Army announces $17M suicide research effort

HAGERSTOWN, Md. (AP) — The Army is announcing a $17 million, three-year effort to learn why soldiers and veterans take their own lives.

The Army’s Military Operational Medicine Research Program at Fort Detrick, Md., said Wednesday the money will be split evenly between the Denver Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Florida State University.

Suicide researchers at the two institutions will serve as co-directors of the Military Suicide Research Consortium.

The Pentagon has been trying to reverse rising suicide numbers. More than 1,100 servicemen and women killed themselves between 2005 and 2009.

In July, the Army announced a $50 million study of suicide and mental health involving about 500,000 service members and four other research institutions.