As combat winds down, military suicide ramps up

Washington – Pentagon figures obtained by the Associated Press show that active-duty troops are taking their own lives at an increasing rate – averaging one per day.

During the first 148 days of 2012, there were 146 suicides – a 17 percent surge over the same period of 2011. The level of military self murder had leveled off during the years 2010 and 2011, Department of Defense officials confirmed.

While the Army is planning a reduction in force of about 50,000 troops over the next year, a joint study by the Department of Defense and the Housing and Urban Development department learned that about 13,000 of the nation's homeless are returned combat veterans of the Iraq war between the ages of 18 and 30.