thedrifter
02-13-08, 05:58 AM
Combat Marine suicides doubled in 2007
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
Officials cite new programs designed to help stressed fighters
Despite increased efforts to provide help and counseling for troops in distress, the number of suicides among combat-experienced Marines doubled from 9 in 2006 to 18 the following year, according to figures compiled by the service.
That figure represents the highest number of suicides the Marine Corps has reported among troops who've served in combat since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Service officials said the suicide rate matched rates in the civilian population in the demographic range of most Marines.
Suicides typically involve troops suffering problems in a personal relationship, officials say, adding that other factors such as poor performance or legal troubles are warning signs.
The officials also pointed to programs designed to notice when a Marine is contemplating taking his or her own life, programs at least one local off-base counselor said are paying off.
But some critics contend that the service is failing to count all of the men and women who end their lives after serving in a combat zone.
Overall rate up 37 percent
The number of suicides among all Marines rose by 37 percent last year, climbing from 24 in 2006 to 33, according to figures the Corps compiled for the North County Times.
Among those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, the grim figure jumped from 9 to 18, and the number of suicides committed "in theater," or in one of those two countries, rose from 4 to 6 from 2006 to 2007.
While acknowledging the spike in the 2007 combat veteran suicides, Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Werbel at the Marine Corps Personal and Family Readiness Division in Quantico, Va., said during a telephone interview that suicide rates have not risen to an alarming number.
"The numbers and the ratios are staying constant and we're not seeing a great uptick over time," said Werbel, the Marine Corps' suicide prevention program manager.
Officials at Camp Pendleton were not able to immediately provide a breakdown of suicide figures for troops based there.
Another one lost
In the most recent apparent suicide at the base, Lance Cpl. Johnathon Goffred of Indiana was found hanging in his barracks Jan. 26.
An infantryman, Goffred had recently returned from a seven-month tour in Iraq's Anbar province. While his death remains under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, agency spokesman Ed Buice in Washington said Tuesday that all preliminary indications point toward suicide.
If Goffred's death is officially deemed a suicide, he would join 143 active duty and reserve Marines who killed themselves from 2003 to 2007, according to the statistics supplied by the Marine Corps.
Sixty-four had combat experience in Afghanistan or Iraq, and 23 committed suicide while serving in what the U.S. military calls Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Suicide rates in all military branches began rising following the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent invasion of Iraq. Mental health experts maintain the frequency and length of combat rotations are key components in steadily rising numbers of post-traumatic stress disorder and military suicides.
Last month, for example, the Army reported 121 suicides in 2007, a 20 percent increase over the previous year. The number in the Army who tried to commit suicide or injure themselves for some other reason ballooned from 350 in 2002 to 2,100 in 2006. Similar statistics for the Marine Corps were not immediately available.
On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that a Department of Veterans Affairs study showed that 53 percent of veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan who committed suicide were members of the National Guard or Reserves.
According to the VA's research, 144 veterans committed suicide from the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, through the end of 2005. Of those, 35 veterans, or 24 percent, served in the Reserves and 41, or 29 percent, had served in the National Guard. Sixty-eight -- or 47 percent -- had been in the regular military.
Demographics match
In a statement accompanying the figures obtained by the North County Times, the Marine Corps said its average annual suicide rate between 1996 and 2006 was 14.3 percent per 100,000.
That number, Capt. Blanca Binstock said in the statement, was "well below the national rate of 19.9 per 100,000 when the civilian population is adjusted from Marine Corps demographics."
"While the annual rate fluctuates, there is no consistent up or down trend since 9/11," the statement said.
Werbel, the Marine Corps' point man in preventing suicide, stressed the rate of suicides for Marines who have been or are deployed is about the same as that for Marines who have never fought in a war.
A typical Marine suicide involves junior enlisted white males, Werbel said.
"That's also the typical Marine," he said.
More than 60 percent of Marines are under age 25 and roughly 18 percent are teenagers, an age group considered high-risk for suicide in civilian or military populations.
Werbel said a Marine's suicide is typically preceded by stresses including relationship difficulties, illnesses or injuries, job dissatisfaction or poor performance and pending legal trouble.
New programs, criticism
Among the Marine Corps' efforts to better identify and aid Marines struggling with stress is a new program scheduled to place mental health teams in Iraq starting this month.
The teams, comprising a chaplain and "psychiatric technician," are being assigned to regiments, including the 11,000 Marines and sailors from Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq's Anbar province.
Another new initiative called "Are You Listening?" being introduced at Marine bases enlists civilian employees to encourage troops they sense are in distress to seek help.
Donald Bentley, a licensed psychotherapist in Oceanside who has been critical of the Marine Corps' mental health efforts in the past, said he has seen positive changes in recent months at Camp Pendleton.
"We're seeing fewer and fewer seeking help off-base because they have freed up their staff and sending mental health people out on the base to talk with the troops," said Bentley, whose practice includes treating Marines.
Still, Bentley said he worries about the stigma some Marines still attach to those who seek mental health counseling.
"That's even harder for those in the higher ranks," he said. "They don't want to go to the mental health unit because of the potential stigma. Even though I tell them there have been a lot of changes, I can't get them to do that."
Another advocate for better care for troops and veterans said Tuesday that U.S. military and veterans groups were largely ignoring one group of former members of the military -- the homeless.
"People fall off the radar when they leave the service," said Drew Brown, an Army reservist drill instructor and volunteer for the New York-based advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
"There are a number of homeless veterans who have suicidal thoughts or who have committed suicide, and that group is not being picked up in the reporting."
This year's annual Military Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the services takes place in San Diego in April.
-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie
By: MARK WALKER - Staff Writer
Officials cite new programs designed to help stressed fighters
Despite increased efforts to provide help and counseling for troops in distress, the number of suicides among combat-experienced Marines doubled from 9 in 2006 to 18 the following year, according to figures compiled by the service.
