VA, DoD Electronic Health Records Still Aren't Compatible, and Lawmakers Are Angry
Military.com By Richard Sisk 1 May 2019
"For 10 years we've heard the same assurances" that the electronic health records problem will be solved," Rep. Hal Rogers, R-Kentucky, said. "It's incredible that we can't get this fixed."
Maj. Catherine Anderson, chief nurse for the 915th Forward Surgical Team, uses MC4, an electronic healthcare record system developed by the military, at the Medical Treatment Facility at Contingency Operating Base Basra., December 31, 2009. (U.S. Army/Pfc. J.P. Lawrence)
Acting Defense Secretary Patrick Shanahan was grilled by lawmakers Wednesday on the lengthy and costly effort to develop compatible electronic records systems between the Defense Department and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
"I don't ever recall being as outraged about an issue than I am about the electronic health record program," Rep. Kay Granger, R-Texas, told Shanahan at a House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee hearing on the DoD's proposed fiscal 2020 budget.
She said a hearing last month with DoD and VA health program managers on the progress of meshing the records "was terrible."
"I can't believe that these program managers think that it is acceptable to wait another four years for a program to be implemented when we've spent billions of dollars and worked on it for over a decade," Granger said. read more here
New measure would allow troops to sue for military malpractice mistakes
Military Times By: Leo Shane III
April 30, 2019
The new legislation — named for Sgt. 1st Class Richard Stayskal, a Green Beret fighting stage four lung cancer because of Army doctors errors — would allow malpractice lawsuits against the military by creating an exemption to the Feres Doctrine, a 69-year-old legal precedent barring that legal action.
The view from the judge’s bench in the courtroom at Fort Meade, Md., on Jan. 4, 2019. (EJ Hersom/Defense Department)
After hearing tearful testimony from the victims of military medical negligence, a bipartisan group of House lawmakers announced new legislation to do away with the legal rules protecting the Defense Department from medical malpractice lawsuits.
“When doctors fail to perform or woefully misread tests, when nurses botch routine procedures, when clinicians ignore and disregard pain, service members deserve their day in court,” said Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., and the chairwoman of the House Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel.
“We’re not talking about special treatment. We’re talking about giving service members the same rights as their spouses, federal workers, and even prisoners. When compensation schemes are insufficient, service members should have their claims heard in the justice system.” read more here
A Navy audit says the Marine Corps could do better at suicide prevention
Marine Corps Times By: Shawn Snow March 14, 2019
The Marine Corps wasn't adequately providing links on its websites to the Veterans Crisis Line, a Navy audit found. (Sgt. Priscilla Sneden/Marine Corps)
A Navy audit concluded in 2018 found that the Corps was not complying with guidance and instructions required by the secretary of the Navy that aids in suicide prevention. Specifically, the Marine Corps was not adequately providing links on its webpages to the Veterans Crisis Line.
The audit, obtained by Marine Corps Times via a Freedom of Information Act request, found that none of the 43 reviewed Marine Corps command websites included a link to the crisis line.
A previous 2012 audit found that 54 percent of the Marine websites it searched did not have a suicide crisis link or phone number, and recommendations from that report were still in an “open status” as of March 2018. The 2018 audit was published in June 2018.
Suicide prevention is a serious issue in the Corps as the force faces suicide levels at a 10-year high.
In 2018, 75 Marines ended their lives, the majority of those Marines were under the age of 25 and had no overseas deployment experience.
“When suicide crisis links and phone numbers are not prominently advertised on Marine Corps Web sites, there is a missed opportunity to facilitate and encourage Marines to seek assistance in a critical time of need,” the audit reads. read more here
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I was at an event last year, when a veteran Marine said that their suicide numbers were down. Knowing they were not, I asked where he heard that. He said from the DOD report. Since I track the reports available to the public, I knew he was wrong. I still find it very interesting that too many people will hear a rumor on social media, believe it is true, claim it was from the Department of Defense...and discover they do not even check that.
