Rash of Suicides Hits Houston Army Recruiters

[unhappycamper]

Rash of Suicides Hits Houston Army Recruiters
September 29, 2008
Houston Chronicle

An alarming number of suicides among Houston-based Army recruiters -- including two in recent weeks -- has prompted calls by a senator and veterans' advocates for closer scrutiny of high-stress recruiting duty during wartime.

Staff Sgt. Larry G. Flores Jr., 26, and Sgt. 1st Class Patrick G. Henderson, 35, are the fourth and fifth recruiters at the Houston Recruiting Battalion to kill themselves since 2001. Both men belonged to the battalion's Tyler Company, and both were combat veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Clearly, there's a problem," said David Rudd, a former Army psychologist and psychology chair at Texas Tech University. "Somebody needs to look and see if there's a broader national problem outside of this one battalion. Is it a problem placing these combat veterans in recruiting positions?"

~snip~

Houston has one of the top recruiting battalions in the nation when it comes to putting much-needed troops in boots. But with America's all-volunteer force straining to meet the manpower requirements of fighting simultaneous wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the difficulty of meeting monthly quotas -- recruiters call it "making mission" -- is taking its toll on recruiters and their families, say mental health specialists and veterans advocates.

The suicides in the Houston battalion are a "very loud, very bright alarm" that Army officials and politicians can't afford to ignore, said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/September-2008/rash-of-suicides-hits-houston-army-recruiters.html?col=1186032310810

[barbtries]

1. stop creating combat veterans

especially for wars that should not even be happening. we're destroying our young. it is so sick.

[dixiegrrrrl]

2. worse yet

"Their deaths come at a time when suicides among all active duty soldiers are on track to set a record for the second year in a row.
Last year, 115 soldiers committed suicide. By the end of August this year, 93 soldiers had killed themselves."

from same article.