New Committee Head Appointed by Department of Defense to Address Military Suicides

Colleen Ryan and Jeff Hensley, U.S. Navy veterans from the Iraq War, comfort each other as they help set up 1,892 American flags on the National Mall in Washington on March 27, 2014. The flags represent the 1,892 veterans and service members who died by suicide that year. Jewel Samad/AFP/Getty Images

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) announced May 17 that Gayle Iwamasa will lead the Suicide Prevention and Response Independent Review Committee, which addresses the issue of suicides in the American military.

Iwamasa has served as a national director in the Office of Mental Health and Suicide Prevention at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs since October 2020. She was a National Mental Health Quality Improvement and Implementation Consultant in the department for the prior 10 years.