WASHINGTON - Suicides among active-duty soldiers dropped slightly last year to 156 confirmed deaths, from 162 in 2009, the Army vice chief of staff said today.

At the same time, suicides among National Guard soldiers increased, Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli told reporters at a Pentagon news briefing.

"While we achieved modest success in reducing the number of suicides of these soldiers on active duty, we saw a significant increase in the number of suicides of soldiers not serving on active duty, to include a doubling in the Army National Guard," he said.

In 2009, the number of Guard and Reserve soldiers who committed suicide while not serving on active duty was 80. In 2010, that number nearly doubled to 145.

"In 2010, we've got two obvious questions, Maj. Gen. Ray Carpenter, acting director of the Army National Guard, said. "First of all, what happened? And second, we have to be able to respond and tell people what we are doing about it," he said.

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