Military leaders apologize for substandard living conditions at family housing
CBS/AP MARCH 7, 2019
Top leaders of the U.S. military services apologized to Congress on Thursday for allowing substandard living conditions in military family housing. They acknowledged failing to have fully understood the problem earlier and promised to fix it. One senator has even called for a criminal investigation of conduct by those who operate military housing.
"What's happened here is criminal," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat. He urged the service leaders to ask the Justice Department to consider opening criminal or civil investigations of conduct by the housing contractors, whose arrangements with the military housing authorities, Blumenthal said, are "a risk-free cash cow." read more here
Navy leader in charge of housing resigns
By: Carl Prine 2 days ago
The Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations and Environment, Phyllis L. Bayer, has tendered her resignation after a little more than a year at her post and “will retire from government and pursue other opportunities,” the Pentagon announced Friday.
Phyllis L. Bayer, left, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and the environment, and Brig. Gen. Benjamin T. Watson, commanding general of Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, tour privatized military housing with spouses on Feb. 15. (Lance Cpl. Isaiah Gomez/Marine Corps)
In a statement posted online, Navy officials applauded her service and expressed gratitude for “her extraordinary efforts this past year."
Appointed to the position on Feb. 20, 2018 after confirmation by the U.S. Senate, Bayer’s wide responsibilities included oversight and policy for sustaining, restoring and modernizing all Navy and Marine Corps facilities; protecting the environment at bases; and preserving the safety and occupational health of personnel.
But Bayer’s brief tenure collided with a tsunami of complaints from military families about abysmal living conditions in privatized housing, including allegations of widespread mold problems, rat infestation and crumbling structures after years of neglect.
read more here
Are troops signing agreements to keep quiet about their housing problems?
By: Karen Jowers 2 days ago The service secretaries and service chiefs testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee on March 7, as the committee examines problems with privatized military housing for service members and their families. (Wayne Clark/Air Force) Privatized housing companies that are asking service members to sign agreements promising to keep silent about their poor housing conditions must immediately stop, Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told the service secretaries and service chiefs during a hearing Thursday.
“These organizations wave a non-disclosure agreement in front of them and say, if you sign this agreement, there may be a bonus or payment you’ll be entitled to if you don’t bring up what may be inadequate housing,” Tillis said, during a hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee.
“I can’t imagine on any level why it would make sense to have a new tenant, these young kids, sign an agreement, not understanding the implications of it,” Tillis said, noting it could well be the first lease that service member has ever signed. read more here
Trump claims he coined the nickname ‘Mad Dog’ Mattis
Military Times By: Leo Shane III March 3, 2019
But news reports referred to Mattis by the moniker — which he has publicly said he does not like — as far back as 2004, when he was commanding general of the 1st Marine Division.
President Donald Trump hugs the American flag as he arrives to speak at Conservative Political Action Conference in Oxon Hill, Md., on March 2, 2019. During his speech, Trump claimed to have come up with former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis' nickname of "Mad Dog." (Jose Luis Magana/AP)
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump incorrectly claimed to have coined former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ well-known “Mad Dog” nickname because “Chaos” was not a good enough one for the four-star Marine Corps general.
The comments came during a lengthy speech on Saturday before the annual Conservative Political Action Conference meeting. Trump was speaking on the military’s involvement in the Middle East when he said Defense Department generals “are perfect people” and he wanted to make more of them famous.
“Just like I did with Mattis,” he said. “I said we’re going to give you a new nickname, because ‘Chaos’ is not a good nickname. So we changed it to ‘Mad Dog.’
"But Mad Dog wasn’t working too well (as secretary)."
Trump did give Mattis an original nickname last fall, labeling him as “moderate dog” as tensions between the two men grew.read more here
“The VA has indicated that suicide prevention is its highest clinical priority and, with the alarming number of suicides in the veteran community, it absolutely must be. Congress is appropriating resources and the VA is turning that into action, but the numbers continue to trend in the wrong direction. This is why it is vital that we have metrics to measure the effectiveness of the VA’s mental health and suicide prevention programs. This bill will help Congress and the VA isolate meaningful suicide prevention programs so we can ensure resources are focused on efforts that save lives.”
This was in the article too.
