Today, Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III announced the establishment of the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee (SPRIRC) which will address and prevent suicide in the military, pursuant to the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2022.

The SPRIRC will review relevant suicide prevention and response activities, as well as actions underway on my immediate actions on addressing sexual assault and recommendations of the Independent Review Commission on Sexual Assault in the Military, to ensure SPRIRC recommendations are synchronized with current prevention activities and capabilities.

Secretary Austin has directed the Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness (USD(P&R)) to issue a memorandum identifying the members of the SPRIRC, the timeline for installation visits, and the SPRIRC charter that will outline the approach to the Department’s comprehensive and collective efforts within 60 days of the memorandum. The SPRIRC will commence its work no later than May 14, 2022, and will begin installation visits no later than August 1, 2022.  By December 20, 2022, the SPRIRC will send an initial report to me for review, in advance of sending a report of findings and recommendations to Congress by February 18, 2023.

The memorandum for the Establishment of the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee can be found here.