Tag Archives: suicide

US Army Makes Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Exportable

An Army release notes efforts by the US Army training leadership to support the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness campaign through its Battle Command Training Program, an “exportable” training center.

The Army’s Comprehensive Fitness Program is designed to bring together several agencies, key organizational members and initiatives to address the “Five Dimensions of Strength” which sustain the U.S. Army Soldier: Physical, Emotional, Social, Family and Spiritual.

The BCTP is a team that travels to Army bases to bring specialized training to them.  CSF is a whole-person fitness concept designed to alleviate the Army’s prior Read more

Women in Combat Have Three Times Suicide Rate

USA Today notes preliminary data from the US Army indicates “the suicide rate for female soldiers triples when they go to war.”

The findings…show that the suicide rate rises from five per 100,000 to 15 per 100,000 among female soldiers at war. Scientists are not sure why but say they will look into whether women feel isolated in a male-dominated war zone or suffer greater anxieties about leaving behind children and other loved ones.

Some might earlier have called that last statement sexist, particularly in light of recent recommendations that women be allowed in combat Read more

Army Tackles Suicide with Soldier Fitness, Other Programs

A few weeks ago the US Army noted that while active duty suicides were down last year, suicides in the Guard and Reserve were up.  Notably, while the stereotype is a forlorn Soldier who cannot reconnect after a year of combat, more than half of the Guard Soldiers who committed suicide had not deployed.

The Army, understandably unable to find a “silver bullet” to stop suicide, credits a variety of new programs with at least appearing to staunch the tragic flow:

The reduction in active-duty suicides shows progress, [Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter] Chiarelli said. He attributed the decrease partly to the stand-up of the service’s Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention Council and Task Force in 2009, and the programs and policy changes it’s instituted.

More soldiers are using the Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program, and the Pain Management Task Force is monitoring Read more

Atheists Stretch for Something to be Offended By

During the Christmas season it is not unusual to hear the controversy over whether “Merry Christmas” is being intentionally censored or avoided.  Regardless of your political or religious persuasion, there are some ridiculous examples of scornful “Merry Christmas” retorts to what may be sincere well wishes expressed in the “wrong” words of “Happy Holidays.”  Some have rightly said that some Merry Christmas-ers are just looking for something to get twisted over.

Likewise, atheists now have their own manufactured cause célèbre.

The Global Assessment Tool (GAT) Soldier Fitness Tracker (SFT) is part of the Army’s Comprehensive Soldier Fitness initiative.  It is designed to help Soldiers self-assess their Emotional, Social, Family, and Spiritual resiliency.  Atheists have taken umbrage at the “Spiritual” section, Read more

Chaplain Speaks Out on God and Suicide

The US Army has faced a growing tragedy in the number of suicides in its ranks.  It has amassed a veritable plethora of programs in an attempt to stem the rising tide that kills Soldiers at an alarming rate.

Chaplain (Col) Chester Egert writes an astute piece at Army.mil, noting there are “common threads” in “acts of self-destruction.”

Chaplain Egert notes that while the Army has a variety of programs to fight suicide — he counts more than 600 — there may be an omission in the emphasis on the internal issue of self-worth and intrinsic human value.  Read more

Military Chaplains Aid in Suicide Prevention

As previously noted, Chaplains are an integral part of the Army’s efforts to combat the trend of Soldier suicides.  A recent Army press release details how Chaplains contribute to that cause:

Chaplains provide confidential counseling services 24 hours a day, seven days a week, Wagner said. They refer those they counsel to other post resources when necessary. Chaplains also advise commanders during unit suicide prevention training, conducted quarterly.  Read more

Military, Chaplains Fight Suicide Trend

September is the US Army’s “suicide prevention month.”

The US military, and the US Army in particular, have fought a long battle to prevent servicemembers from taking their own lives.  An Army article notes the efforts of Chaplains in Iraq to fight the growing trend of suicide in the ranks:

“We want to prevent suicide, but we need to do more than just tell people to not kill themselves,” said [Chaplain] LtCol Keith Goode… “We need to give them something to live for, we need to affirm life.”

An Air Force article entitled “Life is precious” recently covered the same topic, as a commander recounted the suicide of a member of his unit:  Read more

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