Link 1

And at the same time, calls to the VA's Suicide Prevention hotline were going unanswered and sent into the netherworld of voicemail.

Quote:"We substantiated allegations that some calls routed to backup crisis centers were answered by voicemail, and callers did not always receive immediate assistance," said the VA Inspector General report made public late last week.

Link 2

But never fear, as Obama has stated

Quote:'We're Going To Fix What's Wrong'

So how's that fix thing going?

That's bad.

I don't recall the numbers from late 80s, early 90s when I was in, but I think there were suicide issues then. I recall one battalion command sergeant major in Germany who would lecture us at monthly formations on what to do if one of our buddies wanted to end it all ....
All we could figure was that one of his troops might've committed suicide. Which I could kinda understand, since his sermons alone used to make me want to shoot myself. He was an *******.

That said, I can see 15 years worth of grinding GWOT and multiple deployments would probably make it bigger problem now. But I don't believe you can't lay this problem at the current administration's feet.

Want to curb the veteran suicide rate?

Stop conducting ground wars and nation-building operations.
Start carpet bombing large areas of the land mass that exists between Israel and India.

(07-07-2016 08:12 AM)gsu95 Wrote:  That's bad.

I don't recall the numbers from late 80s, early 90s when I was in, but I think there were suicide issues then. I recall one battalion command sergeant major in Germany who would lecture us at monthly formations on what to do if one of our buddies wanted to end it all ....
All we could figure was that one of his troops might've committed suicide. Which I could kinda understand, since his sermons alone used to make me want to shoot myself. He was an *******.

That said, I can see 15 years worth of grinding GWOT and multiple deployments would probably make it bigger problem now. But I don't believe you can't lay this problem at the current administration's feet.

There were multiple points within this post. First and most obvious was the suicide rate. Second was the scandal of the suicide hot line.

But the reference to the Obama administration was a tangent to the problems uncovered a couple of years ago about waiting lists, the President's promise to "get to the bottom" of the problem, and the reports that no changes have been made. Link 4

(07-07-2016 08:50 AM)QuestionSocratic Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 08:12 AM)gsu95 Wrote:  That's bad.

I don't recall the numbers from late 80s, early 90s when I was in, but I think there were suicide issues then. I recall one battalion command sergeant major in Germany who would lecture us at monthly formations on what to do if one of our buddies wanted to end it all ....
All we could figure was that one of his troops might've committed suicide. Which I could kinda understand, since his sermons alone used to make me want to shoot myself. He was an *******.

That said, I can see 15 years worth of grinding GWOT and multiple deployments would probably make it bigger problem now. But I don't believe you can't lay this problem at the current administration's feet.

There were multiple points within this post. First and most obvious was the suicide rate. Second was the scandal of the suicide hot line.

But the reference to the Obama administration was a tangent to the problems uncovered a couple of years ago about waiting lists, the President's promise to "get to the bottom" of the problem, and the reports that no changes have been made. Link 4

Yes, you did make multiple points. I agree that the President's promise was, as are many Presidential promises, not kept. But you cannot lay the problem at his feet, or blame the administration for the problem of veteran suicides or a VA that is ill equipped to dealing with the longest war some of our nation has ever been involved in. There will be no fix until all Americans have some idea of the sacrifices a small percentage of our population is making. Until then, gestures and promises are as empty as yellow ribbons on the back of minivans driven by people who've never spent a day in uniform and were told to 'go shopping' to help defeat Bin Laden.

You want this addressed? Bring back the draft, for starters. Make everybody help shoulder the burden when someone like George W. Bush decides to go nation building and sets in motion what we have now.

My two cents, anyway.

There are lots of other factors in play here that never get addressed. There needs to be better screening on the front end of enlistment rather than having recruiting staff looking to make monthly numbers like used car salesmen. There are a lot of people who enter the military out of last resort or who are already high risk candidates for emotional issues prior to life in the service. Lots of these folks have never held a job and have never left their family and immediate neighborhood before heading to boot camp. Many thrive but some are just not wired to deal with it.

Christ, I had 2 guys in my 80 person basic training unit that attempted to slit their wrists with broken up pieces of bic safety razors who went off to sleeper units until they were discharged. My guess is one or both of them finished the job as a civilian.

I can't tell you how many suicides and suicide attempts that I ended up on the scene while on duty that involved marines and sailors who never spent a single day in a deployment of any kind.

thats what happens when you cut $2.6B in funding and allocate it somewhere else... where its not needed.

So why are suicides seemingly so high? This is something new? This did not happen after other wars and deployments?

(07-07-2016 08:40 AM)shiftyeagle Wrote:  Want to curb the veteran suicide rate?

Stop conducting ground wars and nation-building operations.
Start carpet bombing large areas of the land mass that exists between Israel and India.

ain't that the fk'n truth....

once upon, war was necessary.....

today, it doesn't require silly invasion tactics....

