European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - August 31, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday August 31,1986 the stars and stripes increased suicide rate puzzles cinch Washington he suicide rate among soldiers up Al Moukda percent in 1985, is running at Boom he same Pace this year. Maj. Bob Thomas of the specs. Lions office under the army Deputy Clu. Of staff for personnel said the number of Soldier suicides held steady from 1980 through 1984 at about 84 per year a rate of 11.2 per 100,000. Last year the figure jumped to 116, or 14.9 per 100,000. Thomas who briefed army Community services personnel on the army Sui cide prevention program at a recent train ing workshop said officials Are unsure of the cause of the increase. However he offered two possible explanations. One is that we be started talking about suicides and have been launching education and treatment programs since Early 1985, which May make Ore people tend to feel it s of to re suicides he said. A be that our programs make More Solori gho have been thinking about themselves he said. We be Swenum Hulets Over possibility. But the Ninffa sir not mating wildly and our suspect that now we re Getti Bers whereas suicides May have been in Derr ported in the past Thomas said family and marital t terns Are by far the most commo hons for Soldier suicides. Legals arms account for 11 percent Why Brit 2percentappear to be Job re Prue said More than half have i a Snible cause. Last Yea Bride victims ranged in age fro Amoto 52, but Thomas said the about 21 years of age. Rank t seem to be a Factor he said. In suicide rate among soldiers in Europe is Only about half the rate in the states he said. On the surface that seems unusual think that because these sol Are away from Home away from Lily support systems the suicide rate there would be higher. But then you can also say that the communities overseas Are closer and More tight knit than in the Thomas said the rate in South Korea is also much lower than in the states. In fact i Don t think we be had one suicide there this year but their suicide attempt rate seems to be much higher. We Don t track suicide attempts so Wedon t have hard numbers but i hear through the Grapevine that it s a prob Lem Over suicide required by 87 by Chuck Vinc Washington Unican Washington the army Model suicide prevention program has been in the Field for almost a year but some c mutinies have been slow to Imp according to army officials. The service recently Tor general teams to 10 pm nations in the United states to Jug Bitor the Suc Cess of their in some posts Jarvery healthy pro Gram but oth Damre doing nothing at All nid Ujj Bob Thomas who Over in suicide prevention pro office of the Deputy chief our nor personnel. Lid the situation will change army publishes its suicide pre n regulation next Spring. All com u ties then will be required to launch programs based on the current Model the Model requires each Community to establish a suicide prevention taskforce to be made up of senior officials including the Provost marshal staff judge advocate the medical commander and the Deputy for Community activities. Their Job will be to see what needs to be done and who should do it he said. Well make suggestions but it s up totem to decide who gets trained in Sui cide prevention and who does the Thomas said Tinb Mattill has much to learn about suicide. For instance we want pie to spot warning signs Bull suicide victims never show any signs All. How do we handle that he said the process of identifying and treating a potential suicide is also less than perfect. Some people just cant be helped he said. About 15 percent of All Sui cide victims Are determined to kill themselves no matter what that can put stress on care givers who see suicides As a sign of their fail ure he said. But if we train our Lead ers to spot a potential suicide get that person help and still lose that person we can to say we failed. There Are suicides who have fooled even the health officials have directed army com to carry the program to jobs figs will be to implement the Eil Caim a dec of the pro Gram among family Bobers basically explaining them Lem of suicide and the detail program Thomas said. Identification and treatment of family members considered to be at risk will be done through the same process used for soldiers he said. Search for sub to begin soon Tel Aviv Israel a israeli military sources Friday said a search for the missing submarine Dakar would begin Early this week with Aerial sweeps of the Eastern Mediterranean. The initial searches will be carried out by aircraft of the . 6th Fleet carrying special Metal detecting equipment said the sources who spoke on condition of anonymity in accordance with military regulations. The search areas Are expected to include Sites off the egyptian coast and Sites Between Crete and Cyprus. A . Embassy spokesman in Cairo Egypt Friday said the search will begin in Dakar a second hand conventional diesel powered submarine was on its Maiden voyage from England to Israel with a Crew of69 men aboard when it mysteriously disappeared in january 1968. Debris that has surfaced Over the Yean has led Israel to believe the Dakar went Down within Egypt s 12-mile territorial limit but what the submarine was doing so far of course remains a mystery. Several attempts have been made in the last four years to locate the Dakar. My program monitors Quall of child care provided in Hines Seton Nauroth Nuernberg Bureau Nuernber in 1980, army officials had no idea How Many paid baby Sitters were taking care of children in government quarters. Now they do and they re watching it Clos _ figures show a trend of dined from 1,600 pro 1983 to 3,600 Homes i the army regulation i is a prerequisite to hav care under acc is not per Ned or controlled by the gov i housing built or run by private child development in Home care that has Mil viders caring for 5,300 kid with 14,500 kids last year. 1
