Data shows high suicide rates by troops exposed to blasts

PENTAGON

Rates for those in combat about twice those in other jobs

U.S. Special Operations Service members are illuminated by the glow of orange flames from a brush fire caused by the continued firing of shoulder-fired rocket launchers at a remote range in Fort Chaffee, Ark., in 2023. THE NEW YORK TIMES

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By Dave Philipps

The New York Times

Troops whose jobs can expose them repeatedly to blasts have among the highest suicide rates in the armed forces, according to a new report by the Defense Department.

The report, released Wednesday, lists the suicide rates for each military occupational specialty between 2011 and 2022.

Explosive ordnance disposal team members, who disable roadside bombs and routinely train and work around very large blasts, had the highest suicide rate — 34.77 deaths per 100,000 people per year — followed by infantry and special operations forces; armor crews; and artillery troops; whose rates are closer to 30 deaths per 100,000.

The rates for these combat occupations are roughly twice those of service members who work in noncombat jobs like data processing or food service.

The current national rate for civilians is about 14 deaths per 100,000 per year.

The report released Wednesday does not mention blast exposure as a factor, and it offers no insights into what may be contributing to the different suicide rates. Still, the correlation between deaths by suicide and levels of blast exposure is a common theme in the figures.

Defense Department studies suggest that most blast exposure happens in training, not combat.

In the Air Force, where blast exposure is rare, there were no significant differences in suicide rates among different military occupations. But among Army and Marine Corps troops, the rates are elevated wherever blasts are part of daily work.

“This comes as no surprise,” said Chuck Stansberry, a recently retired Navy master chief who worked in explosive ordnance disposal for most of his career. “I can’t tell you how many guys I know who have died of suicide.”

Troops in his career field train around blasts on almost a weekly basis, and can be exposed to blasts of 1,000 pounds, he said. While they are required by safety guidelines to keep their distance to avoid having their eardrums blown out, the guidelines take no account of blast exposure risk to their brains.

Blast exposure has long been a misunderstood hazard, Stansberry said, adding that by the end of his career, he was grappling with sleeplessness, depression and severe memory problems.

“A lot of us are like that,” he said.

“It’s not psychological — there is something physiologically wrong. And a lot of guys struggle.”

The report said that 5,997 service members died by suicide between 2011 and 2022 — more than six times the number killed in combat during the same period.

Eight Navy SEALs who died by suicide in the past 10 years, and whose brains were then studied in a specialized laboratory, all showed characteristic signs of damage caused by repeated blast exposure, an investigation by The New York Times found.

The overall suicide rate in the military has been increasing for 20 years. The stresses of war were long thought to be a driving factor in the increase, but the trend has continued even as the combat tempo has ebbed over the past decade, leaving many military leaders perplexed.

For years, the military has taken a one-size-fits-all approach to suicide prevention, stressing education of troops about the signs of suicide risk and the availability of mental health care. It has done comparatively little to pinpoint upstream causes.

The Defense Department report was initiated by Sen. Angus King of Maine, who released the findings Wednesday. In a statement, King said he hoped the data would guide the military “in its efforts to curb suicide rates and hopefully save lives.”