Rising Suicide Rate Troubles Chief of Naval Operations
In a National Press Club speech Nov. 16, Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert said he is concerned about rising suicide and sexual assault rates, saying they rank high among the issues the Navy is addressing.
The chief of naval operations, Navy Adm. Jonathan W. Greenert, said Nov. 16 he is concerned about rising suicide and sexual assault rates withing the Navy, according to Claudette Roulo's American Forces Press Service report on his speech at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Greenert said these rank high among the issues the Navy is addressing. "I'm troubled that we haven't moved forward to limit and really reverse the trend of these events during my time here," he said, according to her article "Everybody deserves a safe place to work. We have to treat it as a crime because that's what it is."
"A few years ago, we had about 13 suicides per 100,000 [personnel], now it's 15 per 100,000, so we're creeping up," he added. "We have to empower our sailors to be able to deal with stress. We have to look out for each other and we have to embed ... in all of our shipmates to make sure that, if somebody is reaching out, we're ready to take care of them."
Roulo reported that Greenert also said the rate of operations is higher than he expected it would be a year ago, and this may bring about changes in training and maintenance plans.