Soldier Suicides

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by hlcroghan
http:///forum/post/2747664
That is one of my points. He is making a choice by doing that, yes. But does that mean that he shouldn't be entitled to be able to see his family or receive good care for any type of health problem whether it be mental or physical? No it doesn't. I feel the same for the regular people that aren't in any special forces. There should be a limit on how many deployments they can go on. One of the parents should be allowed to say back while the other one goes to war. The other one can always go afterward. There should be a time limit on the length of the deployment for the health and sake of that person who serves and their family.
I had another cousin that actually was returned from deployment in Bosnia for health reasons stemming from basically depression (due to homesickness).

 

[jerthunter]

If they didn't spend all the money on reenlistment bonuses they would have to focus on actually making the day to day life better to keep people in. All it takes is one moment where you think, "wow thats a ton of money" and by the time you are paying for it with your time you it's probably already gone.
So thats my opinion on whats wrong, I doubt it will ever change though since it seems to be working good enough for them.

 

[yerboy]

Originally Posted by hlcroghan
http:///forum/post/2747331
Okay, first of all. When my ex and I chose to have a child, 9/11 had not happened yet. The law was also still in effect that if one of the parents was deployed, the other one was not allowed to go so that they would be able to care for their children. You have to remember that there are single parents in the military as well. At one time, they cared about that. They do not anymore. That is what I can't believe. Every single person I knew in the military got either divorced or separated from their spouse including myself. The deployment my ex went through directly caused our divorce. I don't believe in any way that you should expect it to be a normal job. However, I think that they should give a crap about the people that are fighting and their children and spouses.
The military will not force 2 parents to deploy at the same time. If one parent is deployed and the other is scheduled to be deployed there are many options, i have seen this first hand. One single father was discharged from the military under the Hardship Discharge clause. The mothers where simply transfered to none deployable units until there spouse returned from there deployments.
If you want a resume i joined the Marine Corps in 97 and deployed to Kosovo in 1999 and Afghanistan on September 19th 2001, and as a civilian have 2 Iraq tours under my belt and im looking to return to Afghanistan in November.
I do agree that it is unfortunate that so many service members are taking there own lives however i feel that under most cirmstances the problems are at the unit level not at congress. Most people who commit suicide do reach for help in one way or another and there peers should step up and report it to the soldiers chain of command so that they can get the help they need.

 

[1knight164]

Originally Posted by hlcroghan
http:///forum/post/2746610
It wouldn't even be difficult. More rotation of troops back to the US for down time would do it. Shorter duration of deployments.
I'm curious as to how long your deployments were. Marines are doing 7-8 month rotations (some are 1 year) and dwell time (time home) should be equal to deployed time (in most cases). If it's less, you are given a bonus as compensation. The Army is doing 12-15 month rotations. What would you consider a shorter duration?
For the Marines, you not only have to supply personnel for Iraq, but you also have to supply personnel for shipboard deployment both on the East and West Coast. Shorter duration for deployments means shorter time at home. Someone has to replace the personnel coming home and visa versa. The Marine Corps is very small. Although the Army is large, they have a lot more personnel deployed, but they face the same numbers problem as the Marine Corps.
So to fix that, the government is actually doing something. They are increasing the size of the Marine Corps and the Army. The Marine Corps is adding 27,000 Marines by 2012 and the Army will add 65,000 soldiers. The goal is to increase dwell time to 2 times your deployment time. Deploy 1 year, stay home 2 years.
Don't really know if that's going to reduce suicides, though. Time will tell.

 

[1knight164]

Originally Posted by hlcroghan
http:///forum/post/2746563
To say that you know what you sign up for is ridiculous. No one tells you that you might be forced to be away from you family for years at a time.
I don't know. I find that hard to believe. When you sign up for the Navy, you would imagine that there would be a pretty good chance you would be on a ship and away for a good period of time. We're not talking pleasure cruise. When you sign up for the Air Force, you would imagine that there is a pretty good chance you would be working on airplanes and many of their bases are overseas. So when you sign up for the Marine Corps or Army, there's a pretty good chance that you're going to see death and destruction. And you don't even have to research that. Just watch the movies. I don't think there is any need for anyone to TELL you that you be away from your family for a long period of time. Vietnam tours were 1 year. WWII was until you died, injured so you can't fight, or the war ended. Females, different story. You were never supposed to see front line action. Unfortunately, Al Qaida changed the rules and females were exposed to more danger than expected although I knew many that were anxious to go on convoys. JMO

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by 1knight164
http:///forum/post/2748038
I don't know. I find that hard to believe. When you sign up for the Navy, you would imagine that there would be a pretty good chance you would be on a ship and away for a good period of time. We're not talking pleasure cruise. When you sign up for the Air Force, you would imagine that there is a pretty good chance you would be working on airplanes and many of their bases are overseas. So when you sign up for the Marine Corps or Army, there's a pretty good chance that you're going to see death and destruction. And you don't even have to research that. Just watch the movies. I don't think there is any need for anyone to TELL you that you be away from your family for a long period of time. Vietnam tours were 1 year. WWII was until you died, injured so you can't fight, or the war ended. Females, different story. You were never supposed to see front line action. Unfortunately, Al Qaida changed the rules and females were exposed to more danger than expected although I knew many that were anxious to go on convoys. JMO
I tend to agree, if you walking into the army recruitment office don't realise that you will be deployed, and you are signing for a job that means you might go to war. Something is missing between the ears.

 

[stdreb27]

Originally Posted by reefreak29
http:///forum/post/2746576
suicide rate is less for military then it is for civilians , i dont see what the problem is

Originally Posted by bigarn
http:///forum/post/2746569
I can't beleive you said that!
12 is the problem!
12 is a problem, but unless you have some other motive, we should be discussing the suicide rates of the general public not just the military.

(other motives could be good or bad, maybe you just have a special interest for those in uniform. Promoting their welfare on a range of topics. To using dead soldiers to further your political agenda)