Suicide Prevention Office Sucks At Saving Lives

Active-Duty Military Suicides at Record Highs in 2018

Military.com
Patricia Kime
January 30, 2019

Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to include Army year-end totals.

The U.S. military finished 2018 with a troubling, sad statistic: It experienced the highest number of suicides among active-duty personnel in at least six years.

Lt. Cmdr. Karen Downer writes a name on a Suicide Awareness Memorial Canvas in honor of Suicide Awareness Month at Naval Hospital Jacksonville, Sept. 10, 2018. (U.S. Navy/Jacob Sippel, Naval Hospital Jacksonville).

Active duty Military members could save more with GEICO. Get a quote today! A total of 321 active-duty members took their lives during the year, including 57 Marines, 68 sailors, 58 airmen, and 138 soldiers.

The deaths equal the total number of active-duty personnel who died by suicide in 2012, the record since the services began closely tracking the issue in 2001.

Suicide continues to present a challenge to the Pentagon and the military services, which have instituted numerous programs to save lives, raise awareness and promote prevention. Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, in his 2019 guidance to Marines released Friday, urged them to consider the lasting impact that a "permanent solution to a temporary problem" can have.

According to Air Force officials, 58 active-duty airmen took their lives, while three Reserve members died by their own hands. The number represents a decline from previous years, down from 63 in 2015 and 2017, and 61 in 2016, but is still troubling, said Brig. Gen. Michael Martin, director of Air Force Integrated Resilience.
read more here

Last ride for Rolling Thunder?

Rolling Thunder: Lack of money to silence POW/MIA support run

Smyrna-Clayton Sun Times
Jeff Brown
January 30, 2019

For the past 30 years, Rolling Thunder has sponsored a ride to Washington, D.C. to remind the public about POWs and MIAs. This year will be its last.

The rumble of motorcycles rolling across the nation’s capital in memory of America’s missing service members and prisoners of war is on the road to becoming a thing of the past.

The yearly event, sponsored by the New Jersey-based Rolling Thunder, Inc., will end with its 32nd ride in May 2019, Executive Director Artie Muller and President Joe Bean announced in December.

Since 1988, Rolling Thunder’s annual First Amendment Demonstration Ride has seen hundreds of thousands of bikers and supporters converge on Washington, D.C., in support of the MIA/POW cause. The first event attracted about 2,000 bikers; more than a half-million turned out for the 2018 event.

Delawareans who ride in support of Rolling Thunder were shocked to learn the news.

Bikers coming in from across the country traditionally assemble in parking lots around the Pentagon, where Rolling Thunder would sell products such as pins, patches, and flags to raise additional money.

A particular point of contention, according to Muller, was a growing lack of cooperation with security forces at the Pentagon who he accused of diverting the bikers and not allowing them to enter the parking lots, which also prevented participants from buying Rolling Thunder products.

Department of Defense spokeswoman Susan L. Gough has denied those charges, saying the DoD is focused on supporting Rolling Thunder’s right to protest while at the same time ensuring the safety and security of both the bikers and the Pentagon complex itself.
read more here

What is the number of veteran suicides today?

How many veterans committed suicide?

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 25, 2019

There seems to be a lot of assumptions on how many veterans committed suicide. If you think you know, it is unknown, therefore, you are just think you know. It is not a known number, but, in this case, it is actually worse than we can imagine.

The reports from the VA use limited data and are 2 years behind. In other words, they do not really know how many have committed suicide.

The DOD reports are behind by three months, therefore, their data is more reliable when determining if "efforts" have worked or failed.

This shows the percentages of known suicides from on of the latest VA reports.

Number of veterans living year to year decreased since 2005 and while the reported number stayed about the same, the percentage went up. Again, the data only goes up to 2016.

The Department of Defense report shows the same result. The average of Active Duty, National Guards and Reservists, has remained an average of 500 a year since 2012.

Department of Defense Suicide Prevention Office

Take a look for yourself. Add the "Active" with the total for "Reserve Component" together.

We will never know how many veterans are committing suicide today, or how many could have been saved. 

If we had actually stopped pretending to know what we did not know, then maybe we would have imagined how to change the outcome.

