(ProsperNews.net) – The US Air Force is refusing to say why seventeen people have died on one base since January this year. A statement from the Tinker Air Force Base in Oklahoma said eleven deaths resulted from “natural causes and accidents,” and investigations are underway for the other six. Spokesperson Kimberly Woodruff told the online magazine Military.com that there were “various causes” for the deaths. There is speculation, however, among military experts and veterans, that Tinker Air Force Base may be afflicted by a string of suicides.
Department of the Air Force spokeswoman Ann Stefanek said that it is for the Pentagon to decide whether personnel suicides are made public, but Col. Abigail Ruscetta, Tinker Installation commander, hinted however that suicide is a factor. “Each and every death, either by suicide or some other means, is a tragedy,” she said.
Suicides among serving military personnel are tragically not uncommon. A study in 2021 found that 30,177 active-duty soldiers and other frontline personnel committed suicide in the two decades since 9/11. This is compared to 7,057 who died in action over the same period. This means suicide killed almost four times as many US soldiers as America’s enemies.
Causes for the high level of suicides are complex and military experts say loneliness is at the forefront due to long periods spent away from family and friends.
The issue came to the attention of Congress last year when alarm was raised about a high suicide rate on an Army base in Alaska. Republican Sens. Dan Sullivan and Lisa Murkowski wrote to Secretary of the Army Christine Wormuth, saying young recruits were facing overwhelming strain and that eleven had committed suicide within a year. They said the soldiers were experiencing financial difficulties and struggling with “infrastructure and transportation limitations, and the adjustment to living in a remote location with extreme cold weather.”
The Representatives spoke to Army leaders to devise a plan to address specific challenges soldiers face when serving in Alaska.
Copyright 2023, ProsperNews.net
