USMC tackles Suicide with new training program

We have got to find something to help our Service members deal with the stress of our job!! I hope this helps the USMC!!

WASHINGTON — Faced with a rise in suicides among Marines, the service is ordering training for all immediate supervisors — sergeants and corporals — to become more involved and knowledgeable about the intimate details of the lives of their young charges.

“We as Marines always try to do the hard thing,” Master Sgt. James Dinwoodie says in a training video aimed at promoting sensitivity to emotional problems Marines may be suffering. “Well, sometimes you need to do the soft thing.”

Through July 16, there have been 30 confirmed or suspected Marine suicides this year. There were 42 during 2008, the highest since the start of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. There have also been 89 attempted suicides this year, compared with 146 attempts in all of 2008.

The rate of Marine Corps suicides in 2008 reached 19.5 per 100,000, approaching the civilian rate of 19.9.

Having done the Suicide prevention training right after 9/11 and 2 years after, it wasn’t as much of a problem. But with repeat Tours to IRAQ and now Afghanistan, something has to happen and help change the problem.

Read the rest of the article on USA TODAY here: Program aims to curb Marine Suicides.