The number of military suicides among active forces has increased marginally over the last decade. However, the rate in 2021 was lower than that of the previous year, according to new data from the Department of Defense.
DOD’s tallied suicide rate per 100,000 troops for 2021 is 24.3 for active-duty members, 21.2 for reserve forces, and 26.4 for National Guard members, it revealed on Thursday. The rate for active-duty members was 28.7 the year before, marking a 15% decrease. Two-thirds of the active-duty service members who committed suicide used a firearm, while just about a quarter hanged themselves. The remaining suicides were described as “all others.”
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In total, last year there were 328 suicides among the active troops, with more than half being Army soldiers, 74 among the reserve, and 117 among the National Guard.
“For the active component, there was over a 15% decrease in the rate of suicides from 2020 to 2021. Young enlisted male service members remain at greatest risk. For the reserve and National Guard, the rates stayed fairly static from 2020 to 2021,” Elizabeth Foster, executive director of Office of Force Resiliency, told reporters.
“While we are cautiously encouraged by the drop in these numbers, one year is not enough time to assess real change,” she added. “The year-to-year trend provides helpful preliminary insight, but there is still a gradual increasing trend for suicide in the military over a 10-year period.”
There were 519 deaths by suicide among service members last year: 328 of them were active duty, 74 reserve, and 117 National Guard members. Most of them were young, enlisted male soldiers, which is consistent with the primary demographic from previous years. Last year, there were 582 such deaths.
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The suicide rates in the reserve and National Guard over the last 19 years have fluctuated, but there is no clear increasing or decreasing trend.
Last March, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin announced the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee, which is made up of 10 experts, and they have a report due to Congress in February. Additionally, the Pentagon is trying to hire additional professionals who can help prevent suicides.
