Peer Support

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is rolling out a new program that provides military spouses resources to prepare them and their family for the time when their husband or wife transitions out of the military.

The Military Spouse Transition Program, or MySTeP, is an initiative that launched in early August through the Pentagon’s Military Community and Family Policy office and provides military spouses information to help prepare them for the inevitability of their family leaving the military.

The Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments will team up in August to hold a conference on suicide prevention in Nashville.

The meeting, the first in two years, will bring together the suicide prevention offices of both departments and the military services, as well as subject-matter experts from academia, nonprofit groups and veterans and military support organizations, to address the ongoing battle against active-duty and veteran suicides.

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) recently partnered with the nonprofit Objective Zero Foundation to aid in connecting Veterans with suicide prevention support and resources.

The partnership, formalized on  Dec. 3, 2018  provides a shared goal of preventing suicide among service members and Veterans, with a special focus on service members transitioning out of the military.

(Reuters Health) - Military service members who are at risk for suicide may be less likely to attempt to harm themselves when they receive supportive text messages, a U.S. study suggests.