The Army’s vice chief of staff is taking the best practices he’s found for mental and physical health services from Fort Riley and five other installations back to the Pentagon as he assesses the health of the force.

Gen. Lloyd Austin visited Friday with Fort Riley and 1st Infantry Division leaders about what is being done to meet the health care needs of 18,000 soldiers and their families assigned to the Kansas post.

The officers have spent the week touring Army posts in Georgia, North Carolina and Texas. Programs reviewed by the team include suicide prevention, care of wounded soldiers, prevention of sexual assault and evaluation of disabilities.

Austin says suicides and behavioral health issues remain a focus, calling suicide an American problem, not just an Army problem.