The U.S. Army is conducting worldwide training for its soldiers Thursday to prevent suicide.

From the Washington Post:

“The Army has decided that this issue is so important to us that we’re going to devote an entire day … that was otherwise devoted to something else and say ‘That’s not as important as this,’ ” Sgt. Maj. Raymond Chandler III, the top non-commissioned officer in the Army, told reporters Wednesday.

Lowering the high rate of suicide in the military has been declared a top priority by Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta, who has described the problem as “perhaps the most frustrating challenge” he has faced since taking up his post last year.

Read more here.

— Michael Levine