The US military's annual suicide report is missing, and the Pentagon isn't offering any answers

"A critical data source for US military suicide prevention efforts is late, with no indication that it's coming anytime soon or at all. Usually published each fall, the annual suicide report provides suicide statistics from the previous calendar year that inform Congress, researchers, and senior leaders across the services on efforts to combat military suicide, a persistent problem. The report is usually released each fall, but is now missing with no clear explanation from the Department of Defense."

""The Department has nothing to announce at this time," a department spokesperson replied in an email. "We will follow up if anything changes." When asked again this week why the report is delayed and when it might be published, the Pentagon did not respond. Business Insider sent a separate email query to the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, which releases the report. The office did not respond."

"Though the data is beneficial, the monthslong delay is unlikely to significantly affect research or prevention efforts, said Ron Kessler, a principal investigator on a long-term Army suicide study and a professor of health care policy at Harvard Medical School, adding that researchers depend more frequently on detailed data that reveals patterns and circumstances around deaths. The bigger issue is tied to accountability, public transparency, and oversight, he said."

The annual military suicide report, normally published each fall with prior-calendar-year statistics, has not been released and the Department of Defense has provided no timeline or explanation. Quarterly suicide data for 2025 is also overdue, with third-quarter figures still unpublished months later than usual. Queries to the Pentagon and the Defense Suicide Prevention Office received no substantive responses. The delay's cause is unclear, including whether it relates to the government shutdown. The monthslong delay is unlikely to severely impede research or prevention but raises concerns about accountability, public transparency, and oversight.

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