The number of suicides among soldiers has been leveling off but there has been a dramatic jump in domestic violence, sex crimes, and other destructive behavior in a force that has been stressed by a decade of war, the Associated Press report. Amy Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said, “We know we’ve got still a lot of work to do.”
Suicides among soldiers in the active duty, Guard, and Reserve totaled 278 last year, down 9 percent from 2010. Violent sex crimes and domestic violence have increased more than 30 percent since 2006 and child abuse by 43 percent. “After 10 years of war with an all-volunteer force, you’re going to have problems that no one could have forecasted before this began,” he said.