Pentagon inspector general launches probe into Navy Suicides 

The Defense Department inspector general is sending investigators to several Navy installations to evaluate suicide rates, the Pentagon confirmed Thursday.

Site visits are planned for Naval Base Kitsap in Washington, Naval Base San Diego, Naval Station Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, and Naval Air Station Norfolk in Virginia, according to a memo about the review. It will also look at suicides and suicide attempts on ships at sea. Dates for inspections at each facility have not been announced.

The Pentagon said investigators could visit additional installations as the review moves forward. The timing and scope of the review will not be released in advance.

The suicide review was mandated in the 2023 National Defense Authorization Act, which sets policy and spending priorities for the Pentagon.

The Navy has reported an increase in suicides and suicide attempts in recent years, with 71 suicides by active-duty sailors in 2022. The service reported 65 suicides in 2020 and 59 in 2021. Final statistics for 2023 are not yet available.

Suicide rates differ because of fluctuations in the number of Navy personnel each year. The rate per 100,000 active-duty sailors was 20.6 in 2022, 17 in 2021 and 19 in 2020, according to the Pentagon’s 2022 annual report on suicide in the military.

A federal study in 2021 found 30,177 active-duty personnel and veterans in all service branches who served in the military died from suicide in the 20 years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It was more than four times higher than the 7,057 service members killed in combat during the same time.

The review will “determine whether the Department of Navy effectively took actions to prevent and respond to incidents of deaths by suicide, suicide attempts and suicidal ideation among members of the Navy assigned to sea duty or shore duty,” according to a Feb. 27 memo from the inspector general’s office.

“Additionally, we do not disclose our tactics, techniques or procedures used to perform our evaluations,” said Mollie Halperin, a spokeswoman for the Defense Department Office of Inspector General.

Installations visited by investigators must also assign a rear admiral or high-ranking civilian employee to respond to questions. The Navy’s Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness and the Defense Health Agency will lead the review.

When the review is completed, it will be published on the inspector general’s website.

The memo said the review could lead to revisions in how the Navy manages and evaluates its programs.