Washington, D.C. —- U.S. Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-Lillington) on Friday urged Congress to examine the military’s mental health system during a hearing of the House Armed Service Committee’s Military Personnel Subcommittee.
Chris Scheuerman, a retired Special Forces Master Sergeant and resident of Sanford, N.C., testified at the hearing about his son Jason Scheuerman, who died of a self-inflicted gun-shot wound while serving in Iraq in July, 2005.
“Congress must examine the policy shortcomings that Jason’s Scheuerman’s tragic death brought to light. We must learn from the mistakes made here and go forward with better policies and systems to protect our soldiers,” said Etheridge.
Chris Scheuerman contacted Etheridge’s office in 2007 when he was unable to receive answers from the military. At Sheuerman’s request, on October 1, 2007, Etheridge asked Army Secretary Pete Geren to conduct an investigation into Jason Scheuerman’s death. Secretary Geren immediately made a formal request for that investigation, which is being led by the Office of the Inspector General. Etheridge then requested that the House Armed Services Committee invite Scheuerman to testify before the panel regarding the Army’s mental health policy.
The House Armed Services Committee is currently preparing to draft the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2009, which sets priorities for the Department of Defense. Etheridge is asking the committee to consider changes to the military’s mental health system that Scheuerman proposed at today’s hearing.
According to the U.S. Army Medical Command Suicide Prevention Action Plan, 2,100 soldiers injured themselves or attempted suicide in 2007, up from 350 in 2002. The suicide rate reached 17.5 suicides per 100,000 active-duty soldiers in 2006, from a record low in 2001 of 9.8 soldiers out of 100,000.