FORT CAMPBELL , Kentucky ( CNN ) -- The 101st Airborne 's senior commander in effect ordered his soldiers Wednesday not to commit suicide , a plea that came after 11 suicides since January 1 , two of them in the past week . An Army honor guard stands ready to fire a salute at Fort Campbell . `` If you do n't remember anything else I say in the next five or 10 minutes , remember this -- suicidal behavior in the 101st on Fort Campbell is bad , '' Brig . Gen. Stephen J. Townsend told his forces . `` It 's bad for soldiers , it 's bad for families , bad for your units , bad for this division and our army and our country and it 's got to stop now . Suicides on Fort Campbell have to stop now . '' Fort Campbell 's suicide rate , the highest in the Army , `` is not a good statistic , '' he said in remarks to one of four divisions he addressed during the day . After nearly one soldier per week committed suicide at the post between January and mid-March , the Army instituted a suicide prevention program that `` seemed to be having good effects '' until last week , when two more suicides occurred , he said . `` Suicide is a permanent solution to what is only a temporary problem , '' Townsend said . `` Screaming Eagles do n't quit . No matter how bad your problem seems today , trust me , it 's not the end of the world . It will be better tomorrow . Do n't take away your tomorrow . '' He urged anyone feeling hopeless or suicidal to `` tell somebody . '' `` You would n't hesitate to seek medical attention for a physical injury or wound ; do n't hesitate to seek medical attention for a psychological injury . '' Townsend exhorted any soldier who suspects that a fellow soldier may be feeling suicidal to act -- first by asking how the soldier feels , then by escorting him or her to help . `` Do not wait , '' he said . Soldiers can turn to their leaders , chaplains , medics , social workers , teammates , family and friends , he said . `` Do n't let yourself , your buddies or your families down , '' he said , ending his comments by repeating , `` This has got to stop , soldiers . It 's got to stop now . Have a great week . '' But Townsend 's message -- called a Second Suicide Stand-Down event -- is likely to be ineffective , said Dr. Mark Kaplan , a professor of community health at Portland State University in Oregon , who has researched veterans ' suicide and served last year on a Veterans Administration blue-ribbon panel on suicide risk . `` It sounds like an order , '' he told CNN in a telephone interview . `` I 'm not sure that a command like this is going to alter the course of somebody who is on a trajectory of self-harm . '' He suggested the Army might want to adopt the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs model . `` They 're dealing with a comparable problem with a similar population , '' Kaplan said . `` They have infused more sensitivity to their approach to suicide prevention as opposed to this . This is like any other order . '' The military culture attaches a stigma to mental illness that needs to be reduced , he said . Soldiers who acknowledge they are considering suicide can suffer severe repercussions , such as losing opportunities for promotion and access to firearms , he said . If the Army is serious about addressing the problem , it needs to address the stressors common to soldiers , including financial problems , marital problems , frequency of deployments , length of deployments , deployments to hostile environments , exposure to extreme stress and service-related injuries , he said . The role of alcohol too must be addressed if the rate of suicide is to be lowered , he said . `` More often than not , these are individuals who 'll get liquored up , so to speak , and have access to a gun and die from a self-inflicted gunshot wound , '' Kaplan said . Bill Lichtenstein , who serves on the board of the Rosalynn Carter Fellowships for Mental Health Journalism , the advisory council of the Center for the Advancement of Children 's Mental Health at Columbia University , and on the advisory board of Families for Depression Awareness , was equally unimpressed with Townsend 's tack . `` It 's the equivalent of 'Just Say No ' to prevent drug abuse , ' `` he told CNN in a telephone interview . Screening techniques that involve a series of questions are available to identify people at risk for suicide , he said . `` Prominent among them , if not the most important question is : Have you made a plan for suicide ? Using a simple battery of questions , you can suss out people who might be at risk , which is far more important than telling somebody , 'Do n't take your life , ' `` Lichtenstein said . The problem is not limited to Fort Campbell . The Army has reported 64 potential active-duty suicides this year ; 35 have been confirmed as suicides , and 29 are pending determination of manner of death . CNN 's Tom Watkins contributed to this story .
Brig . Gen. Stephen J. Townsend spoke to troops about suicide problem . Do n't hesitate to seek medical attention for a psychological injury , he says . Suicide bad for soldiers , families , units , army , country , says general . Fort Campbell 's suicide rate , highest in Army , `` is not a good statistic , '' says general .