Army Secretary Dan Driscoll instructed unit leaders across the service to check in with all their soldiers every day of the holiday season, a time often associated with an increase in suicide attempts.
Army Secretary Dan Driscoll instructed unit leaders across the service to check in with all their soldiers every day of the holiday season, a time often associated with an increase in suicide attempts.
Driscoll demanded an officer or noncommissioned officer in every formation “call, text or visit” with their soldiers once every day through Jan. 15 “to see if they need help,” in a memorandum sent service wide this week.
“The holidays can be a high-risk period for self-harm. We know it’s a problem, it happens every year, so we’ll address it head-on,” Driscoll wrote. “… This isn’t performative — it’s real for me.”
Driscoll, a former armor officer who saw combat in Iraq in 2009, said his initiative was based on efforts in the 11th Airborne Division, where unit leaders have “systemically prioritized soldier checks” in recent months to combat a once-high suicide rate among the division’s troops at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. The efforts, Driscoll wrote, have resulted in a 14-month period with no suicides reported in the division.
For years, the Army — and its sister services — has struggled to bring down the number of suicides in its ranks. The Defense Department began collecting and reporting quarterly surveillance data on service member suicides in 2018 to help guide prevention efforts.
Those efforts have seen mixed results. Suicides were up across the Army — and the military as a whole — in 2023, the last year for which the Pentagon has provided complete data.
The Army saw 289 suicides across its entire force, including the National Guard and reserves. Preliminary data from the Defense Suicide Prevention Office for 2024 shows a drop to 260 suicides last year.
The top Army civilian said the prevention effort also needed to be reciprocated by soldiers across the service. He encouraging them to “just pick up” when their leaders call and relay to them any troubles they were facing.
“Seeking help is not weakness — it takes courage, faith and trust that your family, friends and community will accept you and help you,” Driscoll wrote. “We want to pick you up, share your load and get you moving forward again. There is light beyond the darkness that surrounds you. Just keep fighting through this moment, pick up your phone, and let us help you.”
He instructed anyone who needed immediate help or knew of someone in need to call the Military Crisis Line by dialing 988 and pressing 1 to speak with a trained responder.
“Every life is sacred,” he wrote. “We’re all in this together and just picking up can save soldiers’ lives.”
- Security