US Army suicides rose to almost one per day last year

[Jenna]

The U.S. Army announced Wednesday that the number of suicides rose again last year to almost one a day, despite major efforts to identify and help at-risk soldiers.
Suicides among active-duty soldiers actually declined for the first time in six years but the numbers increased among other soldiers, doubling in the Army National Guard.
The overall number of suicides for the 2010 calendar year was 343 -- an increase of 69 over the previous year -- and included self-inflicted deaths among active-duty soldiers, the National Guard, the Army Reserves, civilian employees of the Army and family members. The Army reported 156 active-duty suicides last year and 112 in the National Guard.

more here:

Suicide rate doubles for Army National Guard - CNN.com

[ex401mp]

It does not surprise me that this is going on. These people are going to Iraq and Afghanastan four, five, six and even more times. Also, unlike the other branches, soldiers on these deployments spend 15 months on their tours there, not the 6 or 7 the other branches do for the most part (of course there are some exceptions to that as well).