U.S. Army Suicides Remain High in February

NEW YORK - Today, Paul Rieckhoff, Executive Director and Founder of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the country's first and largest nonpartisan organization for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, issued the following statement after the U.S. Army reported 18 more suspected suicides in February:

"For the second month in a row, the Army suicide numbers reflect a deepening crisis in our military. The alarm bells could not be louder, and we must start listening. When this many soldiers are taking their own lives, we need to go beyond suicide prevention.  We need to reassess the entire way our country is addressing psychological injuries. These brave men and women deserve a dramatically improved support system, starting with mandatory face-to-face mental health screening when they come home. We look forward to a strong response from DOD, the VA, and the President.”
 
 
To download IAVA's new groundbreaking mental health report, Invisible Wounds: Psychological and Neurological Injuries Confront a New Generation of Veterans, click here.
 
To read other IAVA Issue Reports, click here.