The GAO released a report in 2018 entitled Improvements Needed in Suicide Prevention Media Outreach Campaign Oversight and Evaluation. The GAO reveals in the report that the VA had failed to establish targets to evaluate the efficacy of its campaigns, that leadership turnover led to a dramatic decline in media outreach activities and that the VA spent a fraction of its budget for suicide prevention media outreach during the last fiscal year.
This is what it was like back in 2008 Retired Vice Adm. Dennis McGinn:
Veterans with PTSD, he noted, have “much greater loss of employment and earnings” than those with physical disabilities. McGinn recommended separate criteria on the rating schedule for PTSD, as well as a way to compensate unemployable veterans for lost quality of life, not just their inability to work. So-called “individual unemployability” veterans may have formal VA disability ratings of less than 100 percent, but are still rated fully disabled because of their inability to work. The commission found that almost half of the 223,000 IU veterans have primary diagnoses of PTSD or other mental disorders.
The problem is that if a veteran has physical disabilities that lead to a 100 percent disability rating, he can still work and keep his full compensation. But a veteran who has a 100 percent disability for a mental disorder tries to work, he loses his compensation.
And yet, they are still trying to take that away when a veteran reaches retirement age...not thinking about what the reduction actually means to them suddenly losing their 100% and all that goes with it. Guess they didn't figure on the fact these veterans stopped paying into Social Security BECAUSE THEY WERE TOO DISABLED TO WORK in the first place...plus actually believed permanent and total meant something they never had to worry about again. While in the same year, the GAO found that there was no accountability for claims processors, we kept seeing the same every year after year, and doctors were accused of trying to blame the veteran as if PTSD was a matter of greedy and looking for a free ride the rest of their lives...like when Norma Perez had to apologize for telling counselors to start making fewer diagnosis's of PTSD...and some still do. I think the worst thing out of all of this is, we keep hearing how it is a top priority for the VA...as well as the DOD, but the evidence is showing it has become a top priority to use the slogan instead of find solutions. We also knew that female veterans were lacking in the care they were supposed to be receiving from the VA...and while they did some outreach to OEF and OIF veterans, they forgot about the veterans from previous wars...not just ignoring them, but pushing them to the back of the line for claims and services...and still do. There was also a huge effort beginning on educating members of law enforcement about PTSD. Give what we've seen among officers and firefighters, they still have not learned what they needed to know...and still do. We knew that veterans in rural areas of the country were lacking in services....and still are.
Collection of reports in one post for faster viewing. Check back during the day for more. (trying something new on this so let me know what you think) From Military Times
VA Needs to Do Better Credential Checks on Its Doctors, Report Finds
Chief Master Sgt. Shannon Rix, 92nd Air Refueling Wing command chief, gives a commemorative National Salute to Veteran Patients Week pin to Mike Olmstead Feb. 13, 2017, at Mann-Grandstaff VA Medical Center, Wash. Olmstead served in the Army from 1944 to 1947 during World War II and is currently the community living center’s oldest resident. (Mackenzie Richardson/U.S. Air Force)
In sum, the GAO said the VA and VHA should make better use of the wealth of information on providers in the National Practitioner Data Bank.
In some cases, "providers had administrative or other non-disqualifying adverse actions reported in the NPDB," but VHA still determined that they could be hired, the report states.
It cited the case of a doctor who had surrendered his physical-therapy license for failure to complete physical therapy continuing education.
"Although his license surrender resulted in an adverse action in [the data bank], VHA determined that there were no concerns about the provider's ability to perform as a physician," the report states.
In other cases, "VHA facilities overlooked or were unaware of the disqualifying adverse-action information in NPDB," it adds.
"For example, VHA officials told GAO that, in one case, they inadvertently overlooked a disqualifying adverse action and hired a nurse whose license had been revoked for patient neglect. This nurse resigned in May 2017," according to the report. read it here
On Military.com but from We Are The Mighty
5 Weird Fears That Only Service Members Have
Yay, getting to stand around in squares in a different country! So exciting! (U.S. Army Spc. Gage Hull)
5. Any acronym that ends in X probably sucks (Cs aren't great either)
CSTX, MRX, CPX, they all suck. ENDEX is cool. But if you get called into SIFOREXs or NATEXs, forget about it. There goes weeks or even months of your life. SINKEXs will monopolize your time, but at least there's usually a nice, big explosion you get to see.
