To the Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs:

One veteran's death by suicide is too many in the United States. Sadly, we currently have a suicide rate among veterans which far surpasses the civilian suicide rate, with roughly 20 veteran deaths by suicide every single day. This tragic loss has been going on for years, and it needs to end now.

According to the most recent numbers from the VA, a study conducted in 2016 found that more than 7,400 veterans committed suicide in 2014 — roughly 20 per day — making up 18 percent of all suicides in the U.S. while veterans themselves comprise less than nine percent of the population. In fact, veterans are 21 percent more likely to commit suicide than the general population.

This is beyond tragic. The brave men and women who serve our country and wear the uniform should have all necessary resources available to them. A soldier would never be left behind on the battlefield, but it seems our veterans are being left on their own back here at home when they need help the most.

The Veterans Crisis Line has answered nearly 3 million calls since it was first launched in 2007, and while that resource is necessary and helpful, the focus ought to be on preventing veterans from ever reaching the point of becoming suicidal, not just preventing the act suicide itself.

Perhaps no other vocation or group of people in the world go through such extensive and continued training as the members of the United States military. Young recruits are shaped, molded and trained to become the very best versions of themselves, to work as a cohesive unit, and to perform specialized tasks with precision and accuracy from the moment they join the military to the day they are discharged.

But if service members go through so much training to be successful members of the military, why are they not equally trained to be successful civilians as well?

Just as each service member enters the military by going through basic training at boot camp, there needs to be established a "reverse boot camp" for outgoing service members. This mandatory program would train veterans to be successful in their civilian life, not only in terms of vocation or education, but in terms of mental health, stability, and knowledge of the resources available to them outside the service.

Studies have shown that suicide is prevalent in both combat and non-combat veterans, making the need for a universal, mandatory transition program even more essential. This type of reverse boot camp would also allow the VA to better identify at-risk individuals who would likely benefit from treatment.

Opening this program up to family members and caregivers of veterans would also create a support network for veterans outside of the military and VA system. Rather having veterans left on their own or families without the proper knowledge and training to help a veteran in need, a program designed by service members and veterans would provide caregivers with the unique insight to better understand and respond to the multi-faceted needs of veterans, with particular focus on trauma, PTSD and Traumatic Brain Injuries.

Thousands of veterans commit suicide every year. This is a tragedy that does not need to happen. There may be casualties in war, but back at home our veterans deserve better. It is time to put an end to the veteran suicide epidemic.

I urge you to immediately take action to implement a reverse boot camp program as part of the military's discharge process that covers mental health, civilian life and resources available to veterans, as well as a program for the family and friends of veterans to assist and support those in need. Veterans are dying every day, and there is no time to wait while more and more lives are lost to suicide.

Sincerely,