NORFOLK, Va. - The Defense Department announced new steps this week to combat suicides among service members.
Several locally based Sailors died by suicide last year and the Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin is implementing new actions to try and help the situation.
The actions include things like expedited hiring for behavioral health professionals. Service members could also get multiple appointments weekly when they first get treatment.
"Those recommendations are primarily focused on behavioral and mental health. They are areas where the department already has the authority to take immediate action and so that was the primary driver of those recommendations," said Pentagon Press Secretary Air Force Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder.
In 2021, 519 service members died by suicide, according to the Defense Department. That's the latest year with data available and was a decline from 2020.
"While we recognize that no single cause and that no single preventative action, treatment, or cure will eliminate suicide all together, we will exhaust every effort to promote the wellness, health, and morale of our total force, be there for one another, and safe lives," said Ryder.
A committee tasked with making recommendations to the Defense Department and also recommended several action aimed at gun safety, including raising the minimum age a service member could buy a weapon and ammunition at military exchange stores to 25.
Those recommendations are not included in these actions. Sec. Austin wants to a suicide prevention working group to examine how feasible additional measures would be.
"The department continues to recognize the importance of addressing and recognizing suicide within the military ranks. Immediate action is to be taken," said Ryder.
The family of a locally based Sailor who died by suicide also continues to push for change. Brandon Caserta took his own life in 2018 when assigned to Naval Station Norfolk. A law bearing his name passed in Congress in 2021, but advocates say it has not been implemented.
The Brandon Act is supposed to allow service members to get immediate anonymous access to mental health care. His parents continue to push for implementation and met with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
"As painful as this has been had someone done this before us, our son would still be alive, so we want to be that person that saves lives later on," said Patrick Caserta, Brandon's father.
