“DSPO’s annual report for Fiscal Year (FY) 2012 details the office’s evolution, goals, priority areas, and key accomplishments. DSPO’s first annual report describes a range of initiatives it has led in collaboration with the Services and other public and private partners to prevent suicide among the U.S. Armed Forces…“The department takes suicide prevention very seriously and considers any measure that saves a life as one worth taking,” said Lt. Gen. Michael S. Linnington, military deputy to the acting undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. “The 2012 DoDSER gives us comprehensive information of suicide events and a greater understanding of the range of conditions associated with this very serious problem for the department.” The DoDSER includes an assessment of several areas for suicide prevention efforts, including demographic information, behavioral health history, circumstances at the time of the event, and deployment history. This vital information helps target resilience efforts and allows DoD senior leaders to make informed policy decisions to improve suicide prevention efforts. In calendar year 2012, there were 319 deaths by suicide among active component service members and 203 deaths by suicide among reserve component service members (73 in the reserve and 130 in the National Guard). Preliminary data for calendar year 2013 indicates that the overall totals and rates declined in most categories from 2012. The preliminary 2013 total deaths by suicide were 261 among active duty service members and 213 deaths in the reserve component.”