Marine Study Finds Boot Camp Stress Didn’t Cause 3 Suicides

The Marine Corps Recruit Depot’s commanding officer Tuesday released findings showing that the stress and pressure of boot camp were not the cause of three recruit suicides in 1988.

The results of a three-month suicide study were released at a press conference called by Brig. Gen. Frank J. Breth, who assumed command of the Marine Corps Recruit Depot one month before the last recruit died of a self-inflicted bullet wound Dec. 1, 1988. Another Marine recruit also shot himself to death July 1, and a third hanged himself March 16, 1988.

Breth said he was disturbed by the deaths and commissioned a special task force to study the causes, means and prevention of recruit suicides at MCRD. According to the panel’s findings, “the pressure and stress of boot camp did not cause any of the recent suicides.”

“Accordingly, there is no reason to radically change training in an effort to prevent recruit suicides,” said the report.

However, the study also said that the “controlled and stressful (training) environment was a factor which probably contributed to the end result.” In two of the three suicides, the recruits had received “Dear John” letters before their deaths, but the report said there was “no common pattern or facts linking the recent suicides.”

‘Increasing Phenomenon’

However, one similarity noted in the report was that, in each death, the recruit told other recruits or relatives that he was contemplating suicide. But this information was not made available to drill instructors or other Marine officials in time to prevent the suicide, according to Col. C. W. Cheatham, who headed the task force.

The task force reported that suicide among young adults is an “increasing phenomenon” in society that is becoming acceptable as a “way out of perplexing problems.” The report said “it would be naive to believe that we in the Marine Corps can escape this attitude completely.”

The task force examined the cases of 188 recruits who were discharged from 1987 to date for “suicidal ideation.” The panel found that most of the men were “malingerers” and not serious suicide threats. Instead, they threatened to kill themselves because “these were young men who were very out of place here and wished to go home,” the report said.

Figures released by the Corps showed that there have been eight suicides at MCRD since 1970 and 39 deaths from all causes. Two of the three suicides in 1988 occurred at Camp Pendleton firing ranges. The report also cited a “near-fatal paralysis” resulting from an incident last year at a Camp Pendleton range, but did not say if it sprang from a suicide attempt or accidental shooting.

The panel that put together the report was composed entirely of military officials, including a psychiatrist, psychologist, chaplain and a drill instructor.

Although the report found no reason to change the training at the MCRD in order to minimize the chances of suicide, it appeared to find at least one fault with the present system. The report noted that a suicidal recruit may only ask for help once “because of the system in recruit training . . . then internalize his feelings until the opportunity arises for suicide.”

The panel suggested several recommendations to prevent suicides, including teaching drill instructors and recruits to look for certain “warning signs.” Recruits should also be allowed to “relax” during their free time, the report said, and said that too many “training and administrative details” now cut into recruits’ free time. Recruiters now use a screening list to weed out recruits who might be suicidal, said Breth.

25,000 Recruits a Year

About 25,000 recruits each year go through MCRD, which has been training Marines since 1923.

In another development, Breth and Col. Regan R. Wright, also told the press conference that Marine Corps officials will fight any attempts by the Port District to expand Lindbergh Field north to the base. Expanding Lindbergh Field is one option being studied by the to modernize San Diego’s airport. Others include moving it to two sites near Miramar Naval Air Station and to Brown Field, near Otay Mesa.

“We don’t believe that MCRD is the answer,” Breth said. ‘. . . We are concerned about encroachment. Historically, we have given a lot to San Diego, but there is no more left.”

When MCRD was established, it covered 800 acres. But, since 1937, the Marines have ceded most of the original tract to the city and Port District. Today, the training depot covers only 388 acres and one training area borders a Lindbergh Field runway.

“We don’t have any property to give up for airport expansion,” Wright said.

If the Port District wants MCRD, it would have to wield political muscle in Congress, said Breth, because the Corps will not give it up voluntarily. Some supporters of expansion have said the recruit depot could easily be moved to sprawling Camp Pendleton.

But Breth said it would cost at least $1 billion to open a new facility at Camp Pendleton. He said MCRD is an economic boon for San Diego because it generates millions in income for the city from visitors who come to see the base museum and visit the recruits.