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Vet Suicide rate dips<\/strong><\/p>\n It isn’t a final solution, but it is encouraging that the suicide rate for veterans dropped for 2020, down to about 17 a day in the most recent year for which data has been compiled. That is still a suicide rate roughly double that of our civilian brethren, but the decrease from 2018 (9.7%) is almost twice as high as that for civilians (5.5%) too.<\/p>\n In a statement, VA Secretary Denis McDonough<\/a> expressed tempered optimism over the findings.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year\u2019s report shows real progress, but there is still so much work to be done,\u201d he said. \u201cOne veteran suicide is one too many, and VA will continue to work with our federal, state, local and private partners to tackle this problem and save veterans\u2019 lives.\u201d<\/p>\n About 16.8 veterans a day died by suicide in 2020, the first time that calculation has fallen below 17 a day since 2006. The figure has risen to as high as 18 a day in recent years.<\/p>\n When active-duty and reserve suicides are included in the totals, the estimate is about 20 suicides a day, a figure widely quoted in the military and veterans communities.<\/p>\n Military Times<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Now, it’s nice that it dropped – but that is still a rate of about 31.7 per 100,000 vets, as opposed to about 16.1 per 100K in the never-served world. This is encouraging, not worth a final celebration. But, it’s nice to think it is headed in a better direction. Note there are other methodologies which estimate the rates as significantly higher, too, but you can’t compare figures derived two different ways and expect a valid result.<\/p>\n AF Extra duty pay is back<\/strong><\/p>\n The Air Force announced a while back that it was cutting special duty assignment pay for airmen drawing said pay for particularly grueling or important jobs, to wit:<\/p>\n AF Times<\/a><\/p>\n Well, they have decided that, in these financially stressful times, that taking child-care or gas money\u00a0 out of the mouths of folks already whipsawed by inflation and Covid was not a good idea. The Air Force has asked Congress to add the estimated $90 million cost back into the budget.\u00a0 Military Times<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\n
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