Upworthy's book GOOD PEOPLE, now available - take a look!

Shop
 Explore 

air force

Health

Good news: Suicides among US military personnel have suddenly dropped

Pentagon officials are 'cautiously encouraged' by the numbers.

Photo by RODNAE Productions/Pexels

Finally some improved stats concerning military suicides.

It's no secret that the U.S. military has been battling a suicide problem. Since 9/11, more U.S. military personnel have died by suicide than have died in combat. Suicide rates among U.S. military personnel are higher than the civilian population and have been steadily increasing for the past two decades. In fact, a study released in 2021 reported that "2018, 2019, and 2020 have consecutively marked the worst years of active service member suicide since the previous peak year in 2012."

However, the numbers since 2020 tell a different story—one that offers a glimmer of hope.

According to a new Pentagon report and preliminary data for 2022 reported by PBS News, there has been a dramatic decrease in suicides among active duty military in the past 18 months. The Air Force and Marine Corps saw a more than 30% drop from 2020 to 2021, while the Navy saw its numbers of suicides decrease by 10%. The Army had a slight increase from 2020 to 2021, but has had a 30% decline during the first six months of 2022 compared to the first six months of 2021.

The numbers in different branches have gone up and down in the past 18 months, leaving questions on the table about whether those downward trends are likely to continue, but according to Beth Foster, the executive director of the Pentagon's Force Resiliency Office, the 15% drop across the board leaves Pentagon officials "cautiously encouraged."

The biggest question, of course, is what is driving these numbers. There have been concerted efforts to increase mental health awareness and support in the military, such as required counseling visits, education about stress relief and recreational outings, according to PBS News. However, such efforts have also been an uphill climb due to mental health personnel shortages and stigmas surrounding help-seeking.

As Dr. Dorothy Kaplan wrote in her guidance for clinicians in 2019, "Mental health stigma in the military is strongly grounded in military culture and is linked to a desire to handle problems on one’s own."

"Interestingly," she added, "service members who report psychological health concerns are most likely to perceive stigma and anticipate negative outcomes for seeking care, including career harm."

Maj. Gen. Eric Little, head of manpower and personnel for the National Guard, told PBS News that security clearance and flying eligibility can be affected in some cases when service members report seeking counseling, but officials are working to change such policies.

More successful mental health interventions and changing attitudes toward mental health treatment in general may be contributing to the drop in active duty military suicides. However, 2020 and 2021 also had a big confounding factor: the COVID-19 pandemic.

Suicides overall in the U.S. declined in 2019 and again in 2020 before climbing again in 2021. The active duty military numbers do not appear to parallel that trend, so it's difficult to say what impact the pandemic may have had on active duty personnel suicides. Causes of military suicides are multifaceted and figuring out how to address them is complex.

More time and data will be needed to determine whether this drop in suicide numbers is a trend or a blip. However, the Defense Department continues to address the issue through various channels across the different branches of the military. According to CBS News, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin created a Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee earlier this year and will be presenting a report on its progress to Congress in February 2023.

“Every death by suicide is a tragedy that impacts our people, our military units and our [combat] readiness,” Austin said in a statement on October 20. “That’s why we remain committed to a comprehensive and integrated approach to suicide prevention. Going forward, we are standing up a dedicated prevention workforce to strengthen our efforts to address suicide and other challenging areas. The scale of this workforce is unprecedented and reflects our commitment to make lasting change.”

It's great to finally see some more positive news on the military suicides front. Hopefully we'll keep seeing those numbers drop.

From Your Site Articles

military suicides down

Education

All-female flight crews known as 'Night Witches' bombed the crap out of Nazi targets in WWII

The Germans were terrified of these pilots whose silent planes swooped in like ghosts.

Avgeekjoe/Flickr

The Night Witches were feared by the Germans for their stealth bombing runs.

If you like stories of amazing women, buckle up, because this one is a wild ride.

During WWII, the Soviet Air Force's 588th Night Bomber Regiment flew incredibly harrowing missions, bombing Germans with rudimentary biplanes in the dead of night. The Germans called them Nachthexen—"Night Witches"—because the only warning they had before the bombs hit was an ominous whooshing sound akin to a witch's broom.

The "whoosh" sound was due to the fact that the women would cut the planes' engines as they approached, gliding in stealthily before dropping their bombs. And the Night Witches moniker was fitting, considering the fact that the 588th was an all-female regiment.

