The Enemy Within: US Army Suicide

Improvised Explosive Devices, Suicide Bombers, and Insurgents were once the most common enemy.
But as the violence decreases in Iraq, another enemy comes into clearer focus... suicide.
Since the War in Iraq erupted in March of 2003, the number of army suicides has drastically increased, surpassing the rate of the general population.
According to the U.S. Army, last year alone 140 soldiers committed suicide.... a sixty percent increase from 2003.
This year may surpass that.... with 82 reported suicides already.
In a Special Report - News Three's Military Reporter Alice Massimi has more on the Army's latest foe, whose startling numbers have the army sitting up and taking notice.

Suicide much like Post Traumatic Stress was not really discussed until some could say it was almost too late. But suicide is now an issue that can not be ignored. Soldiers will tell you its bad enough to lose a comrade in action, but to lose someone stateside is a whole other matter.

Over six years roughly a third of all current Third Infantry Division Soldiers have trained... said goodbye, gone to war, come home, trained, said goodbye, gone to war, come home, trained, said goodbye, gone to war, come home, trained and are now getting ready to say goodbye again.
You can call it part of being a soldier but truth be told repeated deployments are hard for them and their families.
“The biggest one is relationship problems, home front issues during deployment but also when they are back in garrison,” explains Dr. Jacob Richardson, the Division Psychiatrist.
Yet with the additional stressors Richardson is not quick to link the rising suicide rate to the army's tedious tempo.
“The biggest over-arching theme is loss, loss of a good relationship could be a spouse, a close relative,” says Richardson.
For Private First Class Billy White he says it wasn't the fifteen month deployment he had just returned from that lead him to try to end his life. It was in fact legal trouble.
While he won't go into details because it's still ongoing, this twenty one year old explains it could end his career in the army.
“I started a big massive legal fiasco and it wasn't as bad as I thought it was but I looked at it at first and I panicked,” says White.
To make matters worse most of the men he had just spent 15 months at war with were either transferring to other posts or getting out of the Army... white felt he had no one to talk to.
“I had no intention of going out and meeting people I had not just spent 15 months with because I had to learn everything about them,” explains White.
Not comfortable talking to a psychiatrist or chaplain, White sank deeper and deeper. Until one Friday night he went for a ride.
“I just kept driving and thinking and the more I thought and drove the worse I made myself feel,” says White. “Instead of calling and talking to someone about it I just went to the beach and sat there. At the beginning of the next week I am in the emergency room throwing up blood because I made one of the poorest choices I ever made.”
White had downed a bottle of caffeine pills.
A move he now calls selfish and immature, “Its not who I am, so yeah I regret it.”
Doctor Richardson explains the Army is doing all it can to reach out to soldiers like White before it's too late.
“It's a big challenge. We clearly have identified what the problems are and soldiers feel better are coming to get help they are still having problems even with help.”
Richardson now meets with the top brass once a month to discuss the suicide and lessons learned and ACE... ask, care and escort... is now preached to all soldiers, and it’s a motto they are hoping will save lives.
They are also looking at faith based initiatives... now more than ever chaplains play a crucial role.
“When I first came into the military training consisted of this is what depression looks like the signs and symptoms,” recalls Chaplain Bryan Walker, the 3rd ID Chaplain.
“Now the focus is on resilience and developing soldiers and family members so that they are able to take some of the stresses and strains they are under,” says Walker.
A true team effort... the army says it wants to do all it can to save its own.

Specialist White says he is doing well.
He has found group therapy is the right fit for him and encourages other soldiers who feel depressed to link up with a group.

Important Numbers:• Emergency - 911
• Military OneSource Crisis Intervention Line - 1-800-342-9647
• The Defense Center of Excellence (DCoE) - 1-866-966-1020
• Suicide Prevention Lifeline - 1-800-273-TALK (8255)
• Army G-1, Army Well Being Liaison Office - 1-800-833-6622
• Wounded Soldier and Family Hotline - 1-800-984-8523