A Fort Bragg soldier was found dead at her off-base residence Saturday in an apparent suicide, according to Fayetteville Police.
The Army reported in a press release that Pfc. Kathijah Anis Badrulhaimi, 22, of Apple Valley, Minnesota, had died, and that the "incident is currently under investigation."
Fayetteville police spokesman Lt. Todd Joyce later said the death appeared self-inflicted.
Badrulhaimi was a light-wheel vehicle mechanic with the 82nd Airborne Division. In October 2013, she was assigned to the 135th Forward Support Company, 3rd Battalion, 27th Field Artillery Regiment, 18th Field Artillery Brigade. She completed basic training at Fort Jackson, S.C., and advanced training at Fort Lee, Va.
"We are deeply saddened by the loss of one of our finest Soldiers," Lt. Col. Brandon Meno, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 27th FAR, said in the release. "Private First Class Badrulhaimi was an outstanding Soldier with a bright future; our sincerest condolences go out to her Family and the Soldiers of the 3-27 FAR in this trying time."
Badrulhaimi's awards and decorations include the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal and Army Service Ribbon.
As of July 14, 2014, the military had recorded 161 suicides, slightly up from 2013's total at that point in the year (154), according to the Associated Press. The 259 total suicides for the full year of 2013, however represented a sharp decline from a spike of 319 in 2012.
More soldiers died in the U.S. military in 2012 of suicide than in combat in Afghanistan.
An extensive National Institute of Mental Health study released earlier this year indicated that the problem has grown at a rapid rate for soldiers who never deployed. From 2004 to 2009, suicides for soldiers deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq doubled to over 30-per-100,000; they nearly tripled to between 25- and 30-per-100,000 for those who had never deployed.
