt their chances for promotions or new opportunities.
The bases involved are Fort Campbell, Kentucky; Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Naval Air Station North Island, California; Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada; Camp Humphreys, South Korea; the North Carolina National Guard; Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Fort Wainwright, and Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska.
Within 60 days from the memo, the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness will announce the committee members, the timeline for installation visits, and their “charter,” which “will outline the approach to our comprehensive and collective efforts.”
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The independent committee will start no later than mid-May and will begin the installation visits no later than the beginning of August. They have until Dec. 20 to send an initial report to Austin before submitting their findings and recommendations to Congress by Feb. 18, 2023.
The Defense Department provided a mental health check to roughly 34% of the more than 150,000 troops transitioning out of the service during the 2020 fiscal year, a significant improvement from the 16% who received the check during the 2018 fiscal year, according to a DOD Inspector General report from November.
