Suicides Among Enlisted Military Members Are Rising

According to the Department of Defense’s Annual Report on Suicide in the military, which outlines suicide trends among service members and their families, 523 service members died by suicide in 2023. This harrowing statistic marks the highest number of deaths since 2020.

The report, released Nov. 14, recorded a striking 1,373 men and women actively serving in the armed forces who attempted suicide in 2023.

Since 2005, veteran suicide rates have risen by a startling 50%, and a baffling 150% for veterans of post-9/11 wars, a trend Robert Greenway, director of the Allison Center for National Security at The Heritage Foundation and combat veteran of the Army Special Forces, deemed an “unprecedented crisis in the force” in congressional testimony before the House Armed Services Committee.