Fort Bliss Army Captain Died After Vehicle Ran Over Him

Army officer dies in tragic training accident
Army Times
By Kevin Lilley, Staff writer
April 2, 2015

Capt. Jonathan F. Wynkoop, 27

died Tuesday during an exercise

at Fort Bliss, Texas.

(Photo: Army)

A 1st Armored Division officer died early Tuesday during a training exercise at Fort Bliss, Texas, after a mine-resistant vehicle allegedly rolled over him in his cot while he slept, the base announced in a Wednesday news release.

Capt. Jonathan F. Wynkoop, 27, was assigned to 2nd Battalion, 3rd Field Artillery Regiment, Division Artillery, and was participating in Iron Focus 2015, a two-week, division-level training exercise that began March 23.

A mine-resistant, ambush-protected all-terrain vehicle, or M-ATV, allegedly backed over the cot around 5 a.m., according to the release.

Wynkoop was pronounced dead about an hour later; the incident is under investigation.
read more here

Florida Army National Guardsmen Left for Afghanistan

Florida National Guard unit deploying to Afghanistan 
13 News
By Jason Wheeler, Reporter
March 16, 2015

A send-off ceremony was held Monday, March 16, 2015 at Daytona Beach International Airport for the nearly 200 soldiers from the Florida Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 265th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

DAYTONA BEACH
Dozens of Florida Army National Guard soldiers said goodbye to family and friends Monday as they began a 9-month deployment to Afghanistan.

A farewell ceremony was held at Daytona Beach International Airport for the nearly 200 soldiers from the Florida Army National Guard's 1st Battalion, 265th Air Defense Artillery Regiment.

Gov. Rick Scott was also in attendance.

The soldiers from units in Volusia, Flagler and Putnam counties are deploying to Afghanistan in support of Operation Freedom's Sentinel for a base security mission.
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Fitness Seeker? Want Prozac With That?

Pulled twice from exchanges, OxyElite Pro supplement now found to contain Prozac drug 
Stars and Stripes
By Travis J. Tritten
Published: March 2, 2015

WASHINGTON — A fitness supplement that was twice pulled from exchange store shelves, first following soldier deaths and then after an outbreak of liver disease, has now been found to contain the active ingredient in the prescription drug Prozac, the Food and Drug Administration announced Saturday.

OxyElite Pro Super Thermogenic is sold as a weight-loss supplement, but the FDA said it has discovered the product contains fluoxetine, a drug used in treating mental disorders such as depression, bulimia and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Fluoxetine and other drugs in its class can have serious side effects such as suicidal thinking, seizures and abnormal bleeding, the FDA said in its warning. The agency said consumers should not buy or use OxyElite Pro.

The Marine Corps Exchange, the Navy Exchange and the Army and Air Force Exchange Service said Monday that they do not stock it.

The supplement was first pulled from military bases in 2011 after it and other supplements were found to contain the unregulated synthetic stimulant methylhexanamine, known as DMAA, which was suspected in the deaths of two soldiers at Fort Bliss, Texas.
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101st Airborne Cases Colors After Liberia Mission

101st Airborne Division cases colors, heads home after successful mission in Liberia

Photo Credit: Spc. Rashene Mincy Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Harris, platoon sergeant for 2nd Platoon, Division Signal Company, takes charge of the formation from Maj. Gen. Gary Volesky, commanding general of the Joint Forces Command - United Assistance and 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), at the end of the 101st's color casing ceremony held at the Barclay Training Center, Monrovia, Liberia, Feb. 26, 2015.

"The Joint Forces Command worked with our Armed Forces of Liberia partners in building and overseeing constructions of ETUs," Volseky said.

The command built and supported 17 ETUs throughout Liberia, facilities which allowed for a more swift isolation and treatment of Ebola patients.

Building the ETUs was Task Force Rugged, a team led by the 36th Engineer Brigade based out of Fort Hood, Texas, along with the 615th Engineer Company (Horizontal), based out of Fort Carson, Colorado. The 902nd Engineer Battalion, out of Grafenwoehr, Germany, and the 161st engineer Support Company of Fort Bragg, North Carolina, also built the facilities.

Along with construction, Task Force Rugged also improved roads critical to the transportation of equipment and personnel to the ETUs, camps and logistical focus points including airports and sea ports.

The Iron Knights cased their colors Feb. 25, and are steadily redeploying their Soldiers back to Fort Bliss.

