Roger That: U.S. military suicides dropped slightly in 2014

The military saw a slight increase in active-duty suicides in 2014, while the suicide rate among National Guard and reserve members saw a significant decrease from the previous year, according to the latest annual report on military suicides from the Pentagon.

In 2014, 269 active-duty troops and 169 reserve and National Guard members were found to have killed themselves, according to the 2014 Defense Department Suicide Event Report, a comprehensive analysis of suicide and suicide attempts in the U.S. military, according to Military.com.

The Army had the highest suicide rate among the active components, at 23.8 per 100,000 soldiers, according to the report. The lowest rate, 16.3, was in the Navy.

A total of 1,126 suicide attempts were reported from the four services. The overall suicide rate in 2014 among all active-duty personnel was 19.9 per 100,000 troops. That's up slightly from 18.7 in 2013, but down from 22.7 in 2012.

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Western superiority in military technology is “eroding,” notably at the hands of China and Russia, a leading think-tank said Tuesday in its annual report on the state of militaries around the world.

The International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) in London said in its Military Balance report that increasingly easy access to technology by non-state groups means the world faces “an increasingly complex balance of military power.”

It also highlighted that Russia and China are pushing to modernize their militaries and are “increasingly active in the development and deployment of advanced military capabilities.”

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The case for Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl, who walked off a remote base in Afghanistan in 2009, is suspended until the Army Court of Criminal Appeals rules who has the authority to give the defense team access to classified documents, according to the Fayetteville Observer.

On Tuesday, the appellate court granted a petition filed by prosecutors asking it to direct the trial court to suspend all litigation on the case until it can decide who should give access to classified documents to the defense.

The ruling follows an order from Col. Jeffery Nance, the Army judge assigned to Bergdahl's case, mandating prosecutors give access to the defense team to thousands of classified documents.

Prosecutors disagreed and have argued responsibility to provide access to classified documents does not lie within their office, but with the Original Classification Authority.

On Feb. 5, prosecutors filed a notice they would appeal the order to the Army Court of Criminal Appeals. While the appellate court is reviewing the order, prosecutors have also asserted that all trial litigation should be suspended since its other motions also deal with access to classified documents.

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Military women are headed into combat posts. But that's just the start of their fighting, according to Military Times.

As the military moves towards opening all jobs to all troops, regardless of gender, both advocates and critics on Capitol Hill are frustrated by the unanswered questions surrounding when the changes will happen, how they'll be put in place and what side effects the massive cultural change will have on the armed services.

Among the unexplored, potential problems worrying lawmakers: Will job standards be lowered? Are military leaders ready and accepting of the change? Will women be required to register for the draft now?

This story was originally published February 11, 2016 at 9:12 AM with the headline "Roger That: U.S. military suicides dropped slightly in 2014."