Help
Suicide spike perplexing and difficult
February 26th, 2009 | AUSA Winter 2009 | Posted by Michelle Tan
The spike in soldier suicides is an issue that claims much of Gen. Peter Chiarelli’s time and efforts, he said Thursday.
“This suicide thing is something right now that is absolutely eating up my time, and it’s taken every bit of 36 years of experience in the United States Army to figure out how to reverse,” the Army vice chief of staff said. “This is a very serious problem, and it’s impacting every segment of our force.”
The death of any soldier is tragic, he said, but “when it happens as a result of suicide, it’s particularly disturbing.”
The increase in suicides – 2008 was the fourth year in a row that the number of suicides in the Army has increased – is perplexing and difficult.
“You would think you can apply this to soldiers who have been on multiple deployments,” he said.
But looking at the data, soldiers are “less likely to commit suicide if in fact you’ve had multiple deployments,” he said. “There seems to be a resiliency that develops among soldiers. As I look deeper and deeper into the statistics, none of the things that you would think would be the reason this is happening is popping up on top of the radar screen.”
Suicide prevention is a top priority for Army leaders, and it can be as basic as taking time to ask your buddy if he’s OK and making sure he gets the help he needs, he said.
“I honestly believe that if we get back to doing those things that we’ve done so well in the Army for so long, I think we can reverse this trend,” he said.
Tags: deployments, suicide, Vice Chief
Connectivity, commonality and survivability
February 26th, 2009 | AUSA Winter 2009 | Posted by Michelle Tan
In an increasingly dynamic operating environment, the Army must continue to improve connectivity for troops on the ground, Gen. Peter Chiarelli said Thursday.
“It’s no longer realistic to assume all or even the majority of game-changing decisions are made by [senior commanders],” the Army’s vice chief of staff said. “Today, significantly more information is gathered and analyzed by troops on the ground. … Information is power, and we need to make sure we’re pushing power down to the lowest levels of the battlefield, where it’s most needed.”
Another challenge the Army must address is the lack of commonality across its inventory of equipment, Chiarelli said.
“Over the years the Army has reaped benefits from increased commonality,” he said.
For example, the Army’s fleet of Strykers shares the same basic features, making the vehicles easier to repair and maintain, and reducing cost and wait time for units on the ground.
Chiarelli also emphasized the importance of survivability on the battlefield.
“Once the next war begins, survivability will arguably become an even bigger priority,” he said.
More survivable vehicles increase soldiers’ confidence and have proven to intimidate the enemy, he said.
“I am for a deployable and expeditionary force, but I can not in good conscience ignore the advances in (protection and armor),” he said.
Chiarelli also said the Army continues to deal with the impact of the 2007 surge in Iraq.
The last combat unit serving a 15-month deployment won’t return until June, and the last combat support and combat service support units on 15-month tours won’t be home until September, he said.
“This time away from home and the stresses of war have put immense stress on our force,” he said. “We can not maintain this tempo and stretch our force indefinitely.”
The Army has asked a lot of its soldiers and their families, he said.
“It’s really remarkable what we’ve been able to accomplish,” he said.
Tags: battlefield, connectivity, Vice Chief