Mattis sticks to his ethics and quit with class

Pentagon chief Mattis quits, citing policy differences with Trump

Reuters
PHIL STEWART AND STEVE HOLLAND
Dec 20th 2018

Mattis, along with other national security aides, was said to have opposed Trump's decision to remove U.S. troops from Syria. Many U.S. lawmakers have expressed concern about the decision and asked Trump to reconsider.

WASHINGTON, Dec 20 (Reuters) - U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, a stabilizing force in President Donald Trump's Cabinet, abruptly announced his resignation on Thursday and said Trump should pick a successor whose views align more with his own.

Mattis' resigned a day after Trump announced that U.S. troops in Syria would be withdrawn, a decision that upended American policy in the region, and on the same day that officials said the president was considering a substantial U.S. pullout from the long-running conflict in Afghanistan.

"Because you have a right to a Secretary of Defense whose views are better aligned with yours on these and other subjects, I believe it is right for me to step down from my position," Mattis said in his resignation letter, released by the Pentagon.
read more here

It sucks to be right and no one cared before it was too late

Too late for too many

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 18, 2018

If it seems as if everything just keeps getting worse for our veterans, that is because it is. This long nightmare was provided by greedy SOBs who never were held responsible for anything they got paid to do, but failed.

In 2009 when I wrote "Comprehensive Soldier Fitness will make it worse" it was because I had been doing this long enough to predict the outcome. I was right and it sucks sitting here, still paying attention to the devil in the details most people miss.


We have CONgress failing. The DOD failing. The VA failing. The "awareness" charities failing miserably. And all of them get paid to do the jobs they fail at doing. We have corporations, colleges, think tanks and other charities getting funding from the government and private donations, and they are failing. None of this is guess work. The facts prove it all sucks the life out of veterans who should be filled up with all the knowledge they need to heal. They do not even have a clue they can.

So why is it that I am still trying to warn people ahead of time and no one pays attention? Simple. Someone has to put them first! I've seen the worst that can happen and it breaks my heart because the loss does not stop at the grave. It spreads out. The thing is, I've also seen the proof of what can be when they take back control over their own lives.

The DOD has grabbing onto nonsense to show they are trying. Like using Talladega Nights when Will Ferrell was with the cougar. Or when they used the epic Gilgamesh cartoon. Not easy to come to the conclusion that was money not well spent even though they had it thanks to Congress.

Much like now, they will just keep writing huge checks and expecting absolutely nothing in return. Well, not exactly, since this time, they decided to not even spend it. 
 
There was a report released by the GAO about funds that were supposed to be invested in suicide prevention. 

Starting in June 2012, the VA consistently aired suicide preventions PSAs every month, either on the television or radio. When GAO investigators looked into the issue in August 2018, the VA hadn’t aired a PSA in over a year.

And then we have this,

Of the $6.2 million budget obligated for suicide prevention outreach in fiscal year 2018, the agency had spent only $57,000, or less than 1 percent, by September. Agency officials told investigators they would end up spending a total $1.5 million by Oct. 1, the end of the fiscal year. The remainder, $4.7 million, went unused. 

Time and time again, I pointed out how the "number" of "veterans committing suicide" was false and pointed out exactly why. But no one cared. They just kept passing the crap out on social media as if they just discovered something that needed attention.

With the news that has been posted here, 29,853 times, counting this post, it gets harder and harder to do it. I think about all the people out there making money off all of this when I just had to use my own money to cover my Post Office Box rental fee. I stood in line after working a regular job and wondering why I still do it after 36 years.

And then I came home. My husband greeted me with a smile, fresh coffee waiting and my dog flipped out as if he hadn't seen me in months. That is why I do this! That is why I get up everyday with this on my mind, and in my heart.

I took all this seriously because I fell in love. If you do not love what you are doing when it comes to our veterans, then you need to be doing something else. This is serious. This is their deaths or being glad they are still living. This is about someone who was willing to die for the sake of someone else, because they valued that life so much, but not valuing their own enough to fight for themselves.

This is about getting totally pissed off over what other people are willing to settle for and getting pats on the back, big fat checks they spend on themselves and never once looking back and the destruction they caused in far too many families. It has all been too little, too late for far too many who did not need to suffer instead of celebrating.

