Active-duty suicide numbers level off after summer spike, but reserves soar 3 hours ago Personnel Specialist Seaman Jenesis Fabian ties a yellow ribbon around a tree at Mayport Memorial Park in recognition of Suicide Awareness Month. (MC3 Class Alana Langdon/Navy) The Defense Department did not offer any official explanations for the spike, but it appears to have been isolated to that summer, according to new data. While active-duty suicides jumped about 8 percent overall last year ― to 377 total, compared to a 7-percent jump the previous year, or 348 total ― the final months of last year saw a leveling-off of that worrisome summer spike, with 99 total suicides from October to December, compared to 100 during the same period in 2019.