In this letter to the editor, the authors note that suicidal behaviours among adolescents are of particular concern to military medicine since youth are the principle source of military manpower. A review of health care utilization at an advanced training post for the Army determined the rate of hospital admissions for trainees was 2-times higher than among the American high school students during 1990. Potential reasons for this observation are briefly stated. The authors conclude by soliciting correspondence from potential research collaborators.