Army's Stress Most Obvious at Fort Hood

Repeat deployments prompt record levels of suicide, depression

By Nick McMaster, Newser Staff

Posted Nov 6, 2009 12:46 AM CST
Updated Nov 6, 2009 6:16 AM CST

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Army's Stress Most Obvious at Fort Hood — Soldiers from the 3rd Armored Cavalry Regiment plan out their course of action at the Army Base at Fort Hood, Texas in front of the Soldier Resiliency Center as they try to locate Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, who shot and killed 12 people Thursday Nov. 5, 2009. (AP Photo/Killeen Daily Herald, David Morris)

Fort Hood has had more suicides than any other US Army facility since the start of the Iraq war, and while Nidal Hasan, the man officials say is responsible for yesterday's massacre, likely had unique motivations, he was perhaps only the most troubled member of a volunteer force buckling under the strain of repeated deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. Ten soldiers have killed themselves at Fort Hood this year alone.

Nationwide, 117 active-duty soldiers have killed themselves this year—up from 103 last year. The Army is also seeing record rates of depression, substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder due to a level of psychological strain that army officials say is unprecedented, the Washington Post reports.
(More Fort Hood stories.)

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