That figure represents the highest number of suicides the Marine Corps has reported among troops who've served in combat since the March 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Service officials said the suicide rate matched rates in the civilian population in the demographic range of most Marines.
Suicides typically involve troops suffering problems in a personal relationship, officials say, adding that other factors such as poor performance or legal troubles are warning signs.
The officials also pointed to programs designed to notice when a Marine is contemplating taking his or her own life, programs at least one local off-base counselor said are paying off.
But some critics contend that the service is failing to count all of the men and women who end their lives after serving in a combat zone.
Overall rate up 37 percent
The number of suicides among all Marines rose by 37 percent last year, climbing from 24 in 2006 to 33, according to figures the Corps compiled for the North County Times.
Among those who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, the grim figure jumped from 9 to 18, and the number of suicides committed "in theater," or in one of those two countries, rose from 4 to 6 from 2006 to 2007.
While acknowledging the spike in the 2007 combat veteran suicides, Lt. Cmdr. Aaron Werbel at the Marine Corps Personal and Family Readiness Division in Quantico, Va., said during a telephone interview that suicide rates have not risen to an alarming number.
"The numbers and the ratios are staying constant and we're not seeing a great uptick over time," said Werbel, the Marine Corps' suicide prevention program manager.
Officials at Camp Pendleton were not able to immediately provide a breakdown of suicide figures for troops based there.
Another one lost
In the most recent apparent suicide at the base, Lance Cpl. Johnathon Goffred of Indiana was found hanging in his barracks Jan. 26.
An infantryman, Goffred had recently returned from a seven-month tour in Iraq's Anbar province. While his death remains under investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service, agency spokesman Ed Buice in Washington said Tuesday that all preliminary indications point toward suicide.
If Goffred's death is officially deemed a suicide, he would join 143 active duty and reserve Marines who killed themselves from 2003 to 2007, according to the statistics supplied by the Marine Corps.
Sixty-four had combat experience in Afghanistan or Iraq, and 23 committed suicide while serving in what the U.S. military calls Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Suicide rates in all military branches began rising following the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan and the subsequent invasion of Iraq. Mental health experts maintain the frequency and length of combat rotations are key components in steadily rising numbers of post-traumatic stress disorder and military suicides.
Last month, for example, the Army reported 121 suicides in 2007, a 20 percent increase over the previous year. The number in the Army who tried to commit suicide or injure themselves for some other reason ballooned from 350 in 2002 to 2,100 in 2006. Similar statistics for the Marine Corps were not immediately available.
On Tuesday, The Associated Press reported that a Department of Veterans Affairs study showed that 53 percent of veterans returning from Iraq or Afghanistan who committed suicide were members of the National Guard or Reserves.
According to the VA's research, 144 veterans committed suicide from the start of the war in Afghanistan on Oct. 7, 2001, through the end of 2005. Of those, 35 veterans, or 24 percent, served in the Reserves and 41, or 29 percent, had served in the National Guard. Sixty-eight -- or 47 percent -- had been in the regular military.
Demographics match
In a statement accompanying the figures obtained by the North County Times, the Marine Corps said its average annual suicide rate between 1996 and 2006 was 14.3 percent per 100,000.
That number, Capt. Blanca Binstock said in the statement, was "well below the national rate of 19.9 per 100,000 when the civilian population is adjusted from Marine Corps demographics."
"While the annual rate fluctuates, there is no consistent up or down trend since 9/11," the statement said.
Werbel, the Marine Corps' point man in preventing suicide, stressed the rate of suicides for Marines who have been or are deployed is about the same as that for Marines who have never fought in a war.
A typical Marine suicide involves junior enlisted white males, Werbel said.
"That's also the typical Marine," he said.
More than 60 percent of Marines are under age 25 and roughly 18 percent are teenagers, an age group considered high-risk for suicide in civilian or military populations.
Werbel said a Marine's suicide is typically preceded by stresses including relationship difficulties, illnesses or injuries, job dissatisfaction or poor performance and pending legal trouble.
New programs, criticism
Among the Marine Corps' efforts to better identify and aid Marines struggling with stress is a new program scheduled to place mental health teams in Iraq starting this month.
The teams, comprising a chaplain and "psychiatric technician," are being assigned to regiments, including the 11,000 Marines and sailors from Camp Pendleton's I Marine Expeditionary Force in Iraq's Anbar province.
Another new initiative called "Are You Listening?" being introduced at Marine bases enlists civilian employees to encourage troops they sense are in distress to seek help.
Donald Bentley, a licensed psychotherapist in Oceanside who has been critical of the Marine Corps' mental health efforts in the past, said he has seen positive changes in recent months at Camp Pendleton.
"We're seeing fewer and fewer seeking help off-base because they have freed up their staff and sending mental health people out on the base to talk with the troops," said Bentley, whose practice includes treating Marines.
Still, Bentley said he worries about the stigma some Marines still attach to those who seek mental health counseling.
"That's even harder for those in the higher ranks," he said. "They don't want to go to the mental health unit because of the potential stigma. Even though I tell them there have been a lot of changes, I can't get them to do that."
Another advocate for better care for troops and veterans said Tuesday that U.S. military and veterans groups were largely ignoring one group of former members of the military -- the homeless.
"People fall off the radar when they leave the service," said Drew Brown, an Army reservist drill instructor and volunteer for the New York-based advocacy group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
"There are a number of homeless veterans who have suicidal thoughts or who have committed suicide, and that group is not being picked up in the reporting."
This year's annual Military Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the services takes place in San Diego in April.
-- Contact staff writer Mark Walker at (760) 740-3529 or mlwalker@nctimes.com.
Ellie