Ab observational longitudinal cohort study was conducted to check whether the suicide risk in the French army was higher than in the general population & to find out the categories of personnel more prone to self-harm. From 1997-2000, 230 suicides occurred; the overall annual crude suicide rate was 18.2 per 100,000 active-duty personnel. With the national data for 1999 as reference, males in the army had a lower suicide risk than men in the general popluation of similar age. A Poisson regression model showed the incidence rate in the Gendarmerie was twice as high as in the Land Forces. Despite a lower risk than in the general population, certain Army categories need special surveillance & preventive measures. (34 refs.)