WASHINGTON — The military in 2020 saw active duty suicides increase for the fourth year in a row.
A total of 377 active duty service members died by suicide in 2020.
That number is up from 348 the year before.
Active duty suicides have been steadily increasing since 2016 when there were 280.
"Between 2014 and 2019, the rate of suicide for service members increased by 27 percent," said Debra Draper, Director of Health Care Issues at the Government Accountability Office.
The Department of Defense has a variety of suicide prevention efforts implemented by the individual military branches.
They are generally focused on individual patient treatment and interventions, as well as non-clinical efforts that are intended to reduce the risk of suicide among military members.
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The GAO, in a new report this week, identified impediments that hamper the effectiveness of DOD's suicide prevention efforts.
The GAO cites inefficient use of staff and recommends that the DoD minimize duplication of effort and improve efficiency, potentially freeing resources for other suicide prevention activities.
"Often, what we find is that the military services essentially do their thing, which are not always consistent across the military, which does create some issues," said Draper. "There's a lot that needs to be done to make sure suicide prevention activities are as effective as they can be, and they're targeting the right people at the right time."
In its own report on military suicides earlier this month, the DOD stated, "The Department of Defense is fully committed to preventing suicides in our military community, every death by suicide is a tragedy."