I'm Michael Peterson, a priest in the Anglican Church of Canada, currently serving a parish in the Diocese of Toronto. I'm also a retired Canadian Forces chaplain , hence the Padre in the title. Mad just means eccentric, and on that note, I also blog on toy soldiers, madpadrewargames.blogspot.com. I'm on X (what used to be Twitter) at @MarshalLuigi and I'm on Bluesky at @madpadre.bsky.social
Thursday, January 21, 2016
One American Soldier's Proposal To Address Military Suicides
This guest piece in Tom Ricks' Best Defence Blog caught my attention today. The author`s proposal, that the Department of Defence actively monitor its members' social media activity and intervene when there are posts, comments, or google searches suggesting suicidal ideation, may dismay some.
I`m not sure how that would even work in other countries' militaries such as my own. In one sense I agree with the author. Whatever the reasons for military suicide, be it prior deployments, the young adult demographic, or pre-existing mental health concerns, watching our comrades, whether in garrison or online as their FB friends, is the key. If you see something, you need to intervene, whether as a friend, as an NCO, or as an officer. That`s your responsibility.
MP+
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