Oh, quick translations — those are Combat Support Training Exercise, Mission Readiness Exercise, End of Exercise, Silent Force Exercise, National Terrorism Exercise, and Sink Exercise. Basically, if you hear an acronym with an X in it that you've never heard before, there's a good chance you're going to spend a few weeks in the field practicing something you know how to do. This message was brought to you by the letter 'C.' 'C' is just glad that you hate it a little less next to 'X,' because 'C' usually gets the blame thanks to things like JRTC, NTC, and JMRC (the Joint Readiness Training Center, National Training Center, and Joint Multinational Readiness Center, respectfully).
From Oklahoma Watch Stitt’s Pick for Veterans Secretary Accused of Underpaying Veterans
Gov. Kevin Stitt’s pick to becomes Oklahoma’s next secretary of veterans affairs and the military is facing accusations that his consulting company violated federal labor laws by underpaying veterans.
Federal court filings show that 15 former workers have sued Tulsa-based Check-6 along with its founder and CEO Brian Brurud, whom Stitt appointed to the unpaid cabinet position in February. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in New Orleans. One of the plaintiffs lives in Louisiana, and the company has an office in the state. read it here
Trump Says He's Hosting 'A Salute to America' on July 4 at the Lincoln Memorial
New York Daily News By Brian Niemietz 24 Feb 2019
National recording artists perform at the 2018 A Capitol Fourth rehearsals at U.S. Capitol, West Lawn on July 3, 2018 in Washington, D.C. This time-honored 38-year tradition places attendees and viewers front and center for America's largest birthday party celebrating 242 years of independence. (Reese Brown/Department of Defense Photo)
"Your favorite President" is hosting an Independence Day celebration, and we're all invited. President Trump excitedly announced on Twitter Sunday that he is throwing "one of the biggest gatherings in the history of Washington D.C. on July 4" and he's a naming it "A Salute to America."
Trump's party will take place at the Lincoln Memorial and he promises "major fireworks display, entertainment and an address by your favorite President, me!"
It's unclear if Trump's Independence Day event will coincide with the annual A Capitol Fourth celebration on the west lawn of the United States Capitol. That also features fireworks and musical performances and attracts a half-million spectators. read more here
Judge Rules Men-Only Military Draft Unconstitutional
The San Diego Union-Tribune By Pauline Repard 24 Feb 2019
"Forcing only males to register is an aspect of socially institutionalized male disposability and helps reinforce the stereotypes that support discrimination against men in other areas" such as divorce, child custody and domestic violence services, Angelucci said.
Marine Corps poolees with Recruiting Substation Glen Burnie, Recruiting Station Baltimore take the oath of enlistment during the Military Bowl at the Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium in Annapolis, Md. (Raul Torres/U.S. Marine Corps)
A federal judge has ruled that a men-only draft is unconstitutional, but he stopped short of ordering the Selective Service System to register women for military service.
The Houston judge sided with a San Diego men's advocacy group that challenged the government's practice of having only men sign up for the draft, citing sex discrimination in violation of the Fifth Amendment's equal protection clause. "This case balances on the tension between the constitutionally enshrined power of Congress to raise armies and the constitutional mandate that no person be denied the equal protection of the law," wrote U.S. District Judge Gray Miller of the Southern District of Texas.
The lawsuit was filed in 2013 against the Selective Service System by Texas resident James Lesmeister, who later added San Diego resident Anthony Davis and the San Diego-based National Coalition for Men as additional plaintiffs.
The two men had standing to sue the government because they were within the age range of 18 to 26 in which men in the United States are required to register with Selective Service. read more here
Air Force calls for culture change in bid to reduce suicides
STARS AND STRIPES By Brian Ferguson Published: February 12, 2019
Air Force senior leaders issued a memo calling for a culture change after a total of 11 airmen and Air Force civilians died by suicide in the first four weeks of 2019.