Army Officials Admit Wounded Mistreated at Fort Bliss

Army official admits Bliss Warrior soldiers were mistreated 
KVIA News ABC
Darren Hunt
Feb 11, 2015

EL PASO, Texas -

Hundreds of Wounded Warriors, including at Fort Bliss, were reportedly harassed and abused by staff between 2009 and 2013.

It has top military officials talking. There were allegations of "disrespect, harassment and belittlement of soldiers" at a place where they should have been getting help -- the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Bliss.

"Was there in fact cause for concern at the WTU at Fort Bliss?" El Paso Rep. Beto O'Rourke (D-El Paso) asked Col. Chris Toner, the head of the Army's Transitional Command, last week at a congressional hearing in Washington.

Toner replied: "There were challenges at Fort Bliss, beyond a shadow of a doubt."

According to reports, some warrior transition unit soldiers were called "slackers" and told to "man-up and move on."

"Was it leadership, was it processes, was it procedures, a lack there of?" O'Rourke inquired.

"All of the above," Toner responded. "We're talking about a period of time from 2009 to 2013. We had multiple issues over that time, everything from cadre members that did not have the right approach to the soldiers and the family members to failure to implement procedures and policies that created some issues in the program down there."
read more here

It is a lot different than what Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho claimed.

"I thought the investigation was very thorough," said Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, regarding the investigation at the Colorado fort. "I believe it gave the facts and verified there wasn't a systemic problem, but it did show we had two clinicians who treated one Soldier with a lack of dignity and respect."

Speaking with the Pentagon press in a roundtable, Feb. 6, Horoho said a doctor and social worker had been disciplined. The doctor was removed from his leadership position and the civilian received disciplinary action at the local level, she said.

Horoho said the incidents between the Soldier and the two health care providers occurred between February and May 2014. She also said there had been complaints by other Soldiers stretching back to 2011, but after review they were determined "not to contain problematic behavior by the providers."

OMG! WTU Soldiers Told "Sleep is like a bullet for your brain"

This is what Horoho said in the original interview with Army Times about Warrior Transition Units treating PTSD soldiers,,,,or should I say, abusing them. Now you can read the different version on the Army Military site.

"I thought the investigation was very thorough," said Lt. Gen. Patricia D. Horoho, regarding the investigation at the Colorado fort. "I believe it gave the facts and verified there wasn't a systemic problem, but it did show we had two clinicians who treated one Soldier with a lack of dignity and respect."

Speaking with the Pentagon press in a roundtable, Feb. 6, Horoho said a doctor and social worker had been disciplined. The doctor was removed from his leadership position and the civilian received disciplinary action at the local level, she said.

Horoho said the incidents between the Soldier and the two health care providers occurred between February and May 2014. She also said there had been complaints by other Soldiers stretching back to 2011, but after review they were determined "not to contain problematic behavior by the providers."

One soldier? Seriously? Ok, read down below and then go to the Dallas Morning News link on exactly how this one soldier she was talking about was many more.

What the hell is this supposed to mean? Is Lt. General Patricia Horoho saying that they knew what was going on before the Dallas Morning News and NBC interviewed the abused veterans but didn't do anything to fix it? Is she saying that?

"They weren't concerns that an outside source came to us and said do you realize you have these problems," Horoho said at a round-table update on her command for members of the media at the Pentagon on Friday. "We have eight different avenues (for) our warriors and their family members to have their voices heard. When those concerns come up, each of them is looked at and then we take appropriate action."

As bad as that was, this was down toward the end of the article.

"Now we've got leaders, one of the generals told his soldiers, sleep is like bullets for your brain. You never go to battle with an empty magazine," she said. "If you get six hours of sleep or less six days in a row, or go 24 hours without sleep, you have 20 percent cognitive impairment, and you are operating as if you had a .08 BAC [blood alcohol content]. We would never let a soldier in our formation intoxicated."

OMG! Bullets to the brain is how most of them commit suicide! Poor choice of words doesn't come close to explaining that BOHICA nonsense.

OK, so if you happened to have been living off reality TV and not paying attention the Dallas Morning News and NBC out of Texas filed a Freedom of Information Act request for Warrior Transition Units after learning of PTSD soldiers being treated like crap. Considering the Army had been telling the citizens they addressing the stigma instead of fueling it, and helping soldiers recover from combat, instead of finding excuses for them committing suicide, turns out, it wasn't what they claimed.

They waited for the request and then did a six month investigation. Maybe that is what Horoho was talking about since it gave them plenty of time to do their own investigation to find out what the reporters were discovering. Who knows?

