The Army Suicide Prevention Program (SP2) improves the readiness of the Army through the development and enhancement of suicide prevention initiatives, policies, training, data collection and analysis, and strategic communications and partnerships. The goal of the Army Suicide Prevention Program aims to prevent suicides by building a culture of resilience, help seeking behavior, and intervention. In support of this goal, the Army is enhancing personal readiness and increasing deployability by focusing on strengthening soldiers, increasing Commanders’ and Leaders’ visibility of risk factors, improving leader engagement, and instilling a culture of trust to ensure successful service. Leaders’ understanding of the factors influencing soldier suicides is critical to early identification, prevention, and intervention.

Top Stressors Involved in Army Suicides:

• Financial Issues/Debt
• Relationship/Family conflict
• Mental/Behavioral Health
• Substance Abuse

The Pillars and Processes of Suicide Prevention Suicide prevention is dependent upon the existence of a culture that fosters trust, caring, and engaged individuals focused on early intervention as opposed to crisis management alone. It requires a strong collaborative team. 

Suicide prevention will include the following activities:

1. Enhance life skills and resilience.
2. Increase visibility of readiness with assessment tools to identify and assist persons at risk, i.e., Commanders Risk Reduction Toolkit (CRRT).
3. Ensure access to effective behavioral health care and treatment.
4. Support command integration of resources that mitigate risk factors and high-risk behaviors in order to minimize gaps in information and services, i.e., Command and Installation governance forums like the Command Ready and Resilient Council (CR2C).
5. Improve communication, counseling and soldier to soldier connection (bystander intervention).
6. Encourage help-seeking behavior to reduce stigma and negative perceptions of limited career opportunities.
7. Reduction of lethal means (to include medications, weapons, etc.).
8. Provide immediate response and postvention support.

Note: The Army Suicide Prevention Office is NOT a crisis center and does not provide counseling services. If you are feeling distressed or hopeless, thinking about death or wanting to die, or, if you are concerned about someone who may be suicidal, please contact the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 and press 1 for the Military Crisis Line or text 838255.

Retired service members are not eligible for the Army Suicide Prevention Program. However, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline can assist you in finding civilian services in your community

Army G-1 Suicide Prevention Program (SP2):
https://www.armyresilience.army.mil/suicide-prevention/index.html

Army’s Ready Resilient Campaign (R2):
https://www.armyresilience.army.mil/ard/R2-home.html

Department of Defense Instruction (DoDI) 6490.16, Defense Suicide Prevention Program:
https://www.esd.whs.mil/Portals/54/Documents/DD/issuances/dodi/649016p.pdf?ver=2020-09-11-122632-850