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Suicide numbers likely to top 2011, US Army says

As many as 12 active-duty soldiers committed suicide in November, pushing the US Army above last year’s record number of suicides with one month left to go in the year. The Army has now had 177 suspected suicides among soldiers this year. Last year’s total of confirmed suicides was 165.

posted December 13, 2012 by Army Times

As many as 12 active-duty soldiers committed suicide in November, pushing the Army above last year’s record number of suicides with one month left to go in the year, officials said today.

With the deaths in November, of which one has been confirmed as suicide, the Army has now had 177 suspected suicides among active-duty soldiers this year. Last year’s total of confirmed suicides was 165.

Of the deaths this year, 113 have been confirmed and 64 deaths are still under investigation. Typically, about 90 percent of suspected suicides are confirmed.

Also in November, there were as many as 15 suicides among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty. Of those, 12 were from the Army National Guard and three from the Army Reserve. Two of the deaths are confirmed as suicides and the others remain under investigation.

So far this year, 126 soldiers from this population are suspected of committing suicide: 84 from the Guard and 42 from the Reserve. Only 29 cases are still under investigation; the other 97 have been confirmed as suicides.

In 2011, the total number of suicides among this population of soldiers was 118. Of those, 82 were from the Guard and 36 from the Reserve.

In all, the Army has suffered as many as 303 suicides so far this year — 210 have been confirmed as suicides and 93 are still under investigation.