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Military Suicide Epidemic: More U.S. Soldiers Have Killed Themselves Than Died on Battlefield in 2012 - More U.S. soldiers have died this year by taking their own lives than on the battlefield. The Pentagon says there have been at least 154 suicides among active-duty troops in 2012, a rate of nearly one each day.

suicides have never been so high since data was recorded: up to 349 for 2012.

It exceeded the Pentagon's own internal projection of 325. US government began closely tracking suicides in 2001 through the Department of Defense Suicide Event Report (DoDSER). It exceeds the 311 Americans who died in war zones last year.

(CNSNews.com) - The number of suicides among U.S. Army active duty and reserve personnel in 2012 is higher than the total combined military fatalities from Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan over the same timeframe.

“Every suicide in our ranks is a tragic loss for the Army family, adversely affecting the readiness of our Army,” Lt. Gen. Howard B. Bromberg, deputy chief of staff for manpower and personnel, said in a Department of Defense release.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Adm. Mike Mullen says the U.S. military is prepared to keep troops in Haiti so long as security for the relief effort is needed.

He told reporters Friday that the security situation remains calm and that demands for immediate medical attention have declined. Still, he said, there was no 'definite date' for troop withdrawals.

When asked whether Haiti's upcoming rainy season could complicate factors, he said he didn't want to "accept that as a premise."

There are some 11,000 troops there now.

Source: AP News

WASHINGTON (AP) — Looking beyond the wars he inherited, President Barack Obama on Thursday launched a reshaping and shrinking of the military. He vowed to preserve U.S. pre-eminence even as the Army and Marine Corps shed troops and the administration considers reducing its arsenal of nuclear weapons.

According to the Secretary of Defense an army of volunteers creates the problems of increased military costs and an increasing cultural gap between civilians and military personnel who come from similar geographies.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The United States is planning a significant military presence of 13,500 troops in Kuwait to give it the flexibility to respond to sudden conflicts in the region as Iraq adjusts to the withdrawal of American combat forces and the world nervously eyes Iran, according to a congressional report.

Is Austerity - or Decades of Awful Governance - Responsible for Greek Suicides?

"Austerity drives up suicide rate in debt-ridden Greece," blares a CNN.com article detailing an apparent increase in suicides in the European country arguably in the worst fiscal situation. I say apparently because the only hard facts in the story are these: "According to the health ministry data, the suicide rate jumped about 40% in the first five months of 2011 compared with a year earlier." Are suicides up in 2012, compared either to 2011 or 2010? No word.

Thank you for your service. This should be posted at every military recruiting center in the country. Her, respect the troops!

The Pentagon on Thursday pledged "utmost care" for the remains of fallen soldiers following a report that the remains of at least 274 troops were dumped in a Virginia landfill.