The Pentagon plans to provide additional mental health services for those who served in Afghanistan, Press Secretary John Kirby told reporters Thursday.
“The health, safety and well-being of our military community is essential to the readiness of the total force,” Kirby said, according to The Hill. “We all recognize that the events in just the recent past, certainly the last month or so, will factor in and potentially bear heavily on some of our Afghan war vets.”
Kirby said the department and services would say more soon, especially as DOD recognizes September as Suicide Prevention Month.
The Department of Veterans Affairs reported an increase in calls to its crisis hotline following the Taliban’s Aug. 15 takeover of Kabul.
DOD photo by U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Jack Sanders