The Navy does not know about the data that is available on suicides?

OMG! The Navy does not know about the data that is available on suicides?

"The Navy isn’t sure why more sailors are taking their own lives. In terms of a longer-term trend, because the publicly available data only goes back to 2012, it’s not clear how the recent rates and the 2015-2017 spike fit into larger historical trends."

Well, here are the links to all the data they need to review!
2008

2009

2010 has extensive research on this one, including attempted suicides.

2011

These are the reports from 2012 to June of 2018

Navy Sees Sudden Rise in Suicide Rate Since 2015; Unclear on Causes

USNI News
By: Ben Werner
December 11, 2018

THE PENTAGON – Over the past two years, the number of active duty sailors who committed suicide grew rapidly at a time the overall number of active duty service members taking their lives increased more modestly, according to data from the Department of Defense obtained by USNI News.

The sudden death of U.S. 5th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Scott Stearney in what is an apparent suicide is part of a troubling trend for the service. During 2017 and the first half of this year, the Navy reported an increase in the number of sailors taking their own lives, and service officials haven’t been able to pin down a cause for the increase.

Between 2012 – when the DoD’s Defense Suicide Prevention Office started publishing suicide data – and 2016, the Navy’s suicide rates tracked below the DoD average rate and generally mirrored DoD’s year-to-year ups and downs. In 2017, though, the Navy saw 66 active duty sailors – a 53 percent spike compared to the year before – commit suicide, according to statistics collected by the Defense Suicide Prevention Office. During the first half of 2018, 36 active-duty sailors committed suicides, according to the most recent numbers provided to USNI News. The six-month total suggests the Navy is on track to finish 2018 with a number of suicides similar to 2017’s six-year high.

When compared to other services, the Navy’s 2017 active duty suicide rate of 21.4 per 100,000 sailors was in line with the suicide rates experienced by the other military branches (Army 24.9, Air Force 20.3, Marine Corps 24), according to USNI News calculations using the DoD suicide rate calculation formula. Nationally, the 2017 suicide rate was 14 per 100,000 U.S. residents, according to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention calculation.
read more here

Have you heard enough excuses for veterans killing themselves yet?

When will the VA and DOD admit the awful truth?

Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
December 5, 2018

Yet again, a report came out about how bad it is for our veterans when they come home. Younger veterans are committing suicide in higher percentages, but the facts are missing.

The awful truth is they did not just fail this year, or last year, or five years ago, or even a decade ago. They failed for over 4 of them.

Billions spent every year and billions made by businesses and charities making a profit off of suicides. That should have been a clue but contracts continued to be written and paid for, along with funerals.

Police end up having to respond to someone finding a dead body, as well as respond when one of them is in a mental health crisis and someone called to get them help, only to have to draw their weapons against a veteran they came to help. That happened at least every week in 2017.

This year, there were 22 public suicides where veterans ended their private hell while making a point to let people be aware of what they had driven them to that point. Hoping like hell that someone would pay attention and do something before another veteran lost their life to suicide.

They saw more and more kicked out of the military. 2,300,000 at last count, right after more speeches about how the DOD claimed they were ready to help them heal.

Billions spent on "prevention training" that every member of the military had to take, yet every branch, every rank, every sex, every age group, lives though combat but dies afterwards by their own hands.

We see National Guards and Reservists, return home without a clue they can heal, so they lose hope before they even try to take control of their lives again.

How much are we willing to see while so many are oblivious to the charade? What expert has been fired for incompetence? What business has had to pay back the money they made off what they failed to deliver on? What charity has been held accountable for passing a slogan off as anything but something to benefit themselves?

It isn't as if they had no way of knowing.

Here is a direct quote from Wounded Times posted on May 29, 2009 about how it should have been known that if the DOD pushed resilience training, suicides would increase.

If you promote this program the way Battlemind was promoted, count on the numbers of suicides and attempted suicides to go up instead of down. It's just one more deadly mistake after another and just as dangerous as sending them into Iraq without the armor needed to protect them.

Yes, I predicted all this because I paid attention. I read reports and I listened to the veterans. No, I was not foolish enough to think the DOD or any of the "experts" would ever listen to someone like me, so not shocked this was ignored. The shocking thing is, they still have not figured it out!!!

