ARLINGTON, Va. - More than 21 Guardmembers have taken their own lives since Jan. 1, reflecting a growing trend in the active Army, which reported 143 suicides in 2008, the highest number since it began keeping records in 1980.
As a result of this disturbing trend, the Army implemented a "stand-down" from Feb. 15 to March 15, which applies to Army Guard Soldiers around the country.
The stand-down aims to prevent suicides and eliminate the stigma in seeking help, said Maj. Anthony McGinthy, the Guard's suicide prevention program manager. This is accomplished by leader-led training during a four-hour block of instruction.
"It doesn't matter if you're new to the family or you've been in the family for a while," said Maj. Gen. Raymond Carpenter, a special assistant to the director of the Army National Guard. "The bottom line is, based on the warrior ethos, we're not going to leave behind a fallen comrade."
Soldiers think they should be able to handle any situation, McGinthy said. Military culture has a stigma around seeking help for psychological issues that may lead to suicide, when in fact a support system is in place to handle those problems.
Leader-led instruction, he said, helps eliminate that barrier. The leader on March 12 was Army Col. Shelley Mahood, the chief of logistics for the Army National Guard.
"We have leaders standing up here saying, "˜It's O.K. to seek help; it's O.K. to do these things; and it's what you should do,'" she said.
Instead of traditional slide briefings, the presentation is an interactive video, in which audience members assume the role of a troubled enlisted Soldier considering suicide and a senior one observing his behavior.
"It's interactive. It puts you in those shoes," McGinthy said. "What you're doing in real life is much easier when you're playing an active role."
And not every situation is clear-cut. During these discussions, Soldiers told personal stories about intervention and how some had been helped by Soldiers, who recognized a problem.
"Members in the class appeared to be comfortable speaking," McGinthy said. "We had some personal stories. That opens people up."
With the stigma having been somewhat abated, McGinthy was hopeful for the future, when this type of training changes the culture.
"It is cultural and generational, but that stigma will be reduced," McGinthy said.