A succession of suicides among personnel working for or closely with US Cyber Command has prompted concern among military leaders and lawmakers, raising fresh questions about the psychological pressures facing one of the most secretive parts of the US armed forces. According to Bloomberg, as many as five people connected to the command died by suicide between early June and early July, in what officials have described as a potential suicide cluster.
The deaths have emerged at a time when the command’s responsibilities have expanded sharply. Cyber Command is responsible for defending American computer systems while conducting operations against foreign adversaries, with much of its work carried out away from the physical front lines of war. Its personnel have nevertheless faced growing demands linked to foreign conflicts, including the US war with Iran, as well as the accelerating race to develop and defend against increasingly capable artificial intelligence systems.
The circumstances surrounding the deaths remain unclear. Internal military communications, public records and interviews with people familiar with the matter indicate that three suicides were acknowledged by Cyber Command’s leader, Gen. Joshua Rudd, in a June message to staff. Two further deaths followed, according to public records and people familiar with the matter. The military is investigating the circumstances of at least one of the deaths.
The information examined by Bloomberg included police reports, obituaries, state death records, internal military communications and interviews with more than a dozen people familiar with the deaths. Several people spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to discuss the matter.
One of those who died was Technical Sgt. Kevin Stallings, a digital network intelligence analyst stationed at Fort Meade, Maryland, the headquarters of Cyber Command. His family agreed to identify him in the hope that greater attention would be paid to the succession of deaths.
Stallings had spent nearly two decades in the US Air Force after enlisting directly from a Virginia high school. He travelled internationally, earned a degree in intelligence analysis and received several military decorations. Family members remembered him as devoted and discreet, with a fondness for riding his motorcycle, reading Green Lantern comics and spending time with his chihuahua, Scud.
“Kevin cared about everybody,” his brother, Adam Stallings, said. “I believe his mission was to protect us all.”
Stallings’ death occurred on June 22, hours after Rudd informed Cyber Command personnel that three people had died by suicide during the preceding two weeks. According to police records, an Air Force official contacted Maryland authorities that day to request a welfare check after Stallings had been unreachable for more than four days. Police found him dead at his apartment near Fort Meade.
The following day, Cyber Command held an all-staff safety meeting, where leaders encouraged personnel to support one another and seek assistance when necessary. Two weeks later, another man died by suicide, according to records. After a July 6 death, Brig. Gen. Joed Carbonell-Lopez sent a message to a Maryland National Guard unit supporting Cyber Command, urging personnel to check on colleagues, supervisors and commanders.
The rapid succession of deaths has led Cyber Command to classify the situation as a possible “suicide cluster”, according to a person familiar with the matter. The Pentagon defines such clusters as suicides occurring closer together than would normally be expected and requires specific measures to address them.
The developments have also revived concerns about the mental health of military cyber personnel. Cyberoperators can work in highly secure, isolated environments, sometimes undertaking long shifts inside windowless facilities. Erick Miyares, a psychologist and former military employee who was embedded at the National Security Agency, conducted a 2025 study based on interviews with 50 US cyberoperators. He said participants reported problems including insomnia, memory loss, rumination and physical illness. The Army-funded study has not been released because of security concerns.
The pressures have intensified as demand for cyber operations has increased. At the Cyber National Mission Force, an elite Cyber Command organisation that supports US military operations abroad, personnel have faced rising demand while the time available to complete their work has fallen, according to people familiar with the situation. Some of those who died worked within that unit.
The command has struggled with staffing for years. The National Defense Authorization Act from 2023 described “chronic shortages of proficient personnel in key work roles” dating back to Cyber Command’s establishment in 2010. Andrew Schoka, who spent seven years at the command, described a workplace in which taking breaks or asking for help could be difficult.
“There’s always a crisis and everything’s always a priority,” Schoka said. “We would burn people out faster than we could produce them.”
The concern has reached the highest levels of military oversight. Rudd, who became leader of both Cyber Command and the National Security Agency in March, wrote to the congressional committees overseeing the military the following month. He identified $11 million for studying and addressing cyber personnel’s mental health as one of the command’s top unfunded priorities.
The proposed funding was intended for “cognitive, psychological, physiological and spiritual sustainment for high-tempo cyber operators”, according to Rudd’s letter. “Without funding, burnout and force degradation will increase,” he warned.
Congressional committees have since increased their scrutiny. The Senate Armed Services Committee said it was actively engaging with Cyber Command over resources required in response to the deaths. The House Armed Services Committee has also asked the Pentagon about the “increase in suicides”, describing the matter as a “critical issue”.
The military has taken some measures. The most recent defence authorisation act requires counsellors at Cyber Command sites to address workplace stress. A Pentagon study conducted in 2024 on the “degradation of mental health and job performance” within the Cyber National Mission Force found significant and distinctive mental health concerns and recommended dedicated care teams across the force. According to a person familiar with the matter, that recommendation was not fully implemented.
The Pentagon declined to make Rudd or another official available for an interview, while Cyber Command and the Pentagon did not respond to detailed questions from Bloomberg. A Pentagon spokesperson said the death of any member of the military community was a tragedy and expressed sympathy for the families, adding that the military remained committed to suicide prevention through a comprehensive approach.
The wider military context adds another dimension. In 2024, the US military recorded more than 23 deaths by suicide per 100,000 service members, nearly twice the rate of the US population, according to the Pentagon’s latest report. That year, four deaths were recorded among personnel classified in “cyberspace operations”, while 14 were recorded in “signal intelligence/electronic warfare”. It remains unclear how those categories correspond to Cyber Command personnel.
The command’s total workforce is not publicly disclosed, although it has said its core team numbers more than 6,000. Its personnel work closely with the NSA, which is also headquartered at Fort Meade, and some individuals serve in roles connected to both organisations.
For Stallings’ family, the succession of deaths has raised questions that extend beyond the circumstances of one individual. His brother said the fact that other people connected to the command had also died led him to believe that broader problems required attention.
The exact reasons behind the suicides remain unknown, and suicide is rarely attributable to a single event or circumstance, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. What the deaths have made clear, however, is the growing pressure surrounding a workforce whose work is largely hidden from public view but increasingly central to modern military operations.
As Cyber Command faces expanding demands from war, technological competition and artificial intelligence, the deaths have placed an unusually direct focus on the human cost of sustaining that mission. The question now confronting military leaders and lawmakers is whether existing measures are sufficient to protect the personnel responsible for defending and attacking in cyberspace.