It didn't matter that the experts over at RAND Corp investigated this "training" in 2013 and showed why it would not work. Not bad enough that in 2012, suicides hit over 500, or even bad enough they have remained an average of 500 a year since then. It was not even bad enough for them to grasp the concept these men and women were ready to die to save someone else, but did not seek help to save their own lives.

No, none of it was bad enough and today, we have a report where the VA and the DOD still say they have no clue!

Rising Suicide Rates Among Younger Veterans Trigger Alarm Bells at VA

Military.com
By Richard Sisk
December 4, 2018

Suicide rates among veterans 34 and younger have spiked in the last two years, leading the Department of Veterans Affairs to focus more on the 18-to-34-year-old age group than civilian programs for suicide prevention do, a top VA official said Tuesday.

She said another factor that has emerged in analyzing recent statistics has been the suicide rate among National Guard and Reserve veterans who never deployed to a combat zone.

Nearly four of the 20 veteran suicides a day were among National Guard and Reserve members who may have experienced trauma in national disaster duty, but were never in a combat zone, she added.

The number of suicides by veterans of all generations averages 22 each day. But "when we break down the numbers, the national numbers for veterans suicides, we're seeing an increased rate within 18-to-34-year-olds," said Dr. Keita Franklin, the VA's national director of suicide prevention.read the rest here

The thing to pay close attention to is this part

Franklin, who previously served as the Pentagon's Defense Suicide Prevention Office director, also noted that her civilian counterparts in suicide prevention are not facing the same rates of female suicides. "The fact that the female [veteran] rate is 1.8 times higher than their non-veteran counterpart is something we're concerned about."

I won a damn award back in 2008 for a video I did about National Guards and Reservists trying to deal with PTSD! So, if I knew, then why the hell didn't they know and do something about it? Like maybe what people like me had been doing for decades?

Did anyone ask her about how suicides increased within the military and in the veterans' community and they still do not know why? Did anyone ask how it is that after over a decade of "efforts" by the DOD and the VA, this is the outcome?

Notice the number of veterans living has dropped by over 4 million, but the rate went up? Now consider how many years, how many times we have heard "one too many" and how they were focused on doing something about it.

This is from the DOD up to June of this year.

And it is projected to remain about 500 for this year too when you look at the report, then factor in they have revised the numbers in the latest release.

Did anyone ask how it is there were thousands of "awareness raisers" running around the country collected over a billion per year and the suicides still happen even though the veterans are fully aware of all of it?

It is time for us to demand answers, since Congress won't and reporters will not. How much longer are we going to all all of this to go on? When do we actually stand up and fight for the men and women who fight all of our battles?

I am tired of having to try to explain all of this to families when it is too late to do them any good, and then have some "experts" say they still do not know what the hell to do!!! We've known for over 4 decades! When will they? They won't as long as we just let them get away with saying whatever they want.

HOLD THEM ACCOUNTABLE!

Connecticut taking care of veterans the DOD failed

Connecticut VA Opens Its Doors To 'Bad Paper' Veterans

NPR All Things Considered

November 26, 2018

For an estimated 500,000 veterans, being put out of the military with an other than honorable discharge is a source of shame and an obstacle to employment. "Bad paper," in most cases, means no benefits or health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs — even when the problems that got them kicked out were linked to PTSD, traumatic brain injury or military sexual assault.

Thomas Burke, a pastor at the Norfield Congregational Church in Weston, Conn., recently became Norfield's associate minister of children, youth and families. Monica Jorge for NPR

But last month, Connecticut opened state VA resources to vets who can show that one of those conditions is linked to their discharge. For veterans like Thomas Burke, now a youth minister at Norfield Congregational Church, it's part of a long path to recovery.

"When I first started looking for jobs, I did not want to be a youth minister to kids, because my PTSD stems from a traumatic event where I failed children," says Burke.

read more here

*******

Glad they used "estimated 500,000" because we know it is a lot more...and happened to every generation of veterans. It is at least 2 million 300,000 with a majority of them dealing with PTSD.

Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Iverson needs history lesson on PTSD!

More BS from a leader?

