US (Washington Insider Magazine) – Military suicide instances have risen to new alarming levels over the past few years, so much so that this has prompted defense secretary Lloyd Austin to create an independent review panel to cover the issue. The panel will be assessing risk factors and conducting further analysis at nine key military bases of note, including three located in the rural territories of Alaska.
Prompted by the high prevalence of mental health issues across all branches of the military, Congress had petitioned the Pentagon and related defense agencies to create and form the committee to address the issues. This initiative was formed separately from the Defense Department’s actions and response, due to the rampant cases of abuse and suicide among the ranks.
The goal of the committee is to develop relevant prevention programs and create resources for military member support through a variety of mental health issues that could exacerbate underlying risks for suicidal ideation or actions.
The rush to form this committee was largely fueled by the high number of deaths by suicide in 2021, amassing to at least 17 confirmed or suspected and documented. This was among 11,500 soldiers based in the state of Alaska and totaled to more suicides counted than had been in the past two years (2019 and 2020, respectively.) This number was tabulated and confirmed by the statisticians and reporters at USA Today and was confirmed by the branch and investigative officers.
The goal of this committee is multifaceted, as they plan to both create and provide resources and support to service members, but also have overarching goals outside of this. Simply by assembling and presenting on bases for review and study, the officers are calling attention to a problem that all too often is silenced in the branches. With the government taking an active role in reporting procedures and prevention, the hope is that military members struggling with their mental health will feel supported enough to come forward and speak their truth.
The logistical plan of the committee has since been announced. They plan to visit the nine at-risk bases identified at this time, interviewing all members of the ranks via anonymous and confidential survey techniques. Beyond the three bases in Alaska, the others are located across the globe in order to impact as many people as possible. Currently, those listed include locations in Kentucky, North Carolina, California, Nevada, South Korea, and key national guard locations.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also affirmed the importance of mental health with his recent announcement of the committee, stating that mental health is just as important as regular health, if not more. According to his most recent announcement, the committee has been formed and is preparing to take action. He will be announcing names within 60 days and will be commencing with the process no later than May 14th – giving service members much needed and timely assistance wherever possible.
The committee will be advising and compiling their report throughout 2022 and will file a professional recommendation report to Congress by February 18th of 2023 – just at the start of the following year.
