Thursday, September 27, 2012

Bible verse on M-4 rifles puts troops in danger

No fix for 'Jesus rifles' deploying to Afghanistan
By Kari Huus
NBC News

When the so-called "Jesus rifle" came to light in Jan. 2010, it sparked constitutional and security concerns, and a maelstrom of media coverage. The Pentagon ordered the removal of the secret code referring to Bible passages that the manufacturer had inscribed on the scopes of the standard issue rifles carried by U.S. soldiers into battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Nearly three years later — despite the military's assertion that is making "good progress" — the code remains on many rifles deploying to Afghanistan, which some soldiers argue is endangering their lives by reinforcing suspicions that the United States is waging a crusade against Muslims."I honestly believe that this is a dangerous situation. It literally could be a matter of life and death for a soldier if he fell into the wrong hands," said an Army officer who spoke to NBC News from Fort Hood, Texas. "The fact that combatant commanders are not following (rules set by Department of Defense) commanders is very disturbing to me."

The officer, who asked not to be named out of fear of reprisal from commanders, provided a photograph, taken on Tuesday, of the code on an M-4 rifle assigned to a soldier who is slated to deploy to Afghanistan in coming weeks.

The code stamped into the metal of the soldier’s ACOG (Advanced Combat Optical Gunsight) ends with the model number with "JN8:12." which refers to the New Testament passage, John 8:12, which reads: "Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
read more here

Substance Abuse In The Military Now A Public Health Crisis

Not the first time this has been posted and sadly won't be the last.

Substance Abuse In The Military Now A Public Health Crisis (VIDEO)
Posted: 09/27/2012

HuffPost Live's Alicia Menendez explores why the Pentagon's methods for dealing with substance abuse aren't working and what soldiers need to help them in such times.

Soldiers are trained to deal with life or death situations during deployment, but many don't find relief even after they return home. Returning with bodily injuries, mental disorders, or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and finding no avenue of dealing with these issues, many may turn to alcohol for comfort.

According to the Millennium Cohort Study soldiers who are deployed and exposed to combat, "are at increased risk of new-onset heavy weekly drinking, binge drinking, and other alcohol-related problems."

Don Lipsteen shared the heartbreaking story of his son, who had done two tours in Iraq with the U.S. Navy only to come home and find out he had a brain tumor.
read more here


They drink so they can get numb. They drink so they can "fall asleep" when they are passing out instead. This lesson was taught to them by the very people handing them medications and sending them off.

Got pain? Take a pill. Never mind therapy or pain management. Got bad memories? Take a pill and get numb instead of addressing what caused that memory to be there.

Can't calm down? Take a pill.

Can't get along with your family anymore? Take a pill.

The answer for all that is wrong with them is medication, so they learn that lesson well enough to just substitute all of it with what is easier for them to swallow. Drugs and alcohol.

Fort Hood: Female Soldier Found Dead In Her Barracks

Fort Hood: Female Soldier Found Dead In Her Barracks
FORT HOOD
September 26, 2012
Fort Hood officials have released the name of a female soldier who was found unresponsive in her barracks last Thursday.

Spc. Joselyntara Mafnas Sablan, 23, of Northern Mariana Islands, was transported to Carl R. Darnall Medical Center and was pronounced dead the same day, a Fort Hood spokesperson said.
read more here

This is the one reported on yesterday

Fort Hood soldier pronounced dead at Darnall, Spc. Joel Chuca

White Marines rally behind Montford Point buddy

White Marines rally behind Montford Point buddy
By Deborah Circelli
EDUCATION WRITER
Published: Wednesday, September 26, 2012

ORMOND BEACH —While they couldn't train together more than 65 years ago because their skin is a different color, four local Marines wanted to be sure their fellow black Marine and friend received the recognition he deserved.

Christopher Royall, 89, of Ormond Beach will receive one of the last Congressional Gold Medals — the highest civilian honor — given to Montford Point Marines for breaking barriers as the first blacks to serve in the Marine Corps during World War II.

