The Navy reported a record-high number of suicides in the first three months of 2024 amid previous reports of poor quality of life and high stress for members of the branch, according to new data from the Pentagon.
There have been 24 reported suicides among sailors in the first quarter of 2024, the highest quarterly sum the service has seen since 2018, which was the first year such data was made available, according to the Pentagon. A service wellness survey conducted in February by the Navy found that more than a third of sailors were suffering from “severe or extreme levels of stress” in 2023, up from roughly a quarter who reported so in 2019. (RELATED: Biden Pentagon Could Buy Almost A Dozen Aircraft Carriers With What It’s Set To Spend On One Missile Program)
The number of reported suicides dropped in the Navy in 2020 and 2021 as the service tried to make progress on the issue during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, including offering a free suicide awareness and prevention course alongside its other free mental health resources. There were a total of 73 reported suicides in 2019, but the number dropped to 65 in 2020 and 59 in 2021.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – MAY 27: U.S. Navy sailors from the USS Carl Vinson stand after marching across the iconic 6th Street Viaduct for a Memorial Day salute on May 27, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. The U.S. celebrates Memorial Day each year to honor those who have died while serving in the Armed Forces. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)
The Navy saw an uptick in the number of suicides in 2022, however, with 71 reported deaths, according to the Pentagon. There were 69 reported suicides in 2023.
The Pentagon Office of Inspector General, the department’s watchdog agency, opened an investigation in February to determine whether the Navy “effectively took actions to prevent and respond to incidents of deaths by suicide, suicide attempts, and suicidal ideation among members of the Navy assigned to sea duty or shore duty.” A Navy spokesperson previously told Military.com that it was “aware” of the investigation and would stand by “to support the evaluation.”
The Navy “Health of the Force” survey from February found that overall stress levels among sailors were higher than they were in 2019, the first year the survey was conducted. Junior enlisted sailors, who are paid less than their senior counterparts, were the most affected, with 40% reporting that they felt “severe or extreme stress,” up from 29% in 2019.
The Navy did not immediately respond to a request to comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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