Military Suicide Position Paper

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POSITION PAPER

ON

THE AIR FORCE NOT DOING ENOUGH TO COMBAT SUICIDES

1. The topic of this paper is whether the United States Air Force (USAF) does enough to combat suicides. The USAF does not currently do enough to combat suicides, and this paper will address that problem. The USAF is struggling with rising suicide rates. This problem is shown by suicide rates in the USAF rising over the last three years1. One solution to this problem could be increasing suicide prevention training at all USAF levels with the Suicide Alertness for Everyone: Talk, Ask, Listen, KeepSafe (safeTALK) program, which equips Airmen with more suicide awareness tools2. A second solution would be making suicide prevention resources more visible, allowing better access to help. The best solution that should be used to combat future suicides in the USAF is to implement more suicide prevention training with the safeTALK program, which would increase the ability for Airmen to help their wingmen. …show more content…

The USAF has a serious problem with suicide rates rising each year. In 2013, active duty USAF suicides totaled 48 and in 2015, it increased to 643. Factors that lead up to suicide include job change, relationship issues, and financial trouble, among many others. Airmen are not always taught to recognize the early signs of suicide. Lack of suicide prevention knowledge may explain why suicide prevention is not more effective. Another reason may be that suicidal Airmen do not know enough about available services to aid them. One example that hinders suicide awareness is the lack of visible suicide prevention information on the Air Force Officer Training School (AFOTS) complex. In a poll completed with over 200 AFOTS cadets, 17 cadets have heard of safeTALK and five cadets have seen suicide prevention information posted around the complex. Below are two potential solutions to these

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