Lawmakers in both houses of Congress are calling on the Department of Defense to comply with federal law and submit overdue suicide reports to legislative committees.
Sen. Angus King (R-Maine) and Rep. Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pennsylvania) said the information is needed to develop policies that address systemic suicide risk across the force.
But Senate officials say the Pentagon has missed the deadline to submit three required reports from the fiscal year 2023 defense policy bill, which were due in December 2023. One of the reports looked at the number of suicides since 9/11 by occupation and military personnel. component. Another would direct agencies to create a standardized definition of a “suicide cluster,” and a third would require the Department of Defense to assess the relationship between low recruitment, operational tempo, and physical/mental health. I asked him to research it. An Army Times reporter visited the Capitol on Friday and confirmed the report did not exist.
In January, the Department of Defense He wrote a letter to Congress stating: We have collected figures for suicide reports by occupation. But the letter's author, Assistant Secretary of Defense Ashish Wazirani, said the data “requires a more complex statistical approach to make appropriate and reliable comparisons.” Wazirani estimates his office will submit its report by June 28, almost six months late.
Dr. King, who authored the law requiring the Pentagon to investigate suicide by military specialty, said the data is “critical to addressing the problem.” [military and veteran suicide] Have a clear focus. ” Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee called the Army Times Broken Trucks study (which revealed a link between recent deployments of armored brigades and tankers and rising suicide rates) a “complex research project.” '' he praised. [that] We save lives by informing people how to better support America and the people who stand for our principles. ”
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He lives in Maine and is a retired Air Force sergeant major. Chris McGee, who suggested King commit suicide, released an open letter on Tuesday calling on members of Congress to “make the most of all voices.” [oversight] Please grant me permission to promote the publication of this research. '' McGee told Army Times that the spate of deaths of Air Force aircraft maintenance workers prompted him to investigate suicide rates by specialty.
Pentagon officials plan to meet with lawmakers in late March or early April to discuss the overdue data, King's office said.
Houlahan, a former Air Force captain, said the Army Times report “confirmed certain facts.” [military] Professions are disproportionately affected by suicide. ”
“Now that we have the data, and we'll have more data, it's up to Congress to act,” Houlahan said. “If that means providing the Department of Defense with additional tools to address this issue, I look forward to working with my colleagues in both chambers, especially Senator King, to get that done.” .”
A third lawmaker, Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska), said Thursday that the Army should “reassess its global armor posture and seriously consider fielding additional equipment permanently.” said. [brigade combat team] In Europe. “ A think tank released a report on Monday saying the Army should permanently base an armored brigade in Poland.
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King said that once complete data on suicide was available, Congress would “address the root causes of suicide, reevaluate training methods and deployments, and improve care for the men and women who have served our country.” “It will help us improve,” he said.
according to Hoolahan, the report won't come soon enough.
“Lives are at stake and any delay will be fatal,” she said.
Davis Winkie covers the Army for Military Times. He studied history at Vanderbilt and his UNC at Chapel Hill, where he served in the Army Guard for five years. His investigations have won him the Society of Professional Journalists' 2023 Sunshine Award and the Military Reporter and Editor's Consecutive Award, among others. Davis was also a finalist for the 2022 Livingston Award.