U.S. Soldiers Nine Times More Likely to Die by Suicide than in Action: Pentagon

U.S. soldiers are overwhelmingly more likely to die by suicide than in combat, according to data from the Pentagon. A five-year study from the Defense Health Agency, from 2014 to 2019, found suicide as the leading cause of death among active-duty soldiers. There were 96 combat deaths over the period and 883 soldiers died by suicide — nine times more. The second leading cause of death was accidents, with 814 deaths.

So far in 2024, 55 soldiers have died by suicide, with rates in the Army climbing to 36.6 per 100,000 in 2023.