Pentagon: 541 military service members died by suicide in 2018

Sept. 26 (UPI) -- There were 541 suicides among U.S. active duty, reserve and National Guard troops in 2018, according to the Pentagon's annual suicide report.

The report released Thursday found that 187 Army soldiers, 77 Marines, 79 Navy sailors and 63 airmen in the active and reserve ranks killed themselves. The Army National Guard experienced 118 suicides, while the Air National Guard experienced 17.

Rates among the active-duty ranks increased from 18.5 to 24.8 per 100,000 service members between 2013 and 2018, while statistics among reserve and National Guard members remained consistent.

The Navy experienced a "statistically significant increase" in suicide rates over the same period of time. The report said the overall rise in suicide rates was due to small increases in the number of suicides across all services.

Suicides were most common among men in the enlisted ranks under the age of 30 regardless of the military component. The primary method was by firearm. There were also 186 suicides among military spouses and dependents in 2017, the most recent year data were available.

The report found that suicide rates within the military was roughly equal to the overall population when accounting for the average age and sex of servicemembers.

Thursday's report comes as the Navy, federal and local authorities are investigating four deaths by suicide on the USS George H.W. Bush including three this week and one in July.