On a mission to reduce veteran suicide

Cole Lyle, a Marine Corps veteran, joins The American Legion Tango Alpha Lima podcast this week to discuss the veteran suicide issue and more.

Now executive director of Mission Roll Call, Cole has an extensive history of working on policy related to veterans issues. He previously worked at The American Legion’s office in Washington, D.C, served as an adviser to senior leadership at VA and in the U.S. Senate.

Mission Roll Call, which appeared in a previous episode about using digital messaging, educates veterans about their health-care options.

Lyle, a member of American Legion Kenneth Nash Post 8 on Capitol Hill, says Mission Roll Call is in a supportive role when it comes to the veteran suicide issue

“We look more for the long game,” he explained. “There’s no one thing that we can point to and say, ‘Fix this,’ and then veterans will take their lives at a lower rate. It’s really about improving the veterans experience in the United States through a lot of different things.”

That’s a similar approach to the Legion’s “Be the One” initiative, which aims to destigmatize mental-health counseling and, in turn, reduce the rate of veteran suicide.

There are 150 Tango Alpha Lima episodes available in both audio and video formats here. You can also download episodes on iTunes, Google Play or other major podcast-hosting sites. The video version is available at the Legion’s YouTube channel.