September 2023 — MHCE Newsletter

8 | MHCE - News www.mhce.us SEPTEMBER 2023 EDITION
be most valuable to me throughout my career is that it takes a village! I
am forever grateful for the invaluable mentorship, top notch camaraderie,
lifelong friendships, and priceless memories from here. Without the staff
and co-residents I was blessed to be around, I would not be as successful as
I am today as a graduate of NPDS. I am sincerely thankful for being selected
to be a part of this prestigious institution of academic excellence.” LCDR
Islam completed a two-year residency program in Endodontics.
It is with great pride that NPDS celebrates 100 years of unwavering
dedication to world class academic instruction, clinical skill development
and sustainment in direct support of operational requirements, the Warfighter,
and Force readiness.
After Years of Delays,
Army Releases New
Suicide Prevention Plan
Short on Answers
Three soldiers at Fort Cavazos, Texas, died by suicide in the past two weeks.
But those deaths aren't unique to the installation formerly known as Fort
Hood. At least two soldiers have died by suicide every week this year on
average in the part-time components and on active duty at bases across the
service, according to internal documents reviewed by Military.com.
There isn't a singular problem, as suicide is typically a complex constellation
of issues both personal and environmental, though soldiers have pointed to
quality-of-life issues and a breakneck schedule constantly being away from
home, despite the U.S. being in a period resembling peacetime, as adding
stressors to their service.
But as the Army has struggled to grapple with the continued prevalence
of suicide, the service has had no universal guidance for how leaders are
expected to respond if a soldier is in the midst of a mental health crisis, a
fundamental building block for combatting the problem of self-harm.
Three years ago, the Army sought to craft a policy outlining its first major
suicide prevention doctrine, an effort senior leaders highlighted to Congress
in May.
Earlier this month, the Army quietly published that doctrine to combat
suicide three years after it originally intended. The new policy, which goes
into effect on Sept. 8, has no clear guidance for how service members are
supposed to take action if someone in their ranks has declining mental health
or suicidal ideation, despite promises that the new doctrine would help
provide direction.
"This isn't a serious answer to what I'm seeing," one command sergeant
major told Military.com on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation
for speaking candidly with the press. "We've been great about talking about
this stuff, I think the culture is close to where we need it to be ... or at least it
has come a long way. What are those immediate steps a junior leader takes
when their soldier is in trouble? We're getting a bit lost in the sauce."
The service has more than a dozen official minor resources on suicide
prevention and response, which are not formal doctrine and instead mostly
short pamphlets and PowerPoint presentations, but the August release is the
first major doctrine on the subject meant to consolidate information on how
commanders should work to prevent suicides within their formations and
respond if a soldier dies.
Last year, the Army saw at least 255 soldiers die by suicide. Decisions on
whether to provide a soldier mental health counseling, give them time away
from the field, or simply ask whether they are considering self-harm is
largely left up to company-level leaders who usually have no formal training
on the subject. The lack of a universal set of guidelines has left individual
units to craft their own ad hoc approaches.
Instead of clear guidelines on intervention, the new doctrine focuses on
articulating warning signs and risk factors, such as a soldier having a poor
relationship with their spouse or financial problems.
"It's about the layers that are influencing the individual," one Army official
with direct knowledge of how the policy was written said during an interview
that was arranged by the Army public affairs office on the condition of
anonymity. "We're identifying those risk factors. ... This is the first time in a
suicide reg [regulation] we're talking a bit broader."
Senior leaders have long listed suicide as a top concern for the force. Michael
Grinston, who recently retired, spent much of his tenure as sergeant major
of the Army shifting the conversation on suicide from how units respond
to how leaders can prevent deaths, all while trying to reduce the stigma of
seeking help, sometimes by talking about his own struggles while routinely
highlighting policy changes to the press.
But this new suicide prevention doctrine, once touted by Army leadership
ahead of its arrival as a key tool for combating the problem, was quietly
completed without fanfare. Grinston's successor, Sergeant Major of the
Army Michael Weimer, hasn't publicly mentioned the new policy. Weimer's
office did not return requests for comment.
The doctrine itself directs Army officials to highlight the new policy to the
press as a means of assuring soldiers know of its existence.
But burying the release of the policy was intentional, according to multiple
Army officials interviewed by Military.com, largely due to the fact that the
doctrine is years behind schedule and offers little help for units struggling to
curtail deaths by suicides, as service leaders promised Congress.
"This regulation is a step in the right direction; at the same time, we're
cognizant this isn't the be-all, end-all. We have more work to do," one Army