Alarm at high US army suicide rate
By Salamander Davoudi in Washington
Published: January 15 2004 4:00 | Last Updated: January 15 2004 4:00
The US army's suicide rate in Iraq is a third higher than rates for troops during peacetime , the Pentagon's most senior doctor said yesterday.
William Winkenwerder, assistant defence secretary for health affairs, said: "Fighting this kind of war is clearly going to be stressful for some people."
He said the military planned to deal with battle stress in Iraq, and among troops returning home, more aggressively than in past conflicts such as Vietnam and the 1991 Gulf war.
At least 21 members of the US military have committed suicide in Iraq since the outbreak of war last March, accounting for one in seven of all non-hostile American deaths. The true number is probably higher as several cases are still under investigation. The bulk of suicides were in the army, though three were in the navy and marine corps.
The high suicide rate prompted the army to send an assessment team to Iraq late last year.
The army also began offering more counselling to returning troops after several soldiers at Fort Bragg in northern California killed their wives and themselves after returning in 2002 from the war in Afghanistan.
Nine combat stress teams, made up of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, operate in Iraq to treat mental health problems. Since last March 300-400 personnel have been evacuated from Iraq for such problems.
The military has 2,500 soldiers who have returned home and are waiting for medical care. The army is preparing for even more soldiers to take "medical extension" when tens of thousands of troops rotate home from Iraq in the coming months.
A total of 496 US military personnel have been killed since the war began, 153 in non-hostile incidents such as accidents and suicide.
Published: January 15 2004 4:00 | Last Updated: January 15 2004 4:00
The US army's suicide rate in Iraq is a third higher than rates for troops during peacetime , the Pentagon's most senior doctor said yesterday.
William Winkenwerder, assistant defence secretary for health affairs, said: "Fighting this kind of war is clearly going to be stressful for some people."
He said the military planned to deal with battle stress in Iraq, and among troops returning home, more aggressively than in past conflicts such as Vietnam and the 1991 Gulf war.
At least 21 members of the US military have committed suicide in Iraq since the outbreak of war last March, accounting for one in seven of all non-hostile American deaths. The true number is probably higher as several cases are still under investigation. The bulk of suicides were in the army, though three were in the navy and marine corps.
The high suicide rate prompted the army to send an assessment team to Iraq late last year.
The army also began offering more counselling to returning troops after several soldiers at Fort Bragg in northern California killed their wives and themselves after returning in 2002 from the war in Afghanistan.
Nine combat stress teams, made up of psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, operate in Iraq to treat mental health problems. Since last March 300-400 personnel have been evacuated from Iraq for such problems.
The military has 2,500 soldiers who have returned home and are waiting for medical care. The army is preparing for even more soldiers to take "medical extension" when tens of thousands of troops rotate home from Iraq in the coming months.
A total of 496 US military personnel have been killed since the war began, 153 in non-hostile incidents such as accidents and suicide.
Posted: Fri - January 16, 2004 at 11:10 AM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2004 11:17 AM
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Published On: Jan 16, 2004 11:17 AM