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The Pentagon has revealed that there’s been an increase in suicide rates among active-duty service members.
What’s the deal: According to an annual report released by the Pentagon, the suicide rate among active-duty service members rose by 12% in 2023, with the number of suicides increasing from 331 in 2022 to 363. This brought the active-duty suicide rate to approximately 28 per 100,000 service members.
Among the different branches, the Air Force, Army, and Navy each reported increases, while the Marine Corps’ rate remained steady. The Reserve also saw an 8% increase, rising from 65 suicides in 2022 to 69 in 2023, while the National Guard experienced a slight decline, dropping from 97 to 91 suicides. In total, 523 military personnel died by suicide in 2023, up from 493 the previous year, reversing a brief decrease observed in prior years.
SECDEF reacts: In a statement, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said, “The health, safety, and well-being of our military community has been one of my top priorities. Taking care of our people — the brave patriots who serve in uniform and their families — is a sacred responsibility.” He added, “The findings urgently demonstrate the need for the Department to redouble its work in the complex fields of suicide prevention and postvention. In 2023, we lost more Service members to suicide than in 2022, although we did see a decrease in the number of military family members who died by suicide compared to previous years. One loss to suicide is one too many.”
Secretary Austin also confirmed that he would implement over 100 recommendations from the Suicide Prevention and Response Review Committee by 2030, focusing on measures such as expanding telehealth services, revising mental health staffing models to improve appointment availability, and launching a wide-reaching public education campaign on firearm safety.
