The military has a suicide problem. The Department of Defense reported a 41% increase in suicide rates between 2015 and 2020, with 580 deaths in 2020 alone. This pace has continued over the course of the past two years, showing little sign of letting up. Leaders at all levels must be ready to deal with this crisis, along with the impacts of a 20-year conflict, a global pandemic, and record levels of inflation. The fight against suicide starts at the lowest levels, where the rubber meets the road. It is imperative that company command teams establish suicide prevention programs tailored to their units.
Understanding the Issue
The “mission first” mindset is vital to the fabric of our military, but we have to remember that our people are the driving force behind mission accomplishment. Without people, there is no mission success, and without mission success, there is no purpose for our military. A people-centric mindset does not imply that tough decisions are not required, or that service members should be coddled. It means that you must take care of your people, so that they can take care of the mission.
The company level is where the human dimension has the biggest impact for leaders. Company level leaders must understand their missions, the related stressors, and the balance required to achieve success. Regardless of a person’s position or current environment, people need sound leadership. It’s every leader’s duty to find an effective approach to morale management, mental health, and social well-being.
Service members are people. They eat, breathe, and sleep like everybody else. A service member’s DNA, resiliency, and mental makeup is similar to an average person’s. The “superhero complex” is part of the reason troops may be ashamed to bring up mental health issues. It’s important for military leaders to understand that most soldiers are average people with a variety of reasons for joining. They are not super humans that can withstand more than the people they went to school with. We are all human, and we must never lose sight of that fact.
My Experience in Company Command
I assumed command of an Army Military Intelligence Advanced Individual Training (AIT) company at Fort Huachuca, Arizona, during a global pandemic. This particular AIT was for a Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) that was ten and a half months long. When I took command, the average wait time for class was four months, and grew to six months during the height of the pandemic.
This situation led to our soldiers being on station for a year and a half. Soldiers were arriving from Basic Combat Training (BCT), ready to continue learning and move on to their first assignment. Instead, they were informed that they had to wait four to six months just to start class. In addition, their families couldn’t attend their BCT graduation. A sanitized chartered jet flew soldiers directly to Fort Huachuca. This was a problem. We decided we weren’t going to wait for a tragedy to strike our company.
Army BCT, AIT, and One Station Unit Training (OSUT) units come with their own unique set of challenges due to the stress, pressure, and shock that soldiers experience. Furthermore, Military Intelligence (MI) training requires more time and rigor to deliver a quality soldier to the force, increasing risks. Within MI, the 35T MOS (our company’s responsibility to train) requires even more time, placing soldiers under greater stress. With this in mind, we knew that our problem required an innovative and unique solution. Combatting these mental health challenges became priority number one.
TAPS
It did not take long for my First Sergeant to come up with an idea to address the issue. The “Troops Advocating for the Prevention of Suicide,” or TAPS program, was born out of his insights. Our goal was to create a program that was tailored to our company’s needs. Considering the amount of time that our soldiers spent in a restrictive and stress ful training environment, we prioritized self-care and resiliency.
The mission of the TAPS program was to “educate and train AIT Soldiers by arming them with the information, knowledge, and communication skills required to effectively and efficiently manage suicidal ideation and indicators within our formation, in order to protect and preserve the mental and emotional well-being of our trainees.” The purpose was to “bring awareness to suicide prevention at the grassroots level, aiming to educate, equip, and prepare trainees to intervene when their battle buddies are in need.” We accomplished this with a simple three pillar model.
The Pillars
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Prevention & Self-Care
TAPS Ensures that Trainees understand how to take care of themselves first, while working to create a culture that promotes positivity and the elimination of high-risk behaviors and habits.
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Intervention
TAPS arms Trainees with the resources, contacts, and skills required to confidently address suicidal ideation and depression among their peers.
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Postvention
TAPS articulates to Trainees the various impacts that a suicide event can have on those around them, providing them with a greater opportunity to relate to those in the formation affected by a suicide at some point in their lives.
TAPS soldiers on a group hike in the mountains of Fort Huachuca.
