WASHINGTON, D.C.—U.S. Senator Angus King, a senior member of the Senate Armed Services Committee (SASC), is welcoming the results of a newly released report that examines suicide rates by job function in the Armed Forces. The report, requested by Senator King after working with a Maine constituent, identifies key trends to help the Department of Defense (DoD) address suicide risk amongst higher risk job specialties and identify underlying cultural issues affecting the mental health of America’s service members.

According to the report, the most at-risk jobs in the Armed Services are infantry, ordnance disposal and diving, combat engineers, medical care specialists, and non-identified technical specialists.

The DoD report, mandated by the FY2023 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), studies rates of suicides in the Armed Forces by military occupational specialty during the time period beginning after September 11, 2001, and continuing to the present day, broken down by military occupational specialty, service, and grade. This legislative provision, and subsequent reports are based on input from a Maine constituent and will now be mandated in all future DoD Suicide Prevention Reports.

“Maine has one of the highest concentrations of veterans in the United States, and when I meet with constituents across Maine, I always ask them what I can do better to help our servicemembers and veterans,” said Senator King. “This newly released Department of Defense report, requested at the suggestion of a smart and savvy Maine veteran, will ensure that the DoD has the most accurate information to help address the risk of suicide amongst the highest risk groups of the Armed Forces while addressing underlying cultural challenges. These key findings show trends that will guide the DoD in its efforts to curb suicide rates and hopefully save lives.”

The report finds that enlisted service members with the occupation code 101 (Infantry) had higher suicide mortality rates than those from 21 other occupation codes. The Infantry code was followed by service members with the occupation code 143 (ordnance disposal and diving) and occupation code 103 (combat engineers). Medical care specialists and non-identified technical specialists followed.

Additionally, 14 occupation codes had evidence of a higher suicide mortality rates as compared to the civilian U.S. adult population. Of these, the three groups with the highest adjusted rates were occupation codes 102 (armor and amphibious), 101 (Infantry), and 103 (combat engineering).

Representing one of the states with the highest rates of veterans per capita, Senator King is a staunch advocate for America’s servicemembers and veterans. He has been among the Senate’s most prominent voices on the need to address veterans suicide, and has repeatedly pressed for action from top Department of Defense officials on this issue. An advocate for amplifying veteran voices, Senator King held a field hearing focusing on long-term care in Maine. Additionally, he recently led a bipartisan letter calling for more support for victims of military sexual trauma, as well as a letter urging further investments in traumatic brain injury research, the signature wound of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that has unfortunately led to a high number of veteran suicides.

The full report can be found here.

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