Fort Campbell has now clicked past more than two months without a soldier committing suicide. The period is the longest without a suicide on post this year and follows a dozen suicides in the first five months of 2009.
This year Fort Campbell has been the Army’s hot spot for suicides, a problem that’s ballooned over the last two years.
Post officials say a stigma of weakness associated with asking for mental help persists. But Fort Campbell suicide prevention coordinator Joe Varney says there are initial signs of increased awareness within recent survey data.
“These surveys are showing us that the soldiers and their family members are more aware of the warning signs. It’s not necessarily showing us that the soldiers themselves are seeking the assistance.”
After a string of suicides in May, Fort Campbell’s top brass called the entire 101st Airborne Division together for a mass briefing and renewed focus on prevention. However, Varney says he doesn’t have hard numbers to make a direct correlation between the stemming of suicides and ramped up prevention efforts.
Army-wide, suicides have fallen off slightly from May to June. But with 88-suicides through the first half of 2009, the Army continues on pace to hit another record this year.
On Air - 90.3 WPLN-FM