The Navy saw the worst suicide rate since 2019, as the sea service’s rate continues its upward trend, according to the Annual Suicide Report, released Thursday.
In 2023, the Navy lost 70 sailors to suicide, a rate of 21 sailors per 100,00 sailors, an increase of 0.4 compared to the previous calendar year, according to slides shared with reporters on the report. Overall, the Navy’s trend line has continued to rise since 2011.
The Marine Corps lost 61 Marines, with a suicide rate of 35.9 slightly lower than 2022’s rate of 36 Marines per 100,000 Marines. The Marine Corps continues to have the highest rate of suicide among the services for the second year in the row. Previously, the Army had the highest suicide rate.
The Navy and Marine Corps’ overall increases in suicide rate follows the rates of other branches and the Department of Defense overall, despite years of suicide prevention efforts from the Pentagon and the services.
While the Department of Defense has had suicide prevention efforts over the past decade, Timothy Hoyt, deputy director of the Office of Force Resiliency for the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)), told reporters that a lack of funding and a lack of tracking effectiveness of initiatives led to a reduced effect on the suicide trend rate.
In September 2023, the Pentagon announced which recommendations it would follow from a special commission focused on sucide prevention, although they were all subject to available funding, USNI News reported.
Recommendations were meant to be implemented by June 2024, but they were subject to funding, with estimates unknown at the time.
Funding would likely appear in Fiscal Year 2025, USNI News reported. There is an “unprecedented investment of funds in these initiatives” in the next fiscal year budget, Hoyt said.
The government began Fiscal Year 2025 on Oct. 1, although a budget has not yet been passed.
