The Pentagon has ordered a new independent commission to review suicides at three Alaska bases where a spike in the number of troops who have taken their lives has alarmed military leaders.
The commission will also look into suicides at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Fort Campbell, Kentucky; and Camp Humphreys, South Korea, the largest overseas U.S. military base, as well as the North Carolina National Guard and two other facilities, according to a memo sent out by Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin on Tuesday.
Congress mandated a panel outside of the military leadership to investigate the ongoing problem of suicide as part of the annual defense authorization bill. Austin said he expected commission members, who have not yet been chosen, to begin visiting the bases by August and report back to lawmakers in the first months of 2023 on what might be done to reduce the deaths.
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“We want them to be able to be brutally honest with us about what they're finding,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said Tuesday.
Austin visited Fairbanks, Alaska, last year and spoke with local mental health experts about the causes of suicide there. At least 11 soldiers have died by suicide over the past year, and six cases are still under investigation — and the numbers have been climbing since 2018.
In 2020, 580 service members committed suicide, which includes the National Guard and…
