[Shhhh! I'm Listening to Reason!]

Rapid and long deployments are having another, hidden, effect on our
military readiness. The military cannot, I do not believe, stem the
increases in soldier's suicides until we are able to reduce the
operational tempo. The reason I do not believe that training programs
or screening will help is because the things that I have seen cause
soldiers to choose to end their lives are not something you can
"train" or "educate" or "screen" them for.

As one who has been deployed I have seen this first-hand. One soldier
on my rotation chose to commit suicide after receiving a "Dear John"
letter from his wife. I can say from my own experiences that there is
nothing more frustrating than to have problems at home when there is
literally absolutely nothing you can do about it, even if you are able
to have ready access to communicate. Internet and telephone access to
those at home is not guaranteed. And these soldiers tend to have other
things, like survival, on their minds.

I have also seen what happens on the other end of a deployment. I have
also served as the "stay-behind" Commander of a deployed unit.
Separation is difficult. Reunification is also a long, difficult
process for soldiers and their wives and children after being
separated for 18-24 months (the 15 months "boots on the ground" time,
plus pre-deployment training, plus a couple of weeks to redeploy to
the US). The problems are not sometimes immediately apparent, either.
Sometimes they take months to appear. I have tried to help soldiers
through that as well.

I think the military should also be looking at the divorce rate. I
wonder if there is a strong correlation between it and the suicide
rate. I would not be surprised if there is. While it is a difficult
thing to manage in a combat zone, one possible solution may be looking
at the leave policy. Currently I believe a soldier gets two weeks off
for a typical 15-month deployment (which is typically 18+ months,
particularly for Reserve forces), plus a couple of weekend passes (no
spouses or family allowed on those, as these tend to be taken in-
theater.)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080201/.../army_suicides

(Note to 2pid: Do you see how I integrated some personal expertise and
commentary into the post, which may give some further insight to some
people on some of the problems soldiers face, and adds detail to the
link? Or was this one "just too long for you to comprehend? Should I
have just posted the link and said, "This sucks"? LOL!)