The number of suicides within the ranks has remained relatively flat in recent years; however, the service wants to do more to bring the suicide rate down, stated a Feb. 5 memo signed by Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson, Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Goldfein and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth Wright.
In January, five active duty airmen, four civilian employees, one Air National Guard member and one reservist died by suicide, according to data provided to Stars and Stripes by the Air Force.
In the first quarter of 2018, the Air Force had 11 servicemember suicide deaths, a Pentagon report found last year. The report did not include civilian deaths. read more here Wow that is a bad report. It is also a exceptionally incomplete.
The DOD seems all too ready to blame everything...and everyone, as long as they do not have to take responsibility for any of it.
So who will be the "one too many" we keep hearing them say "One is too many" before they change? This is far beyond a SNAFU. It passed that point about a decade ago. Ever since then we've heard all kinds of excuses and slogans that have changed nothing for the better. How many more will it take before that "one" proves to them once and for all, it is time to take a serious look at clusterfuckish "programs" they have been pushing? Is this really all proving the rumors true, that this is all about money going into the contractors' bank accounts? If this is the result of billions of bucks being spent every year, then someone needs to get damn refunds PDQ so they can help pay for the funerals that did not need to happen.
Considering that the troops still have not clue what PTSD is, wouldn't that be a good place to start?
After all, since the stigma keeps them from talking about what surviving is doing to them, should they begin to understand why PTSD is not a sign of any kind of weakness, then they have a chance at healing ASAP. This point needs to be made clear right from the start so that PTSD does not have a chance to dig-in and infiltrate to the point where they end up facing being kicked out or flipped out. Gee it may even allow them to feel encouraged to get it out and find reinforcements to help them work through it. That won't happen until everyone gets it straight. That it hits them after they survived whatever it was that was the one too many times it happened for them. It hit the strongest part of them. The strongest part of them, in case you didn't know, was their emotional core that made them want to serve in the first place. Yes! PTSD comes into survivors because of the strength of their emotional core. Oh, sure some egotistic-self-serving jerk will challenge that one, but the evidence makes that point very clear.
PTSD strikes the emotional part of the brain after surviving the "event" that set it off. Therefore, the more they feel everything else, including the good stuff, the more they will be invaded by PTSD.
It is also why there are not only different levels of PTSD, but different types of it. Face it~ If we can understand a civilian with PTSD after one event, then it should be easy to understand what someones job demands they face them as part of their job requirements. Within all of this BS, we're wondering why we knew so much back in the 70's and 80's than they do now. Want to keep reading headlines like this one? Then just relax and forget about all of this. Want to change the outcome? Then get busy, get educated and then, get pissed off enough to make sure that the media cannot simply do a hit job and then walk away until the next report makes us sick to our stomachs.
When does the DOD get a clue that what they are doing failed and they have not even thought of why it did? We figured it out back in 2009~
Military Mulls Medical Personnel Cuts Even as Suicide Rates Rise
Military.com By Gina Harkins February 11, 2019
The Defense Department is weighing the option of cutting thousands of uniformed medical personnel, including psychologists and other mental-health professionals, even as military leaders grapple with rising suicide rates among troops.
With the National Defense Strategy pushing for a more lethal force, Pentagon leaders are considering slashing as many as 17,000 uniformed medical corps billets across all the services.
The move, which could go into effect in October 2020, would open more slots for troops in combat-arms specialties or other warfighting jobs.
Thousands of those uniformed personnel serve as psychiatrists, social workers, psychologists, counselors and nurses. And, as the number of active-duty troops taking their own lives reaches a six-year high, military advocates say now is not the time to consider cuts to those fields.
"Suicide and mental health are our top priority at [Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America] because of the serious impact these issues are having on our community," said Jeremy Butler, the new chief executive officer for the organization, which represents and advocates for post-9/11 vets. "I am concerned about any cut in resources signaling that DoD is not making these matters as high a priority as we do."
read more here
Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos February 5, 2019
Someone lied to you. Someone told you something and you believed it because you trusted them. You never bothered to ask them to prove it was true.