About 20,000 black Marine recruits were trained from 1942 to 1949 at the segregated Montford Point in North Carolina until the training base was deactivated after President Harry S. Truman issued an executive order ending segregation in the Armed Forces. Replica Congressional Gold Medals were placed over the heads of about 350 surviving Montford Marines at a ceremony in Washington, D.C., in June and another 26 to family members. In total, close to 500 medals have been issued, some at private ceremonies for those who couldn't travel.
read more here

Indiana National Guards return after 6 members killed

Guard unit that lost 6 back from Afghanistan: 'It's been a long year'
Chicago Tribune
Associated Press
September 27, 2012

An Indiana National Guard unit that lost six of its members during an almost yearlong deployment in Afghanistan returned to Indiana Wednesday in a tearful, hug-filled reunion with friends and family.

More than 80 members of the Valparaiso-based 713th Engineer Company were greeted by about 300 relatives and friends when they arrived at the Gary Army Aviation Support Facility.

The hangar erupted in cheers as the door rose to reveal the returning soldiers.

"It's overwhelming, it's great," said Capt. Cecil Pendleton III. "It's been a long year.''

"It didn't feel real until I had him in my arms," said his wife, Rachel Pendleton. "I'm so happy for all the families. They went through a lot in Afghanistan, and we went through a lot at home."

The six deaths made the deployment the most deadly for a unit in the history of the Indiana National Guard.
read more here

DOD condescending attitude kills suicide prevention

DOD condescending attitude kills suicide prevention
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
September 27, 2012

This is from me, as a veteran's wife and advocate. I am not writing for any of the groups I belong to on this post because I doubt they'll agree with what I'm about to say. It has to be said and should have been said years ago.

I've been struggling for over an hour to start this post. The words in my head I just can't get past do not allow for being nice and polite at this point. So I'll be blunt and ask the question that has been filling my head everyday as I've tracked all the reports here for the last five years.

What is it going to take for the DOD to stop being condescending assholes?

They came up with suicide prevention so long ago it is hard to remember a time when they were not claiming to be addressing it. They jump for joy if the number drops one month pointing to all of their efforts but when the reports are followed by an increase, they repeat the same claims they made before that. Having failed, they then say they are studying what can be done, sink millions more into research and pretend to be doing something about it. Pretend may seem like a harsh word for the casual observer, but the evidence has proven they have learned next to nothing.

Most of them have no clue that Combat PTSD has been studied for 40 years and most that was learned has been ignored. I've been doing this for 30 years and I learned from experts. I also learned from living with it everyday. The experts I listened to were not in the Department of Defense. They were in the veterans' community. What they researched changed the way mental health was treated for civilians.

Whenever there is a traumatic event and crisis intervention teams show up, Vietnam veterans are behind their training. That's right. Vietnam veterans. They caused all of the research to be done addressing trauma. Before they came home, all other generations of veterans carrying the burden of combat inside of them were as close to being ignored as they could have been. Sure we say that WWII veterans were the greatest generation but they came home to suffer in silence.

For all the DOD has been doing, veterans are still coming home and suffering in silence without the help they should have received. These two reports that just came out tell the story of the fact the DOD refuses to change anything they have been doing.

Medal of Honor Hero Dakota Meyer
"Believing he had become a burden to his family, Dakota turned to the bottle. One night driving home he stopped his truck and pulled out a gun."
While you'd like to think he changed his mind, Dakota said he pulled the trigger but nothing happened.
MP Sgt. Smith's suicide leaves unit in shock Sgt. Derek Smith was in a small conference room at Fort Belvoir, Va., playing the role of a concerned friend in a suicide prevention training session. That Sunday, he was found in his patrol car, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. click link for more


News: Bragg MPs stand up against suicide

16th Military Police Brigade
Story by Sgt. A.M. LaVey
Courtesy Photo
ACE wallet cards with simple directions for identifying and intervening with those at risk.

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - In July, 38 soldiers took their own lives, setting a deadly record high for the Army. As of September, the total number of soldiers lost to suicide this year is 187. Army leadership prescribed mandatory training for every soldier and civilian member of the force. Fort Bragg's 16th Military Police Brigade held theirs Sept. 25.

"During the month of September, we had many events on post highlighting suicide prevention and reemphasizing the importance of personal intervention," said Col. Chad B. McRee, the brigade commander and Fort Bragg's director of emergency services.

Many believe personal intervention to be the key to preventing suicide in the armed forces.

"Suicide prevention starts with the involvement of every soldier and Family member," said Lt. Gen. Daniel B. Allyn, commander, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg. "To effectively stop suicides before they happen, we must know our soldiers intimately."
read more here


They had training but suicide seemed like a better option than spending one more day regretting they survived.

