Pentagon Data Reveals Combat Arms Personnel Face Elevated Suicide Risk

Infantry troops and other combat arms personnel experienced the highest number of suicides across all military occupations in 2024. The Department of Defense released this information as part of its Annual Report on Suicide in the Military, marking the first time the agency has categorized suicide data by specific job roles. This new reporting requirement was mandated by Congress to provide a clearer understanding of how military service impacts mental health across different career fields.

The report highlights a significant disparity in risk, noting that infantry, combat engineers, artillery, and air crew positions recorded a suicide rate of 35.7 per 100,000 service members. This figure stands notably higher than the overall active-duty rate of 23.2 per 100,000 troops. While the Pentagon adjusted these findings to account for age and sex variables, these specific combat-related occupations remained at a higher-than-average risk level. Conversely, the data indicates that no other occupational groups showed a substantively higher or lower risk compared to their respective population averages. These findings align with previous internal assessments that have consistently identified combat-focused roles as having a higher prevalence of suicide than other military career paths.