This is a stunner! The "Veteran of the Year" knows nothing about the rest of the veterans he just insulted!

This report has every war from WWI, WWII, Korea and Vietnam in it and all of it deals with PTSD.

I have it hanging over my desk to remind me why I do this everyday!

The report was based on research for the Forgotten Warrior Project.

"It was not until WWI that specific clinical syndromes came to be associated with combat duty." 

Because a psychiatrist was embedded with the troops. Evacuations were happening because of mental health crisis events. By WWII, psychiatric evacuations went up 300%. The report also has the Korean War and Vietnam, all before the "digital" age that you will read in the article that made my head explode so early this morning.

A Command Sergeant Major, a person of great authority and responsibility, may have just answered how the results of war, after all these years, has produced a higher number of suicides connected to the military and many, many more left out because of discharges that were not honorable. 

How the hell can a Command Sgt. Major know so little about the history of PTSD that he comes out with such nonsense?

It is heartbreaking to lose someone to suicide and addictions but that does not give him the right to insult all the veterans needing help of leaders to heal.

Veteran of Year: Too many like son die of addiction, suicide on the Houston Chronicle has this!

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Iverson was named the Hattiesburg area Veteran of the Year for 2018, but he took the stage to talk about what was on his mind: the high rate of deaths in veterans from suicide and opioid overdoses. 

"The issues that the troops have today when they come back (from deployment) — they don't have the life-coping skills of World War I, World War II and Korea to deal with them," he said. "As (older veterans) were growing up as children, they understood what it was to butcher a hog or a chicken and what it took to live."Younger veterans have grown up in the digital age, he said, and don't have the same life-coping skills. "In saying that, we have got to take care of veterans in different ways than we did before."

Does he know that as of 1999, before the "digital age" the number of known veteran suicides was 20 a day?

Does he know that all the reports from the VA put more than half of the known suicides ending veterans lives were over the age of 50? Does he know that the number of veterans living in the country at the time of the above report were 5 million more than we have today? Does he know that the latest report from the VA shows the results of inept leaders failing to learn what is required to change the outcome?

What they teaching those who lead has just explained how we have arrived at a time when surviving war is deadlier than war itself. Looks like he failed to even use the "digital age" tools to do basic research before coming out with that load of FUBAR!

 But that was not all he got wrong!

"The first thing, we need to have a conversation about is suicide. We're losing 22 veterans a day. These are some of the best and brightest the country has to offer."

Yep! Does not even know that number has been changed, and what the rest of that story is.

Netflix on a big venture: a docuseries celebrating Medal of Honor recipients.

Bringing Medal of Honor Heroics to Life

Department of Defense
BY KATIE LANGE
NOV. 13, 2018

This was Netflix’s first partnership with the DOD. We’re glad they decided to aim high for it! You can find the docuseries, aptly titled Medal of Honor, currently streaming on Netflix.

The Defense Department often partners with filmmakers to create accurate military portrayals, which is why we recently collaborated with streaming giant Netflix on a big venture: a docuseries celebrating Medal of Honor recipients.

The series highlights the lives and experiences of eight men who earned the honor since World War II. So naturally, several current and former service members were asked to offer their expertise behind the scenes and on camera.

“[The DOD] sent several active-duty soldiers to be background in an episode, but they also sent Humvees and other vehicles, which are valuable assets to have for authenticity,” said Marine Corps veteran Mike Dowling, who now works in the entertainment industry and did a lot of advising on choreography, tactics and weapons for the show.

Many of those soldiers were from the New York Army National Guard. One of the show’s highlighted recipients, Army Master Sgt. Vito Bertoldo, was a member of the 42nd Infantry Division during World War II, which is now part of the NYARNG. So, it made sense for them to be part of it.

For an episode on Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Richard Etchberger, the Air Force reviewed the script, offered historical Vietnam footage to filmmakers and had historians consult on the reenactment scenes.

The other recipients highlighted are World War II soldiers Army Sgt. Sylvester Antolak and Army Sgt. Edward Carter, Korean War troops Army Cpl. Hiroshi Miyamura and Marine Corps Cpl. Joseph Vittori, and more recent recipients Army Spc. Ty Carter and Army Staff Sgt. Clint Romesha, who fought in Afghanistan.
read more here

Remember the uncounted who could not count on us

There is a question each of us should be answering today. It is the day after the one day of the year we are supposed to honor our veterans. Cannot think of a better day to try to get an answer.

