The U.S. Army’s Suicidal Death Spiral
Pull up a chair, boys and girls, for I am about to educate you on a serious matter, one which the U.S. Army doesn’t seem to want solved; suicide. But Eric, how can you say that without feeling bad… the Army doesn’t want their soldiers dieing… do they?
When writing on a subject such as this, I must be both factual and straight forward; without remorse or restraint. What may seem like bias is really anger manifested towards the microcosm-like structure of the Army. I will present the facts, and you will make up your mind.
Lets start with some statistics (because that is what we are, aren’t we?)… In 2008, there were 133 suicides in the Army. So far (as of June 1, 2009) this year, there have been 64 confirmed suicides.
What could contribute to these numbers? 2008 hit a record high in suicide rates, what could possibly cause this to happen?
1.) Circumnavigation of deployment dwell time: After returning from a deployment, a soldier receives what is called dwell time. This is a made up number (typically a year) that states that you should not be deployed until your dwell time is up. The Army likes to get around this by issuing a redeploying soldier a PCS (permanent change of station) order to a unit that is near to deploying. Though a soldier can bring the issue of dwell time up with their next unit, it is often ignored and the soldier deploys before their dwell time is up.
2.) Extended deployment lengths: Though the Army did away with 15-month deployments, we are still seeing an influx of units that were deployed under this order returning from theaters of battle. My unit just got back in February, and we have already seen suicides here, as well as a number of other offenses (DUIs, domestic violence, etc) that were significantly lower in comparison to units that only deployed for a year. There is a limit on how long a unit can deploy until the fabric starts to tear.
3.) Command influence: This is a big one. You have two types of commanders in the Army; Check-The-Box commanders who only care that they provide the minimal amount of assistance to soldiers, and commanders who actually care and will go above and beyond to help those with issues.
“If any one of you mark anything down in there, there’s going to be hell to pay.” This is an actual quote from a commander briefing his guys before a psychological exam during a post-deployment health assessment. Think this person is only one in a hundred? Think again. I’ve personally heard numerous officers and NCOs utter the same language.
Additionally, this creates fear in the ranks. Various soldiers in the Army do have serious psychological problems (as we are seeing); some need help. Leaders should be encouraging soldiers to seek mental help when needed, unfortunately, that’s not the case. Seeing a psychologist or psychiatrist is often frowned upon, and unofficially (as this is not the person I am, and I do actually care for those I lead), can cast a shadow over your career.
When dealing with these types of medical conditions, a mentally unstable person is the last in order you want to be with when putting your life on the line.
For leaders, discouraging against mental health appointments for those who request/need it is not only unethical and immoral, but also a dereliction of duty. There needs to be harsh punishments for these types of leaders. Unfortunately, corruption in this regard can often go all the way up to the policymakers.
4.) Mass distribution and mass punishment: I’d like to see the cheat sheets referencing the course of action for suicides in Army units (who knows, maybe one day I will submit a Freedom of Information Act request). The one common thing they would include would be mass distribution of prevention classes (an entourage from Army Substance Abuse Program, Army Community Service and a myriad of the other acronyms) delivered in high definition, color-corrected PowerPoint slides. What does that mean? They will try to scare you into what will happen if you commit, or attempt to commit suicide (or drive drunk, etc). This typically includes pictures of severely burnt people, videos of tragic crashes, photos of maimed and dismembered individuals or of kids coming home to their dad hanging from a belt.
I don’t understand what they think is going to be accomplished by showing these to people… if anything, it only makes them more depressed. And for those not in that mindset, it will give them ideas.
“Don’t kill yourself.” That’s all you have to say.
How do they expect people to take it? “Don’t kill yourself, because if you do, you will end up dead.” ……. “Oh well I never thought of it like that, no more suicide for me!”
For those who don’t fall into the suicidal category, each of these prevention classes represent punishment on a massive scale. And if you are the type of person who thinks that mass punishment in the Army is the answer to problems, take your GED and get the hell off my website.
Mass punishment is a primer for dissent and disarray. It does not work, and it serves no purpose but to allow the person in charge to “feel the power” over their subordinates. From this, the stage is set and we start to make our gradual decent into what I like to call…
The Death Spiral
death·spi·ral, noun, the gradual deterioration of a person’s morale by a vast array of influence eventually causing an unhealthy mindset or demise.
This is how it happens…
It all starts out when PVT Johnny decides to join the Army. Knowing that basic training would be tough both physically and mentally, he sticks through it and takes the heat hurled at him in stride.
