Quote Originally Posted by Tammie Crews View Post
... Most completed suicides (56%) did not have a diagnosed psychiatric disorder reported... Additionally, isolation has been demonstrated to be a major factor in the incidence of suicide... The program calls leaders and peers to be aware of the signs of suicide and to be aware when peers and subordinates are exhibiting the signs of suicide...
Consider these two situations...
1) A squad/crew/fire team is composed of a mixture of married and single Soldiers, some of whom are fresh out of high school and others who are ten or so years older
2) A squad/crew/fire team is composed largely of Soldiers who share commonalities in their age and marital status.

My suspicion is that, in the first scenario, the likelihood of a Soldier identifying and reporting a sign of suicide in one of his peers is far less likely than in the second scenario. Perhaps ethnicity could also play a (smaller) factor. However, if my suspicion is correct, I wonder if it makes sense to try to man teams in that manner. A team of single 19-year-olds (led by a Sergeant, of course) and a team of married 28-year-olds, rather than a mixture of each. Would this be more or less effective in combat? Would it sacrifice effectiveness for the sake of post-deployment suicide prevention? Have no effect at home or on deployment? It crossed my mind more than once. Not sure if anyone has looked into it.