Recruiter suicides in Houston worry advocates

[unhappycamper]

Recruiter suicides in Houston worry advocates
The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Sep 27, 2008 16:38:24 EDT

HOUSTON — Five Army recruiters from the same Houston-based battalion have committed suicide in recent years, leading veteran advocate groups to ask for more scrutiny of such stressful jobs during wartime.

The August suicides of Staff Sgt. Larry G. Flores Jr., 26, and Sgt. 1st Class Patrick G. Henderson, 35, occurred as suicides among active duty personnel are expected to set a record for the second year in a row. The Houston Chronicle reported Friday that 93 soldiers had killed themselves by the end of August. In 2007, 115 soldiers committed suicide.

The Houston battalion’s suicides are a “very loud, very bright alarm” that Army officials and politicians shouldn’t ignore, said Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense.

“This may warrant changes in ... how the military addresses mental health needs for returning combat veterans placed in stressful noncombat jobs,” he said.

The Houston Recruiting Battalion’s Lt. Col. Toimu “Troy” Reeves and Command Sgt. Major Cheryl M. Broussard declined the newspaper’s request for interviews. Neither Reeves nor Broussard replied to e-mail requests by the AP for comment. But a spokesman for the U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion Houston said all commanders train their military and civilian personnel on suicide prevention each year.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_recruitersuicides_092708/%2e

[LaurenG]

1. My husband wants to know if they all had the same 1st Sargent

or the same chain of command. That is very sad!

[unhappycamper]

2. It's unclear at the moment.

Here's a dated wikipedia link that explains battalions --> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battalion

They don't mention women at all. :wtf: