Augusta GA Military Divorce Lawyer - As suicides rise, military intensifies prevention efforts

Augusta GA Military Divorce Lawyer - As suicides rise, military intensifies prevention efforts
Saturday, August 29, 2009

Brian Albrecht - Plain Dealer Reporter

The apparent suicide of Army Pvt. Keiffer Wilhelm comes at a time of heightened military and congressional scrutiny of increasing suicides in the armed forces.

The Army, with 128 suicides last year, already has 79 so far this year. The Navy had 41 last year and 28 this year. The Marines have 34, seven shy of last year, and the Air Force has recorded half its 40 suicides of 2008.

All the services have suicide prevention programs and are intensifying their efforts this year with new training and education.

The Army, with the highest number of suicides (20.2 per 100,000) - slightly more than the civilian suicide rate of 19.5 per 100,000 - recently launched a $50 million study of the problem for possible use of the results in treatment programs.

In testimony before Congress earlier this year, military officials said some reasons for suicides include the strain of multiple deployments, rising divorce rates and substance abuse.

Part of the current Army suicide-prevention training material addresses hazing and harassment - two elements embedded in military culture, experts say.

Four of Wilhelm's superiors face cruelty and maltreatment charges for their alleged mistreatment of him and four other soldiers.

Hazing in the military differs somewhat from its civilian counterpart, according to Hank Nuwer, author of several books on hazing.

In military hazing "there's the justification or rationalization that what you're putting people through is to make sure they can go through combat, be by your side and willing to do anything you ask," he said.

"This has come into the military culture as a good thing, a tradition best kept alive," he added. "The whole idea behind hazing is that if you can put up with this now, there will be times in your life when you're faced with similar hardships and you'll be able to get through them."

An Army spokesman said that while abuse in the case of Wilhelm and the other soldiers was clear, so far there is no direct connection that harassment caused Wilhelm's death.







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