(07-07-2016 10:16 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  There are lots of other factors in play here that never get addressed. There needs to be better screening on the front end of enlistment rather than having recruiting staff looking to make monthly numbers like used car salesmen. There are a lot of people who enter the military out of last resort or who are already high risk candidates for emotional issues prior to life in the service. Lots of these folks have never held a job and have never left their family and immediate neighborhood before heading to boot camp. Many thrive but some are just not wired to deal with it.

Christ, I had 2 guys in my 80 person basic training unit that attempted to slit their wrists with broken up pieces of bic safety razors who went off to sleeper units until they were discharged. My guess is one or both of them finished the job as a civilian.

I can't tell you how many suicides and suicide attempts that I ended up on the scene while on duty that involved marines and sailors who never spent a single day in a deployment of any kind.

the days of signing up anyone is a huge problem....

but it's a symptom of the lack of educational training.....

my nephew is rotc marine and ol' piss....him I'm not worried about....

silly battling on foreign soil??? yeah.....that one bothers me,...

(07-07-2016 10:58 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  thats what happens when you cut $2.6B in funding and allocate it somewhere else... where its not needed.

Thats what happens when we send our soldiers to fight unnecessary wars for personal gain.

(07-07-2016 02:16 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 10:58 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  thats what happens when you cut $2.6B in funding and allocate it somewhere else... where its not needed.

Thats what happens when we send our soldiers to fight unnecessary wars for personal gain.

oh please enlightenment me...

(07-07-2016 02:22 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:16 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 10:58 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  thats what happens when you cut $2.6B in funding and allocate it somewhere else... where its not needed.

Thats what happens when we send our soldiers to fight unnecessary wars for personal gain.

oh please enlightenment me...

Oh you arent aware of the Iraq War?

(07-07-2016 02:29 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:22 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:16 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 10:58 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  thats what happens when you cut $2.6B in funding and allocate it somewhere else... where its not needed.

Thats what happens when we send our soldiers to fight unnecessary wars for personal gain.

oh please enlightenment me...

Oh you arent aware of the Iraq War?

you said wars...

(07-07-2016 02:32 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:29 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:22 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:16 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 10:58 AM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  thats what happens when you cut $2.6B in funding and allocate it somewhere else... where its not needed.

Thats what happens when we send our soldiers to fight unnecessary wars for personal gain.

oh please enlightenment me...

Oh you arent aware of the Iraq War?

you said wars...

Did that little "s" confuse you? LMFAO

(07-07-2016 02:38 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:32 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:29 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:22 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:16 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  Thats what happens when we send our soldiers to fight unnecessary wars for personal gain.

oh please enlightenment me...

Oh you arent aware of the Iraq War?

you said wars...

Did that little "s" confuse you? LMFAO

no, but it sure confused the **** out of you after I pointed it out...

(07-07-2016 10:16 AM)rath v2.0 Wrote:  There are lots of other factors in play here that never get addressed. There needs to be better screening on the front end of enlistment rather than having recruiting staff looking to make monthly numbers like used car salesmen. There are a lot of people who enter the military out of last resort or who are already high risk candidates for emotional issues prior to life in the service. Lots of these folks have never held a job and have never left their family and immediate neighborhood before heading to boot camp. Many thrive but some are just not wired to deal with it.

Christ, I had 2 guys in my 80 person basic training unit that attempted to slit their wrists with broken up pieces of bic safety razors who went off to sleeper units until they were discharged. My guess is one or both of them finished the job as a civilian.

I can't tell you how many suicides and suicide attempts that I ended up on the scene while on duty that involved marines and sailors who never spent a single day in a deployment of any kind.

I get the impression that the requirements for enlistment decrease every time we need a lot of new soldiers, like we did for the Iraq war. So it stands to reason you'd end up with soldiers that could be a problem even without seeing any deployment.

As someone else was asking though, is the current rate higher than usual? Is it higher than it was after or during other wars? Or is the article just basically click bait? (Not that that makes the hotline issue acceptable).

(07-07-2016 02:45 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:38 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:32 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:29 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:22 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  oh please enlightenment me...

Oh you arent aware of the Iraq War?

you said wars...

Did that little "s" confuse you? LMFAO

no, but it sure confused the **** out of you after I pointed it out...

Its a figure of speech. Its meant convey wars that have happened and any that may happen. Any time soldiers are sent to fight in unnecessary wars whether in the past or the future, unintended consequences occur.

Im glad I was able to clear that up for you.

(07-07-2016 03:05 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:45 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:38 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:32 PM)UTSAMarineVet09 Wrote:  

(07-07-2016 02:29 PM)Fitbud Wrote:  Oh you arent aware of the Iraq War?

you said wars...

Did that little "s" confuse you? LMFAO

no, but it sure confused the **** out of you after I pointed it out...

Its a figure of speech. Its meant convey wars that have happened and any that may happen. Any time soldiers are sent to fight in unnecessary wars whether in the past or the future, unintended consequences occur.

Im glad I was able to clear that up for you.

I could care less about a figure of speech... so I am still waiting.

People who serve in any capacity in the military during any time frame over the last 40 years have an over 50% greater incidence of suicide than the population that did not serve in the military. It's been an issue for a long time

Average age of suicide approaches 60. These vet suicide stats are for all vets.