For over a decade the DOD has been talking about how they are making sure that the troops know what PTSD is and are supported to seek help.

Since 2012 an average of 500 a year kill themselves instead of knowing what is making them suffer and getting help to heal it.

The DOD says that most of them were not deployed, yet apparently their programs are not even good enough to prevent the suicides of non-deployed servicemembers. They expected to have us overlook the fact it was not good enough for them, then it would not work on those they sent? 

There as so many questions we will never get answers for as long as people are willing to settle for slogans instead of standing up for what they need from us!

Over 2 million have been discharged without honor and most should have been helped to heal.

Thomas Burke was one of them. He tried to kill himself and ended up with a "less than honorable discharge.

Dillan Tabares was one of them and he was shot by police.

By 2016, OEF and OIF were 300,000 with that less than honorable discharge since 2001.

Peter McRoberts was one of 2 million discharged from Vietnam and his widow fought for 40 years to clear his name.

 Do you want to leave them in the dark, or

light the way for them to heal?

When you wonder why so many are still committing suicide, remember the uncounted who could not count on us keeping the promise made to care for the wounded.

Do you want to keep supporting a slogan that could keep killing them or actually support one that could help them #TakeBackYourLife because the first one will cost you money and their lives. The second one will cost you just your time and save their lives.

They got the number wrong on the last report. They use 22 and mention the rise from 2015 to 2016 of younger veterans. What they did not mention is that the percentages have gone up since "awareness" started.
Military Suicides: Stories of Loss and Hope

509 U.S. military personnel died by suicide in 2017

Army Wants Sergeants in the Barracks on Weekends to Prevent Suicides

Military.com
By Matthew Cox
November 8, 2018

The U.S. Army's top official said Thursday that he wants to see sergeants making regular visits to the barracks on weekends to help reduce the number of soldiers who die by suicide.

Suicide is a problem that every service struggles to prevent. In calendar year 2017, 509 U.S. military personnel died by suicide, according to Defense Department numbers. Of that number, the Army suffered 298 deaths by suicide across the active duty, National Guard and Reserve.

"It's a tragedy that we have suicide in our ranks, but it's coming into our ranks from society writ large," Army Secretary Mark Esper told an audience at the American Enterprise Institute. "Every week, I am signing letters to families offering my condolences for soldiers who have taken their lives."

The problem typically affects younger soldiers and is usually "related to personal financial problems, relationship problems and career concerns," Esper said, adding that alcohol consumption can be a factor as well.

It's also "typically a Friday night though Sunday morning problem," he said.
read more here

Troops love Mattis, POTUS...not so much

Support for Trump is fading among active-duty troops, new poll shows

Military Times

Leo Shane

October 23, 2018

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s approval rating among active-duty military personnel has slipped over the last two years, leaving today’s troops evenly split over whether they’re happy with the commander in chief’s job performance, according to the results of a new Military Times poll of active-duty service members.

About 44 percent of troops had a favorable view of Trump’s presidency, the poll showed, compared to 43 percent who disapproved.

The results from the survey, conducted over the course of September and October, suggest a gradual decline in troops’ support of Trump since he was elected in fall 2016, when a similar Military Times poll showed that 46 percent of troops approved of Trump compared to 37 percent who disapproved. That nine-point margin of support now appears gone.

During that same period, the number of neutral respondents has dwindled from almost 17 percent to about 13 percent, suggesting political polarization inside the military community has intensified in recent years.
read more here

Julia Roberts in twisted tale "Homecoming"

Julia Roberts is here to help them in this trailer for Amazon’s Homecoming
Critical Hit Entertainment
By Craig Risi
September 14, 2018

Four years later, Heidi has started a new life, living with her mother (Sissy Spacek) and working as a small-town waitress, when a Department of Defense auditor (Shea Whigham) comes to her with questions about why she left the Homecoming facility. Heidi begins to realize that there’s a whole other story behind the story she’s been telling herself

These days it’s not just books, plays and other formerly successful shows that form the source of inspiration for new TV series, but also podcasts, which is exactly what Sam Esmail, creator of Mr Robot, has done here for Amazon Prime’s new series Homecoming. And if Esmail’s name doesn’t already get your attention, then its list of actors most certainly will as the series will be headed up by none other than Julia Roberts and features a support cast that makes even a hit blockbuster movie look week by comparison with Sissy Spacek, Dermot Mulroney, Bobby Cannavale, Frankie Shaw, Shae Whigham, Alex Karpovsky, and Marianne Jean-Baptiste also starring.