I do not need someone to prove God is real. I see it everyday. I see it in the unique people who always put others first, even if it means they will be last for everything. I see it when men and women are willing to endure all kinds of hardships, including the judgment of fools, for the sake of others. I see God's Love in all types of acts of kindness and compassion, mercy, inspiration and unselfishness.
I also see what evil can do pretending to be good. I do not need proof that the Demon is real. I see what he does to those who find purpose serving others. I also see it when people claim they are doing something to change what is wrong, when the result proves they lied to us. They can deny it all they want, but after all these years of hearing how important it is to prevent suicides, and how expensive it is according to them, we see suffering increase every year. We hear it from the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, Congress and especially from all the "awareness" fundraisers running around the country with their BS stunts. Did they think we wouldn't notice that they are spreading messages of despair instead of anything helpful? Before they were "paying attention" we were way ahead of all of them. We were talking about what failed as well as what worked. Ignorance failed but knowledge heals.
Kathie Costos DiCesare Published on Oct 21, 2012 There are many things that keep getting missed when we talk about Combat and PTSD. This is to clear up the biggest one of all. What is courage and how does it link to being "mentally tough" so that you can push past what you were told about "resiliency" training. Chaplain Kathie "Costos" DiCesare of Wounded Times Blog tries to explain this in interview done by Union Squared Studios. woundedtimes.blogspot.com
So we were told over and over again, that everyone in charge was paying attention at the same time they tried to come up with excuses. Then they asked for more money, to keep doing the same thing that already failed, and we were no longer able to count the number of the dead. Well, at least not in the veterans community, but because Congress mandated the DOD to track suicides within the military, we have a more up to date report with data that proves none of the "awareness" they actually needed to become aware of was able to get to them. All the crap got in the way. So, here are the latest headlines on military suicides.
Suicides among active-duty soldiers are up about 20 percent
Army Times By: Meghann Myers February 4, 2019
“We must continue to ensure commanders have the policies and resources they need to prevent suicides, that all leaders have the tools to identify soldiers who are suffering and to positively intervene, and that all soldiers view seeking mental health care as a sign of strength.”Col. Kathleen Turner
The Army reported an uptick in active-duty suicides in 2018, according to service statistics, though deaths by suicide were slightly down in the total force.
Out of 303 total reports, 138 came from the active-duty side ― 22 more than in 2017, Defense Department statistics show.
“Like the rest of America, the Army continues to grapple with the loss of too many of our people to suicide," Army spokeswoman Col. Kathleen Turner told Army Times in a statement Friday. “The loss of any soldier or Army family member to suicide is a tragedy.”
The most recent DoD quarterly suicide report goes back to 2012, showing a six-year high of 325 total suicides in the Army. That number dropped to 300 in 2013 and then to a low of 245 in 2014, before ramping back up to 279 in both 2015 and 2016, then jumping again to 303 in 2017.
During that time, active-duty numbers also fluctuated. The Army reported 165 active-duty suicides in 2012, which dropped to 121 in 2013, then 126 in 2014 and 120 in 2015. The past three years, the numbers have swelled and dipped from 120 in 2016 to 116 in 2017, then back up to 138.
“While the Army has made progress, more work needs to be done,” Turner said.
read more here
US Special Ops suicides triple in 2018, as military confronts the issue
CNN Barbara Starr February 2, 2019
Washington (CNN)Suicides among active duty military personnel assigned to US Special Operations Command tripled in 2018, in a disturbing and as yet unexplained spike, CNN has learned.
Special Operations units saw 22 deaths by suicide in 2018, almost triple the eight cases seen in 2017, according to figures provided to CNN by the command. SOCOM, as it's known, is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various Special Operations component of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force that take on counterterrorism and other specialized missions. read more here
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. read more here
Don't you love the slogan? One too many or too few actually paying attention?
The question is, if we knew what had to be done over 4 decades ago, when serious research started, then why haven't they figured it out yet? Do not spend so much time thinking about taking your own life when you can think about how to #TakeYourLifeBack and heal! The road ahead is in your control!
