Suicides reported by the U.S. Army continued what has become a slow decline for the year to date, with new data for September showing the fewest self-inflicted deaths so far in 2013.

Nine potential suicides were reported among active duty soldiers and 8 by non-active reserve troops, for a total of 17 for the month. Only 1 of those 17 had been confirmed; the others are still under investigation.

So far this year, 227 potential suicides have been reported, about evenly split between active duty and inactive reserves. That is about 20 fewer than a year ago, or just under a 10% decline. This September vs. last September shows a drop of just under half. Non-active reservist make up a higher percentage of the potential suicides than a year ago, about half now vs. 40%.

Data for the Army, Navy and Marines is available for analysis and download in this spreadsheet maintained by Medill National Security Zone.

SOURCE: National Security Zone from U.S. Army Data.