Free Republic

Soldiers serving in Iraq are not committing suicide in record numbers, a senior DoD military medical officer asserted at the 2004 Tricare conference here Jan. 28. "Are soldiers killing themselves in increased numbers due to deployment?" asked Army Col. Thomas J. Burke, program director for mental health policy for the assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. The answer, he said, is "No." Today, all of the services "are taking a much more integrated approach toward suicide prevention and mental health care support" for service members, Burke said. This includes before and during deployments, he added, and after-deployment evaluation and...