A new article from Janet Reitman of the New York Times sheds light on the suicide crisis among U.S. soldiers during peacetime, elucidated by the suicide death of active-duty Army soldier Austin Valley. CERL Executive Board member Stephen Xenakis is quoted, discussing how the Army’s operational tempo remains high and it has managed to maintain its global footprint, while its force has shrunk and its recruiting goals decrease.

“Senior leadership, in my view, became habituated to the go-go tempo of the past 20 years — it’s all they ever knew, and now it’s seen as normal,” said Xenakis. “It’s not normal. It’s a climate rooted in constant pressure, constant movement and constant trauma. And the legacy of that trauma and combat cascades down on the soldiers.”

Brig. Gen. Xenakis is an adult, child, and adolescent psychiatrist with many years of clinical, academic, and management experience. He is the Executive Director of APPA, an advisor for Physicians for Human Rights and the Center for Victims of Torture, and an Adjust Professor at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He is also a member of the CERL Executive Board. Read his bio here.

The views expressed here are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of any organization or university.