The executive officer of the littoral combat ship USS Marinette, Commander Jonathan Michael Volkle, is said to have committed apparent suicide on board on October 27.
According to a statement from US Surface Force Atlantic, the 44-year-old married father of two “was found unresponsive and later pronounced deceased” on his ship when it was moored in Cleveland, Ohio.
“We would ask that the privacy of the Volkle family be respected as our thoughts are with them at this extremely trying time. The ship’s crew is receiving chaplain and mental health care from Littoral Combat Ship Squadron (LCSRON) 2. The message went on, saying that Cmdr. Janet Brooms would be appointed executive officer, as reported by Daily Mail.
While Volkle’s death remains under investigation, two authorities told USNI News that initial findings suggest he committed suicide.
According to Navy records, Volkle enlisted in 2007 and was stationed on the destroyers USS John McCain and USS Fitzgerald in addition to the frigate USS Kauffman.
In September 2022, he reported aboard the USS Marinette, which was commissioned a year later. Along with his parents, Skip and Louise Volkle, the later commander is survived by his wife, Kaori Kato Volkle, and their two children, Bruno and Nino.
Unexpected rise in suicide across the military
Volkle’s untimely demise occurs at a time when the Marine Corps, Navy, and the armed forces in general are still battling rising suicide and mental health rates among its members.
The Marine Corps’ suicide rate skyrocketed to 34.9 deaths per 100,000 members in 2022, the most since 2011. At that time, the rate was 15.4.
In the meantime, the Navy’s suicide rate reached a record high of 20.6 fatalities per 100,000 sailors, surpassing the 22.1 deaths per 100,000 sailors recorded in 2019.
Furthermore, the military as a whole suffered 25.1 deaths for every 100,000 service members in 2022. This came after 2021, when the rate was 24.3. Still, the figure was lower than in 2020, when the rate was 28.6.
Liz Clark, the head of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office, said that there was no statistically significant difference between the rates in 2022 and 2021, implying that it might have been an accident.
The Army saw a drop in suicide deaths from 36.2 per 100,000 soldiers in 2020 to 28.9 in 2022, which may account for the decline from 2020 to 2022.
According to USNI News, 383 military personnel died by suicide in 2020, and since 2015, nearly 4,800 soldiers have taken their own lives.
What steps is the military doing to halt the rising suicide rate?
In addition to other areas like domestic violence, the Department of Defense has recruited over 400 people into a specialized workforce devoted to suicide prevention throughout the years in an effort to reduce the number of suicides.
The DoD also increased the emphasis on lethal measures of protection, advising service personnel to keep their weapons locked up. For the services, firearms remain the most deadly means of suicide.
The DoD’s efforts may not have been as successful as they may have been, though, as the numbers have been gradually rising since 2011.
The Department of Defense (DoD) released its suicide recommendations in September, detailing how it plans to address the issue going forward and based on the conclusions of the Secretary of Defense’s special committee on suicide.
The stated steps for most of the proposals call for significant financing. The DoD is uncertain about the amount of money allotted to these projects until the president unveils his next budget, according to Beth Foster, executive director of the Office of Force Resiliency.
“What I can assure you is this is an SECDEF priority,” Foster said. He added, “This is a priority for the deputy secretary of defense and all of the services and so we anticipate a robust investment will be made in this space.”
The director went on, “As part of the secretary’s recommendations, the DoD is examining how it can collaborate with other agencies to better collect data to determine whether guns purchased on bases are used in suicides.”