What do we hear from the DOD? Most claims about all they are doing to address it. Stand Downs so they can give the troops the same bullshit they have been feeding them all these years hoping that this time it may change something. Ignoring what failed and viewing it as a delivery issue. We hear brass like General Pittard saying suicide is selfish then says that Fort Bliss has the least suicides without one reporter asking the right questions and Retired Gen. Peter Chiarelli says, "it’s time to stop “scapegoating” military leaders when troops take their own lives and, instead, focus on preventing suicides among all Americans." Leaving us with this piece of news 75% of military attempted suicides committed after treatment

This is sounding more and more like a grim fairy tale as year after year there are more bad reports followed by claims they are doing something about it.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

MP Sgt. Smith's suicide leaves unit in shock

Now maybe you can see that what the DOD is doing to stop suicides is not working!
Sergeant’s unexpected suicide rattles his MP unit
Army Times
By Joe Gould
Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Sep 25, 2012

On a Thursday, military policeman Sgt. Derek Smith was in a small conference room at Fort Belvoir, Va., playing the role of a concerned friend in a suicide prevention training session. That Sunday, he was found in his patrol car, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head.

How Smith could take his own life was a mystery to his commander and others in their relatively tight-knit unit, the post’s 45-member 212th Military Police Detachment.

“From my view, he had not a care in the world, and life was going great,” said Staff Sgt. Steven Finch, Smith’s supervisor. “No sign whatsoever. Zero. I’d spoken to him that Friday and his family had spoken to him that afternoon. Nothing.”

Smith, 29, of Jacksonville, Fla., entered the Army in 2007 and deployed to Iraq a year later for 15 months, then left the Army and re-enlisted in 2010.

At least to his co-workers, he showed no signs of the behavioral health problems, financial distress or relationship issues that often precede a suicide.
read more here

CentCom Lt. Colonel accused of sexually enticing teen

CentCom officer accused of sexually enticing teen
Tampa Bay Times
Times staff
In Print: Wednesday, September 26, 2012

TAMPA — A protocol officer for a general at U.S. Central Command at MacDill Air Force Base has been arrested by federal officials and accused of trying to entice a 17-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity.

Air Force Lt. Col. Stephen Michael Governale, 49, of Tampa was being held Tuesday in Seminole County without bail pending an Oct. 1 hearing in Orlando federal court.

Court documents do not name the general to whom he reported, or say where the teen lived.

On his Facebook page, Governale posted a photo in 2010 showing him with the man he said was his boss at the time, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the former chief of CentCom.
read more here linked from This ain't hell

Chandler calls on leaders to open up about their own combat stress

Chandler calls on leaders to open up about their own combat stress
By JOYCE TSAI
Stars and Stripes
Published: September 26, 2012

Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III talks with some of the soldiers attending the Non-Commissioned Officers Academy on issues concerning today's Army at Grafenwoehr, Germany on March 6, 2012.

WASHINGTON — One of the Army’s main weapons in combating suicide is the recognition that everyone, no matter their rank, can be at risk, said Sgt. Maj. of the Army Raymond F. Chandler III.

Chandler said he hoped that a full day of mandatory suicide prevention training during Thursday’s “stand down” would drive home that message to troops and their families.

The Army will offer seminars on identifying the warning signs of suicide as well as resources on where to find help. But Chandler said Wednesday that one of his goals is to encourage senior leaders to share their stories of struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury and suicidal thoughts.

He hopes that commanders can “lead by example,” he said.

“It is a source of strength to ask for help,” Chandler said. “And we are all about being strong in the Army.”
read more here

Desperate Arkansas Veterans paying for help with claims

The DAV and VFW offer help for free!

Ark. Veterans Affairs: Don't pay for benefits assistance
Sep 26, 2012
Written by
Lindsey Tugman

NORTH LITTLE ROCK, Ark. - The Arkansas Department of Veterans Affairs (ADVA) issued a caution to veterans today in an effort to prevent them from paying for benefits assistance.

According to the agency, there is a growing trend of individuals and businesses charging veterans to help them apply for various VA benefits, including filing disability claims.

"There are veterans paying large sums of money for services that, because of their military service, should not cost them a dime," said ADVA Chief of Claims and Appeals Tony Gordon. "Navigating the benefits system can be challenging but our service officers are accredited to assist veterans in doing so, one-on-one and free of cost."
read more here