Two weeks ago, the Army took the extraordinary step of briefly suspending operations at Kentucky’s Fort Campbell so officials could focus on the mental-health needs of soldiers there after 11 confirmed soldier suicides this year.
Earlier in May, a communications specialist near the end of his third tour of duty in Iraq allegedly gunned down five fellow troops at a combat stress clinic in Baghdad.
Nationwide, Army suicides have reached record highs, from 67 in 2004 to 143 in 2008. In January, 24 soldiers took their own lives – more than the 16 combat deaths that month.
