Suicide in the army national guard: an empirical inquiry.

Since 2004, suicides in the U.S. military have risen, most notably in the Army National Guard (ARNG). Data used in this study were obtained for suicides occurring from 2007 to 2010 and for a random sample of nonsuicides from the general ARNG population. Of the military-related variables considered, a few showed relationships to suicide. Rather, the primary variables associated with suicide were soldier background characteristics, including age (1724 years), race (White), and gender (male). Cluster analysis revealed two distinct suicide groups: careerists (about one third of all suicides) and first-termers (about two thirds of all suicides), each group exhibiting different concurrent behavioral problems.