The TAPS program was voluntary. We only wanted soldiers that bought into the concept and wanted to own the program. The group of TAPS soldiers would meet monthly for training including stress coping techniques, intervention strategies, and financial readiness. “TAPS NCOs” were formally trained through the Army’s Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) and worked with our Installation Suicide Prevention Program Manager (ISPPM). The group also helped run several events including barbeques, the “TAPS Crush the Stigma” 10K Race, a Thanksgiving picnic, and outdoor hikes. We reiterated that it was the responsibility of TAPS members to teach the rest of our company what they had learned. The TAPS peer-to-peer network was our greatest accomplishment.
TAPS Success
As far as results, we decreased the company’s suicide ideation incidents 85% over one year and had zero suicide attempts. Zero suicide attempts sounds like it should be normal, but as anyone in a military training unit knows, suicide attempts are tragically common. The suicide rate for the Army is nearly two times the national average. Additionally, the stressful transition from civilian to soldier can increase the risk in the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) environment. We were, therefore, excited to see an uptick in soldiers seeking counseling from their direct leaders, the chaplain, behavioral health, and the Military Family Life Counselor (MFLC).
We knew we were on the right track when multiple TAPS soldiers intervened in crisis situations to save a life. In one instance, a National Guard TAPS soldier reached out to a TAPS NCO. The NCO alerted the soldier’s leadership, getting the soldier the help they needed. In a similar situation, a TAPS soldier intervened directly with a peer. The soldier deescalated the situation and contacted authorities. If an AIT company can get these results, imagine the benefits to operational units. The formal framework, together with leader involvement, proved powerful.
Our ISPPM, Joanne Prince, said it best, “We saw with the TAPS program that the Commander and First Sergeant were excited and supportive of the program, which in turn created buy-in with the TAPS instructors and this flowed down to the soldiers who voluntarily came to the meetings. This was a game changer as it pulled suicide prevention training out of the ‘check the box’ intervention training of ACE and made it interactive and discussion based; this broader focus was preventative and examined trends effecting the unit.”
The TAPS “Crush the Stigma” 10K run aimed to bring the company together around a common purpose.
Getting to Work
A company-tailored program to address suicide is most useful to those willing to put in the work. The TAPS program offers commanders flexibility. Yielding control and implementation to the company level lets leaders on the frontlines create programs that address their soldier’s needs. If more military organizations make this effort, we can make a real difference combating suicide.
The key to success at the company level and below is leader engagement. It should come as no surprise, direct leaders know what their soldier’s need better than anyone else. Direct leaders can engage soliders on a personal and authentic level. They can counter the stigma of mental health issues by showing some measure of authenticity and communicating their own stressors coping mechanisms. Paired with a deliberate prevention program, leaders can act as the transport vehicles to deliver enduring care.
Why is this a Company Level Problem?
The company leader is where the rubber meets the road. Strategic and operational leaders focus on impacting their formations with policy and targeted presence. Their presence cannot be persistent enough to prevent the issues that lead to suicide. Their sight picture is much broader. Direct leaders are the ones with depth critical at the company level. They have the greatest responsibility to their people and understand the details of their lives. Direct leaders also stay positively engaged in the lives of their people and take care of each person under their command.
The Army’s resiliency program is a notable example of an effort directed from the top down. It holds a wealth of resources and provides soldiers with a sound foundation, but it will never meet the exact needs of soldiers at the lowest levels. Company command teams need to take the available resources and mold them into something that speaks to their people. The combination of top-down resources and bottom-up initiative can create the perfect blend to prevent future tragedies. It takes effort on the part of our direct leaders.
Be Proactive. Find Your Solution
You are not a bystander, or a person required to conduct canned training. You are a direct leader of a unique group of people that require your diligent effort to provide them with the right mix of tools and resources to meet your specific mission. Stop waiting for a solution to filter through our bureaucracy. Instead, make an impact today. Compile the resources that the Department of Defense provides and take responsibility for your people. If you put these pieces together, you can create an enduring program that will enrich the lives of your people and potentially save a life.