WASHINGTON - The suicide rate in the United States military was worse during the war years than previously reported by the Defense Department, according to new calculations.

New arithmetic released by Pentagon officials on Friday shows that during the fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, the true suicide rate across the US military was actually up to 1 percent or more higher than what was being reported.

Defense officials said the problem with the old, now-abandoned calculation, was that it relied partly on an estimated figure in determining the suicide rate rather than using precise numbers.

"It's jaw-dropping that the Pentagon would use this kind of crass calculation to measure the impact of the suicide epidemic within their ranks," Senator Patty Murray, a senior member of the Veterans Affairs Committee, said.

"It took us time and effort to sit down and really just kind of figure out a better way to do the math," said Jacqueline Garrick, director of the Defense Suicide Prevention Office.

Since 2003, suicides among active-duty members of the military and veterans has soared, increasing to record levels every year.

For full-time troops across the US military, the suicide rate stood at 22.7-per-100,000 in 2012 and fell to 19.1-per-100,000 last year, according to the Pentagon.

Among full-time soldiers in the Army, the suicide rate soared to 29.7 deaths per 100,000 in 2012, well above a 25.1-per-100,000 rate for civilians of a similar age group during 2010, the latest year available. Among male soldiers, the rate was 31.8-per-100,000. There were a record 164 soldier-suicides that year.

Earlier this month, US military officials said suicides among US special operations forces, including elite Navy SEALs and Army Rangers, are at record levels. (PT)