Army suicides still on pace to break last year’s record

Earlier this year, the Army promised to make suicide prevention its number one priority in 2009, rolling out a series of new training tools designed to keep soldiers from taking their own lives.

But this year is looking worse than 2008. 

In 2008, 140 active-duty, Army soldiers committed suicide, the highest number since the service started keeping track 30 years ago. Yesterday, the Army announced its August statistics — 11 suspected suicides among active-duty members. (According to the Army, approximately 90 percent of suspected suicides are typically confirmed.)

That puts the Army on pace to exceed last year’s death toll. During the first eight months of 2008, there were 89 suicides.

Including August, there have been 110 reported suicides in 2009.