At Hearing, Warren Secures Commitment from Army Chief of Staff Nominee to Prioritize Suicide Prevention in Military

Hearing

"I am deeply concerned about the increasing number of suicides that we're seeing among active duty soldiers. In the first quarter of 2023, 49 active duty soldiers took their own lives. That is the highest first quarter number since DoD first started collecting these data a decade ago.

Now, the Army has studied this problem a lot. But it hasn't acted with enough urgency. From 2019 to 2022, the Army sponsored 47 studies addressing suicide. However, an Army audit obtained by the Project On Government Oversight found that nearly 90% of those studies, "didn't have any actionable recommendations or recommended only more research." Nearly 90% of them. And for the few studies that did have actionable recommendations, the Army did nothing. Now, the Army was originally supposed to issue new suicide prevention regulations in the fall of 2021, nearly two years after that deadline it is still failed to do so, and our servicemembers are suffering.

So General George, if you are confirmed, can I count on you to help get these regs out? And even more importantly, to help get these regs implemented in order to address the suicide crisis in our military?

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And I appreciate the attention that you have paid to this, and I have every confidence, you will continue to do this. But I just want to be able to say quite publicly, you and I, this has got to be a priority for the army and seeing these first quarter numbers is truly alarming. You know, one other thing that we know, you raise several factors can contribute to suicide. Another one we know is failure to respond to sexual harassment or assault. So General George, do you agree that addressing sexual assault and harassment should be part of the solution to suicide prevention programs at DoD?

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I appreciate that. You know, we don't have suicide prevention regulations yet. But we do have recommendations from what's called the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee, and one of the shortfalls it identified at a report earlier this year is the critical shortage of behavioral health professionals. Do you agree that one tool in addressing these shortages could involve the Army working with servicemembers to facilitate access to whatever care can help them whether it's directly through DoD or outside DoD?

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I appreciate that. I just want to mention that in Massachusetts, we have the Home Base program, which is making a big difference to servicemembers and their families. They provide treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder and depression, as well as for the complicated grief of loved ones who have lost a servicemember or a veteran to suicide. And it provides an opportunity for servicemembers to get the help they need without worrying about the stigma of seeking help through DoD instead. So I want us to do everything we can in this area, and I look forward to having a chance to work with you. Thank you, General George."

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