Active-duty suicides almost double from Sept. - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Active-duty suicides almost double from Sept.

As many as 16 active-duty soldiers committed suicide in October, nine more than reported the month before, the Army announced Nov. 13.

In addition, eight Army National Guard or Army Reserve soldiers who were not on active duty are believed to have killed themselves in October. That’s one more than reported in September.

Each death is still under investigation and pending a determination. Army officials have said that 90 percent of pending cases typically are ruled to be suicides.

Since Jan. 1 there have been 133 reported active-duty soldier deaths. Of those, 90 have been confirmed and 43 are pending a determination.

There were 115 suicides among active-duty soldiers during the same period in 2008.

The Army ended 2008 with a record 140 active-duty soldier suicides, a number the service is on track to surpass this year.

Of the 16 active-duty deaths in October, all were male, seven were married, six were single and three divorced. Three of the men were majors, four were noncommissioned officers, five were specialists, three were privates first class and one was an E-2.

Seven had never deployed, three had deployed once, three had deployed twice, two had deployed three times, and one, a staff sergeant, had deployed four times.

So far this year, there have been 69 reported suicides among reserve component soldiers not on active duty. Of those 69 deaths, 41 are confirmed to be suicides and 28 are still under investigation. For the same period in 2008 there were 47 suicides among this population of soldiers.

Of the eight possible suicides in October among soldiers who were not in active duty, seven were male, the other female. One was married, five were single and two were divorced. There was a staff sergeant, three sergeants, two specialists and two privates first class.

Among them, two had never deployed, four had deployed once, one had deployed twice and another had deployed three times.