U.S. Army suicide fatalities significantly decrease unit morale, task cohesion, and mission readiness.
Current policy mandates Ask, Care, Escort training for all soldiers. ACE training is based on the concept of bystander intervention. Based on 2014 DoDSER data, we know that only 25% of the soldiers that die by suicide indicate a potential for self harm prior to their deaths. We're missing 75% of our soldiers with this training.
Research shows that an effective suicide prevention training should focus on teaching help-seeking skills to soldiers. Army Suicide Prevention training must be altered to include help-seeking skill building. Please consider revising current Army suicide prevention training policy. Our soldiers can’t wait any longer.