He completes training and receives orders for his first duty station, which happens to be at the 25th Infantry Division in Hawaii. Awesome, he says. Hawaii will be a great place to be stationed!
Oh was PVT Johnny wrong. He starts to learn this when he arrives at his new company, which is hellbent on making his life even more of a hell than at basic training. He is hazed, humiliated, physically abused and has never felt this bad before in his whole life.
As he works his way through the days at the 25th, PVT Johnny starts to become a more familiar face and the hazing eventually dies down. And then it happens. His commander announces that they will be deploying to Iraq within three months for a duration of 15 months. Not completely sure about what to think, PVT Johnny goes with the flow and gets his affairs in order.
He arrives in Iraq and within the first two months, there are already four deaths in the company. Finally realizing the threat of the enemy, he elevates his vigilance level and is constantly on alert. A few months go by and one night, while on guard duty, PVT Johnny sees someone approaching his tower from outside his base. Stop, he shouts in Arabic… But there was no response. As trained, he escalates force and fires a warning shot next to the individual. The individual flees and is never heard from again. But what is PVT Johnny left with? A fired weapon that has no evidence that there was actually a threat to begin with.
He pleas with the person in charge of base defense, but is rejected. “Why would anyone try to approach a U.S. military compound alone like that?” The leader says. “This incident is considered a negligent discharge and it has to be reported to higher command.”
Escalation of force classes are ordered for the whole unit after the incident, and PVT Johnny is now scared to fire his weapon as it could be the most potentially damaging thing to his career.
A few weeks later, on a routine mounted patrol, a civilian vehicle approaches the rear of his convoy. Utilizing escalation of force, he attempts to wave the vehicle away. It does not stop or turn. Thinking that the vehicle might just not see him, he thinks nothing of it. Unfortunately, the vehicle manages to make its way in between the convoy and explodes at the side of a friendly HMMWV. The blast injures three people, and kills one.
Completely distraught, PVT Johnny can’t help but feel responsible for the death of his fellow soldier. He receives lectures from his chain of command on what he did wrong and how he could have prevented this incident from happening, all contradictory to the escalation of force class he previously received.
The deployment ensues and PVT Johnny remains depressed. Upon arrival back home in Hawaii, hes greeted with long days of post-deployment classes and surveys. In an unstable mental status, he knows he needs help. He’s been instructed by his leadership that for everything to go smoothly, do not mark anything down regarding depression. He follows their advice and is eventually cleared from his health assessment.
Trying to pick up where he left off, he goes out to bars with his team members and drinks at home alone. A week later, someone from PVT Johnny’s company receives a DUI. They blew a BAC of .06 which is within legal limits of civilian jurisdiction, but not according to the Army. In effort to prevent other service members from receiving DUIs, the company is forced to work on Saturdays for a month attending mandatory alcohol awareness briefings, adding to PVT Johnny’s deteriorating mental state.
Another week passes and PVT Johnny hears from another person that someone from their unit killed himself. Apparently, the individual shot himself right in front of his roommate. The blood and brain matter went all over his roommate and the walls. When the MPs arrived, they were so unprepared that they even asked the person to borrow trash bags and other personally owned materials to collect crime scene evidence.
In response to this incident, the commander decides to cancel all extended weekend passes for a month and orders the unit to attend suicide awareness classes. Here, they are shown explicit photographs and told unpleasant stories of individuals who thought suicide was the answer.
It is at this point that PVT Johnny becomes even more of an alcoholic. He is unable to deal with the pain as an individual, and with the fear of his team members alienating him for seeing mental health, he does not seek a psychologist. He starts to show up late, acts disrespectful and looses all motivation.
He becomes focused on the incident that happened over in Iraq, and it tears him apart inside. He ponders his existence and realizes what must be done to end his suffering.
PVT Johnny makes his choice, consumed by the death spiral.
It is not hard to realize why many people resort to suicide in the Army. It is a society bent on power, and those who wield it do not want to let go of it. They will do what they have to, or ignore what they have to, to make themselves a shining star. This is typically done through the belittling of others.
It is up to the leaders to change the way this event will play out. But if you continue the methods and practices you are currently applying, don’t expect it to end any time soon.
The Army needs to stop looking at soldiers as statistics, and start looking at them as individuals. Each person has someone directly above them. It is their job to ensure the well being of a soldier. Mass briefings and classes will only hamper any prospect of success towards a less-suicidal Army.
Commanders can take away the tools, but the motive will remain. They should focus their efforts on taking away the motive, on an individual basis, for anything else would be a poor attempt at resolution.
Well, after a long 15 months in Iraq, I have decided to get back to blogging, and of course, 
