Report shows 383 American military service members committed suicide in 2021

A report released by the Department of Defense showed 383 active United States military service members took their own lives in 2021.

The Watson Institute’s Cost of War Project reports the number of suicides in the US military has been increasing annually for more than twenty years, but according to the DoD, 2021 set a record for active members dying by suicide. In fact, military suicides in 2021 outnumber all military COVID-19 deaths to date.

As of January 8, the military has reported 86 deaths from COVID-19. One-hundred active service members took their own lives in Q3 of 2021 alone.

The Watson Institute “estimates 30,177 active duty personnel and veterans of the post 9/11 wars have died by suicide, significantly more than the 7,057 service members killed in post-9/11 war operations.”

The paper attributes most of the suicides to “high exposure to trauma, stress, military culture and training, continued access to guns, and the difficulty of reintegrating into civilian life.” 

The Watson Institute study warns, “Unless the U.S. government and U.S. society makes significant changes in the ways we manage the mental health crisis among our service members and veterans, suicide rates will continue to climb,” the paper warns. “That is a cost of war we cannot accept.”