US military suicides rise in 2023, continuing a long-term trend

Suicides in the US military increased in 2023, continuing a long-term trend that the Pentagon has struggled to abate, according to a Defense Department report released on Thursday.

The increase is a bit of a setback after the deaths dipped slightly the previous year.

The number of suicides and the rate per 100,000 active-duty service members went up, but the rise was not statistically significant. The number also went up among members of the Reserves, while it decreased a bit for the National Guard.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin has declared the issue a priority, and top leaders in the Defense Department and across the services have worked to develop programs both to increase mental health assistance for troops and bolster education on gun safety, locks and storage.

Many of the programmes, however, have not been fully implemented yet, and the moves fall short of more drastic gun safety measures recommended by an independent commission.

In a statement on Thursday, Austin said the new figures “urgently demonstrate the need for the Department to redouble its work in the complex fields of suicide prevention and postvention.”

He said the department is moving urgently to put changes in place, adding, “There’s still much more work to do, and we won't let up."

The increase was fueled by spikes in the number of Army and Air Force deaths, while the Marine Corps and Navy saw a very small dip.

Increasing trend

Overall, there were 523 reported suicides in 2023, compared with 493 in 2022. The number of active-duty troops who died by suicide increased to 363 from 331.

Officials have said that due to the decreasing size of the active-duty force in recent years, they believe the rate of suicides, rather than the number, is a more accurate measure.

More broadly, however, the trend since 2011 has been an increase in suicides among active-duty suicide service members, while the Guard and Reserve have stayed largely stable.

Officials said the statistics generally reflect suicide rates for society as a whole, when adjusted for age and gender because a majority of those in the military are young and male.

In response to that report, Austin released a new campaign to address suicides in the force, but the department chose not to implement the key firearm changes suggested by the commission.

Instead, the Pentagon said it would "incentivise" secure firearm storage, provide more storage locations and do more public education on how to safely store guns — similar to steps that officials have talked about in the past.