Combat PTSD Wounded Times Kathie Costos February 2, 2019
Today is Groundhog Day and it appears that everyone has retreated into their dens, covering their heads for a prolonged winter season.
Groundhog Day - specifically Feb. 2 - traces its roots back to an ancient celebration of the midway point between the winter solstice and the spring equinox. According to legend, a sunny sky on that day signifies a stormy and cold second half of winter while a cloudy sky indicates the arrival of warm weather.
Not unlike the movie, it appears the day has been repeated far too many times.
Active-Duty Military Suicides at Record Highs in 2018
But when we read something like this, anyone paying attention knows that the answer is not attitudes like this.
Army spokeswoman Col. Kathleen Turner said the loss of any soldier or family member is a tragedy. "Like the rest of America, the Army continues to grapple with the loss of too many of our people to suicide. While the Army has made progress, more work needs to be done. We must continue to ensure commanders have the policies and resources they need to prevent suicides, that all leaders have the tools to identify soldiers who are suffering and to positively intervene, and that all soldiers view seeking mental health care as a sign of strength."
While it is true that suicides have increased across America, there is something that is different with members of the military. First, they were willing to endure all kinds of hardships and trained to save lives. That requires something above and beyond what civilians are willing to do for the sake of someone else. As some point out the rise in suicides in the civilian population, it is no excuse for what has been going on. We have seen a rise in suicides within law enforcement, firefighters and other emergency responders. They also valued the lives of others to the point they were willing to sacrifice their own. Whenever someone tries to use part of the story, they are abdicating instead of educating. So what does a person do when they know the answer, but cannot get anyone to listen? How is it that I predicted that suicides would increase way back a decade ago? The most pressing question is, if I knew it, then why didn't the people in charge? Why have they still failed to see it? Well, for starters I have been emailing and calling members of Congress and reporters all the time and giving them the facts. They either respond with a form letter, as with Congress, or "thanks" but no thanks phone calls, as with reporters. Occasionally some have taken the time to listen, but that is the end of it. As for the prediction of suicides increasing, here it is.
I fully understand to you, I'm no one. I have been ignored by senators and congressmen, doctors and other brass for as long as I've been trying to help, so you are not the first. I've also been listened to by others trying to think outside the box, but more importantly to me, by the men and women seeking my help to understand this and their families. I tell them what you should have been telling them all along so that they know it's not their fault, they did not lack courage and they are not responsible for being wounded any more than they would have been to have been found by a bullet with their name on it. 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.
For a long time, I have been deeply hurt by the fact a lot of people have simply stolen my work. Then I came to the point where getting credit, or even support, was pushed far behind the result I wanted to see. If I wanted them to heal more than anything else, I had to put that mission first. If you are among the people using my work and taking the credit, you have my permission to do it. This is beyond my ego. I am approaching 60 and have been doing this since the age of 23. While I know what has failed, like the "resilience training," I also know what saved lives and restored hope. There is no condition when it should ever become a matter of slogan above substance, especially when the subject is those who put their lives on the line for everyone else. If you want to make a difference, here is where you begin. Stop resilience training and begin educating what PTSD is so that the stigma is killed off and they can live long enough to heal it. Remind them that they are not a victim of anything. They are survivors of everything that they had to go through doing their jobs. Let them know that PTSD stops gaining strength when they begin to fight back. Support what works and stop supporting what failed with your money. Suicide Awareness has failed and that has been proven by the facts of the rise of suicides in every walk of life. What works is the truth that they can heal. The truth of what makes these people of service experiencing a higher rate of suffering, needs to be something they are well aware of. Support Peer Support efforts that offer true hope and help, side by side with them. This has to be done in small groups, much like AA, and not operating for the glorification of those looking to make fame for themselves. If we do not change what we are doing, then we will not change the outcome in the right way. We will simply allow more and more to choose death after risking their lives to prevent the deaths of others. UPDATE and sums things up nicely.
(CNN) — Punxsutawney Phil predicts spring will come early. Don't get too excited, though -- he's usually wrong.