Their missions were incredibly dangerous, especially considering how the women were equipped. Most of the recruits were in their late teens to mid-20s, and crew members had to learn how to pilot, navigate and maintain the aircraft so they could serve the regiment in any capacity. They underwent an intensive year of training to learn what usually took several years to master.

The planes they flew were rickety biplanes made of plywood and canvas, which were usually used for crop dusting and training. According to the Wright Museum, a tracer bullet could easily cause the plane to burst into flames, causing some of the women to refer to their aircraft as "a coffin with wings." The planes' top speed was just 90 mph, and the weight of the two bombs and crew they carried meant they had to fly low. That made the planes easily visible targets, so the women only flew their missions under the cover of darkness.

The open design of the aircraft and the fact that they flew at night also meant that the women were fully exposed to frigid temperatures during Soviet winters. According to The History Channel, the planes would get so cold, touching them would tear off bare skin.

Since there had been no women in combat in the Air Force before, they were given hand-me-down men's uniforms and had to tear up bedding to stuff into the end of their boots to make them fit properly. Due to the limited capacity of their aircraft and limited funds, they also were deprived of the modern equipment their male counterparts had access to—radar, radios, machine guns and even parachutes. Instead, they had to use maps, rulers, compasses, stopwatches and pencils to perform their missions. And if they needed to bail out, they just hoped they were close enough to the ground to survive.

Up to 40 two-person crews would be sent out each night to complete between eight and 18 missions each. They would go out in groups of three, with two planes acting as decoys to draw the German searchlights and flack gun attacks away from the third. The one advantage the small, slow biplanes had was maneuverability, so they relied on fancy flying to create a diversion. When the navigator of the third plane tapped the pilot on the shoulder, she would kill the engine and silently swoop in for the bomb drop. The three planes would each take turns in this manner until all three planes had dropped their payloads.

The term "Night Witches" was coined by the Germans, but the women took on the nickname with pride. They had every reason to be proud. They were so feared that any German who downed one of their planes was automatically awarded the prestigious Iron Cross medal.

From June 1942 to October 1943, they flew more than 23,000 combat sorties, collectively logging over 28,000 flight hours and dropping more than 3,000 tons of bombs and 26,000 incendiary shells on Nazi targets. Their bombing raids wreaked havoc on river crossings, railways, warehouses, fuel depots, armored cars, firing positions and other valuable logistical targets. They also made 155 food and ammunition supply drops to other Soviet armed forces.

By the end of the war, the Soviets has lost 32 Night Witches in service. The 588th Regiment was highly decorated; of the 89 Soviet women who received the Hero of the Soviet Union award—the country's highest honor in WWII—22 were Night Witches.

However, when the Soviet Union held a massive victory parade after the war, the Night Witches weren't included in it. Their planes, which these badass women had painted flowers on to add a feminine touch, were deemed too slow.

Learn more about the Night Witches with NBC News Learn:

From Your Site Articles

night witches

After 3 years apart, this sergeant gave his service dog a new home with his family.

True

Less than a month after the birth of his first daughter, U.S. Air Force Sgt. Adam Wylie was shipped back overseas.

It was 2012, and Wylie was sent on a two-year tour of duty to Osan Air Base in South Korea while his wife stayed in the States to raise their newborn, Chloe.

Most service members are aware they could be separated from their family for a time. But that doesn't make it easier when it actually happens — especially not when the assignment comes at such a crucial time.

Fortunately, Wylie made a friend in South Korea who helped to ease the transition: a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois named Emra.

Wiley and Emra in South Korea. Image via WCPO-9/YouTube.

"Emra was one of the first individuals I came into contact with," Wylie told Cincinnati.com.

She was assigned to help Wylie on patrol duty around the base. But he relied on her for more than just tactical support during the arduous 12-hour shifts they shared together. "I see Emra as a person," he said. "(We have) a deep emotional bond that can’t be touched."

"She was also the one I looked to for emotional support with my family being so far away."

Wylie and Emra grew closer and closer as they staked out listening posts to fend off enemy incursions from the North. They were also responsible for conducting security sweeps for important U.S. officials.

Image via WCPO-9/YouTube.

One of Wylie's fondest memories of their time together was during a visit from Vice President Joe Biden.

After sniffing around the motorcade, Emra leaped into the front seat of Biden's vehicle and couldn't stop hitting the car horn. "Some of the agents were a little upset," he recalled with a laugh. "But at the same time they knew, it's still an animal; they're going to do whatever they want."

Then after two years, Wylie was transferred back to the U.S.

