Did you watch a video on preventing you or your colleagues’ suicide today? I did.
I’m serving my annual two weeks of active duty military service this week as part of my obligation as a Navy Reserve officer.
Yesterday I was sitting next to a guy that is a retired Army veteran and now a contractor. He didn’t flinch, in fact, he didn’t even react when I mentioned I returned from Afghanistan within the past year. Likewise, I wasn’t even remotely impressed (or even phased) when he mentioned he had deployed eleven times to the Middle East. In fact, there was a lot of that in my classroom yesterday. When they asked 50/50 military and civilian class how many of us in the room had been overseas to the Middle East, it was roughly 95% of the class that raised our hands. And then we proudly spouted off all of the random countries we’d visited and the many times we’d visited them. It was no big deal.
Or was it?
I came home tonight and over a spiked lemonade caught up on the social media I’d missed throughout the day. That’s when I noticed the headlines in my newsfeed. Apparently, the Navy Seal commander has sent out a letter to the SEAL community basically asking “What the #*%&?” And then there is the Air Force, pleading with their Airman not to commit suicide as the numbers rise. The Air Force has issued what they are calling a “Resiliency Operational Pause,” asking units to conduct a one-day standdown.
Here’s the thing though… Each of these headlines is like a symptom of a larger illness our American service members and their families face. When your child spikes a fever of 104’ you rush to grab ice packs, call the doctor and switch between Tylenol and Advil. A multitude of symptoms points to a larger issue.
There are a lot of smart people that have been working hard to try to understand the veteran suicide rate. And many people watch closely the divorce rate of military families. Incidentally, 6.3% of female troops’ marriages ended in divorce over 2018, compared to 2.6% of male service members’ marriages.
I wonder if maybe the tempo with which we’ve asked less than 1% of our American population to maintain might just be a bit too much. I mean your best runner can only run so far, so fast, for so long, right? So is one day of “Resiliency Operational Pause” going to help prevent more suicides, divorces or misconduct?
As I wrote this out, the question kept coming to mind, “Why should my average American friend care?”
Two years ago, I never asked if there was a military discount, and I wouldn’t board the plane early. Then I returned from Afghanistan. I returned to my family in shambles and my position at the company eliminated. I asked myself over and over why I’d been asked to sacrifice so much, and why I’d been willing to go.
As the military community searches for solutions to support each other during the turmoil that we don’t train for or conduct exercises around, and our friends and family share posts of admiration and gratitude on Veterans Day, Memorial Day and D-Day – I wonder how long can these strong, very strong, stoic and devoted Americans continue the pace, stand the watch and maintain our freedom worldwide.
And do you care?
****If you or someone you know needs help and/or has feelings of suicide, please call/text/chat one of the below helplines for immediate care and assistance.****
Veterans Crisis Line: Call 24 hours a day 1-800-273-8255 and Press 1
or Text 838255 (24 Hour Chat is also available on their website)
Military OneSource: Call 24 hours a day 1-800-342-9647
National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255