It’s certainly an impressive cast list and has my attention. Homecoming explores the subject of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in soldiers and much like Esmail’s aforementioned hit series Mr Robot, it explores a topic that is highly relevant. And based on this first trailer for the series, it’s also similar to Mr Robot in that it’s not afraid to go a little bonkers and leave you in a state of not knowing what is reality and what isn’t:
read more here

Homecoming Season 1 - Official Trailer | Prime Video

Troops clearance jeopardized by new background checks

Background Check Change Could Put Troops' Clearances at Risk
Military.com
By Amy Bushatz
27 Aug 2018

"This new process might impact your DoD security clearance and prevent you from being deemed 'deployable,' which could greatly impact your military career unless you can prove to DoD that you were the victim of identity theft, fraud or a mistake, and that you're currently living within your means and are making a good-faith effort to resolve your unpaid debts," the CFPB release warned.

A service member scans in his fingerprint for the Defense Biometric Identification System Jan. 16, 2009. (U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Chad Strohmeyer)

Troops with security clearances who have low credit scores or past-due bills could be at greater risk of having those clearances revoked, thanks to a change to the frequency at which background check officials look at financial data.

"The Department of Defense (DoD) will now 'continuously' monitor the financial status of servicemembers with security clearances," the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced in an Aug. 20 release. "This means that a past-due bill or an error on your credit report could jeopardize your clearance status."

As of early July, 58 workers had their security clearances revoked as a part of the Pentagon's new monitoring system, according to the Associated Press. Officials did not respond to requests for an update.

read more here

Veterans commit suicide in public hoping we'll pay attention

Veterans Commit Suicide in Public 
Combat PTSD
Kathie Costos
July 21, 2018

Thursday a friend of mine, Sgt. Dave Matthews of Remember the Fallen covered what the National News used to think was important. The shocking number of veterans committing suicide in pubic! Yes, in public. It happened at least 12 times since March of 2018, and this is just July.

Who hears veterans scream before public suicides?

Dave read about John Michael Watts setting himself on fire in front of the Georgia state Capitol. He was furious that it happened but shocked the press did not give his scream for help the attention he deserved. We did. I had it up 3 hours after Military Times covered it.

Dave called me after he saw it and wanted to do a show on his death. I asked Dave why just him and not all the others committing suicide in public. He was shocked and had a hard time getting his head around the others when I sent him the link to the post.

It took me about an hour to put it together. After all, I was limiting the search down to this year but with over 29,000 articles, there are far more times when veterans took this one last step of being heard.

So who heard them before they ended their lives this way?

When the national news reporters are too busy for those who serve this nation, none of us should be shocked when a veteran decides to turn in the blank check they wrote to this country. The "up to and including" their lives was never supposed to be about the nation turning our backs on them.

We settle all too easily for what gets the image of them of them lying dead out of our heads.

We settle for slogans and support the "cause" of people raising awareness that it is happening but refuse to support the people working to change the outcome. That was abundantly made clear when the Federal Trade Commission decided to put an end to all the bogus charities taking advantage of veterans for their own incomes. 

We settle for the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs using a slogan of "one is too many" but never pay attention to the reports they release showing nothing has changed.

We settle for members of Congress getting their names on Bills that have done very little since 2007 when they passed the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act and the number of veterans committing suicide has not changed since then.

As a matter of fact the number of military suicides went up after Congress became "aware" of what was going on.

If anyone really wants to know why veterans are facing off with members of law enforcement every week, committing murder-suicides in every state, and taking the lives that survived service, all they have to do is listen. Listen to the screams of those who all of the above never paid attention to before it was too late!