WASHINGTON — Suicides among service members continue to rise, despite efforts to prevent them over the past decade. Now, the Pentagon is taking another major step.
Active-duty suicides have been steadily increasing since 2016 -- when there were 280 instances -- up to 2020 when there were 377 cases of troops taking their own lives.
A new independent commission ordered by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin will study suicide prevention and behavioral health programs across the services, including site visits, focus groups, interviews, and a confidential survey of troops.
"'Independent' for the Secretary means independent," said Pentagon spokesman John Kirby. "We want them to be able to be brutally honest with us about what they're finding. The freedom to be able to do that is going to be important to the Secretary."
U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee member Tim Kaine (D-Va.) said the idea of an independent commission is a good one.
"I think we have learned some things about military suicide, but I think we have a lot more to learn," he said. "I think the idea of a commission is to take what already has been a priority and devote even more resources to it. We owe it to our military members, their families, and veterans."
According to DoD data, more than 60% of military suicides are carried out with a personally-owned firearm. Because of that, one specific area that Secretary Austin is interested in is firearms storage.
The commission will visit nine bases. The closest to Hampton Roads will be Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.