The bright side was that he was reunited with his family. But it also unfortunately meant leaving Emra behind in South Korea.

This was standard protocol and something Wiley had expected; as a service dog, Emra's duty was to the base and not to one person. But that didn't make the separation any easier. "She was one of the longest working relationships I had," Wiley said.

His family had the chance to meet his canine companion during a visit to South Korea, and they were able to see firsthand how strong the bond was between Wylie and Emra. They were able to watch the pair train together, and they even got to play with her and feed her when she wasn't working.

Sgt. Wylie in 2017. Image via WCPO-9/YouTube.

Three years passed, and both Emra and Wylie were ready to retire from the service.

After 12 years with the Air Force, Wylie was looking forward to leaving active duty behind to pursue a new career as a K-9 handler and security specialist for the U.S. State Department.

As for Emra, she was getting up there in dog years. While she continued working hard to keep the Osan Air Base secure, she was also struggling with early signs of arthritis. Soon enough, it was time for her to retire from the service.

Image via WCPO-9/YouTube.

But thanks to American Humane, Emra and Wylie will live out their twilight years together.

As part of their partnership with Crown Media Family Networks, American Humane helps to cover the costs and efforts required to bring retired service dogs back to the U.S. and place them in new homes. And that's exactly what they did for Emra and Sgt. Wylie.

The two shared a heartfelt reunion in April 2017 near the Wylie family's home outside of Cincinnati. At first, Wylie was concerned that Emra wouldn't recognize him — after all, they'd been separated for three years at that point, which was longer than the two they'd been together.

His fears subsided as soon as they saw each other. "She looked right at me, nuzzled into my neck, and licked my face. She had not forgotten the long shifts together posted out in the middle of nowhere or the endless hours training together."

Image via WCPO-9/YouTube.

"Our reunification was more than just two battle buddies catching up on 'old times,'" Wylie said, choking back tears. "A part of my family was brought back to me."

After nearly a decade of service, Emra will spend the rest of her life frolicking in the woods of the Wylie family farm; she certainly deserves it. She already has a new playmate in the form of Wylie's father's Jack Russell terrier, and she only has to answer to 4-year-old Chloe.

The first command that Chloe gave to welcome Emra home? "I'm going to play with her."

We've all heard the saying that dogs are man's best friend. But they can be more than that: They can be family, too.

Wylie is hardly the only service member to experience this kind of primal connection with a military dog. There's something about the high stakes of duty that make the bond even more powerful. You can see it in the story of Cpl. Megan Leavey, who was inspired to enlist after the death of her human best friend and found a new companion in a dog named Sgt. Rex. Over the years, Megan and Rex saved each others' lives in many different ways.

That sense of loyalty and obligation transcends language. That's why Emra still recognized Wylie after three years apart. It wasn't just his face or scent she remembered — it's a shared understanding that's thicker than blood, the kind that only family can provide.

lop;For another moving story about a member of the military and their K-9 partner, watch Megan Leavey, in theaters everywhere June 9. View the trailer here.

air force

Good news: Suicides among US military personnel have suddenly dropped

Pentagon officials are 'cautiously encouraged' by the numbers.

All-female flight crews known as 'Night Witches' bombed the crap out of Nazi targets in WWII

The Germans were terrified of these pilots whose silent planes swooped in like ghosts.

After 3 years apart, this sergeant gave his service dog a new home with his family.

Less than a month after the birth of his first daughter, U.S. Air Force Sgt. Adam Wylie was shipped back overseas.

Fortunately, Wylie made a friend in South Korea who helped to ease the transition: a 4-year-old Belgian Malinois named Emra.

One of Wylie's fondest memories of their time together was during a visit from Vice President Joe Biden.

Then after two years, Wylie was transferred back to the U.S.

Three years passed, and both Emra and Wylie were ready to retire from the service.

But thanks to American Humane, Emra and Wylie will live out their twilight years together.

"Our reunification was more than just two battle buddies catching up on 'old times,'" Wylie said, choking back tears. "A part of my family was brought back to me."

We've all heard the saying that dogs are man's best friend. But they can be more than that: They can be family, too.

'Wicked' author reveals how one line in 'The Wizard of Oz' inspired Elphaba and Glinda's story

Doctor breaks down how to recognize ADHD in adults. The symptoms may be surprising.

Father of 3 shares what he learned about his wife’s ‘mental load’ after she left for 8 days

Trevor Noah shared the one question U.S. journalists should be asking themselves every day

American woman forced to change her name after learning what it means in Australia