Scoop’s Views

With 2008 suicide rates expected to exceed last year’s all-time-high rate and threatening to top those in the civilian population, the Army is stepping up efforts to get Soldiers and their leaders to look out for each other’s well-being and to take the stigma out of seeking mental-health help.

Sixty-two active-duty Soldiers, most of them junior enlisted members, committed suicide so far this calendar year, Col. Eddie Stephens, the Army’s deputy director for human resource policy, told reporters today during a Pentagon roundtable. The armed forces medical examiner is investigating another 31 suspected cases to determine if they will be classified as suicides.

Tags: ACE, active duty soldiers, American Forces Press Service, armed forces medical examiner, Army family, Army Reserve units, Ask Care Escort, battle buddies, battlefield, behavioral health care, Brig. Gen. Rhonda Cornum, civilian population, Col. Eddie Stephens, Donna Miles, financial difficulties, intervene, intervention, junior enlisted members, leaders, legal issues, mental health help, National Guard units, National Suicide Prevention Week, occupational and operational issues, Pentagon, problems, relationships, risk factors, Shoulder to Shoulder No Soldier Stands Alone, soldiers, strength, stresses, suicide awareness training, suicide rates, U.S. Army, warning signs, weakness, World Suicide Prevention Day

Ultra-sensitive technology developed for the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), one of several U.S. ultra-secret spy agencies, has been released to the world for all to see.

The NRO, an agency shrouded in secrecy, with less publicly-available information about the organization, its missions, and funding than the National Security Agency (NSA), is often involved in mapping, satellite spying, and other high-tech areas.

Tags: Beijing, Chi-Comms, China, Chinese, Earth, EP-3, fireball, Gen. James Cartwright, hostile government, hydrazine, James Cartwright, Joint Chiefs of Staff, Liu Jianchao, National Reconnaissance Office, National Security Agency, Navy Seals, news conference, NRO, NSA, Pentagon, Red Chinese, Russia, satellites, secrets, SM-3, Software, Special Forces, spy agencies, spy missions, spying, Stanard Missile 3, state secrets, U.S. Army Special Forces, U.S. government, U.S. Marines, U.S. Navy, USS Lake Erie