Here is the link to the rest of the article as she twists and turns to talk about, oh well, there won't be that many needing the Warrior Transition Units anyway, after this part,

News outlets in Dallas reported in November that hundreds of soldiers had suffered a pattern of "disrespect, harassment and belittlement of soldiers" at WTUs at Fort Bliss, Fort Hood, and Fort Sam Houston in Texas. Another incident led to discipline against a physician and a social worker at Fort Carson, Colorado, for actions dating to early 2014.

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho, the Army surgeon general, affirmed that while even one case of abuse isn't tolerable, most of the complaints turned out to be medical care-related and about 24 cases of harassment have been dealt with. And she said the reports documented issues that the Army already uncovered itself.

If that was the truth then why did this happen after the investigation?

The Army has ordered new training to address complaints from wounded soldiers describing harassment and intimidation inside the nation’s Warrior Transition Units, which are supposed to help these soldiers heal.

The order comes as two prominent Texas congressional leaders are demanding that the Army address the issues first raised in a joint investigation by The Dallas Morning News and KXAS-TV (NBC5) about three of the units in Texas.

Sen. John Cornyn, in a strongly worded letter to Secretary of the Army John McHugh, said he found “highly disturbing” complaints about verbal abuse, disrespect and unfair treatment within the Army’s Warrior Transition Units, or WTUs.

You can read the rest of the investigation here
About this series

“Injured Heroes, Broken Promises,” a joint investigative project between The Dallas Morning News and NBC5 (KXAS-TV), examines allegations of harassment and mistreatment in the U.S.’ Warrior Transition Units, which were created to serve soldiers with physical and psychological wounds. Reporters David Tarrant, Scott Friedman and Eva Parks based their findings on dozens of interviews with soldiers, Army officials and medical experts, and hundreds of pages of military documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Go to the link and be sure to check out everything they discovered.

Congress Passed Another Bill Along With Gas

The solution in this case didn't amount to a hill of beans.

"something of trifling value; virtually nothing at all"

Why? Because Congress just kept repeating the same steps to appear to be doing "something" to address military suicides but much like beans being good for you, they come with a nasty thing that proves hard to digest as the odor just lingers in the air.

It is almost as if they just figured "hey we got a problem so we'll just renuzit" and call it something else and then no one will notice what we left behind.

Not the first time they did this.

Congress heard about "Wounded Warriors Treated as 'Slackers' at Hood, Bliss and Brooke"

"Col. Chris Toner, head of the Army Transition Command, acknowledged that there had been a pattern of "disrespect, harassment and belittlement of soldiers" at Warrior Transition Units (WTUs) at Fort Bliss, Fort Hood and the Brooke Army Medical Center in Texas from 2009-2013."

But why remember all that? Why bother to think about how long it had been going on when we all had the nice little feel good diversion like the non-existent battle to get the Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Bill passed by Congress? It all starts somewhere before it comes home.

Original diversion, take your eye off the fact that they had pre-deployment psychological screenings. In other words, they were not suicidal before they were sent into combat. After that it is anyone's guess considering the Vice Joint Chiefs of Staff admitted they were not doing post-deployment screenings like they were supposed to.

Not so afraid to go into combat but afraid to admit they had problems because of it, yet hey, why not let Congress pass yet another bill on removing the stigma only to be followed up by reports like what was happening in Warrior Transition Units.

“Injured Heroes, Broken Promises,” a joint investigative project between The Dallas Morning News and NBC5 (KXAS-TV), examines allegations of harassment and mistreatment in the U.S.’ Warrior Transition Units, which were created to serve soldiers with physical and psychological wounds. Reporters David Tarrant, Scott Friedman and Eva Parks based their findings on dozens of interviews with soldiers, Army officials and medical experts, and hundreds of pages of military documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.

Why bother to actually listen to Generals saying stupid things proving all the talk we heard about doing all they could to remove the stigma and then jamming down their throats statements like this.

"Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations."

That quote came from General Raymond Odierno in 2013.

Here's another one.

"Wednesday, we lost a Fort Bliss Soldier to an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. I heard the tragic news as I walked out of a memorial service for another one of our Soldiers who decided to kill himself at home on Christmas Day so that his family would find him. Christmas will never be the same for his two young daughters he left behind," Pittard wrote at the time.

He continued, "I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act. Soldiers who commit suicide leave their families, their buddies and their units to literally clean up their mess. There is nothing noble about suicide."

Later in the post Pittard wrote "I am personally fed up with Soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us."

That quote came from Major General Dana Pittard of Fort Bliss

Maybe President Obama liked that message since later that same year in August, this happened.

"Major General Dana Pittard expects the President will discuss the health of the military and Fort Bliss' low suicide rate, as well as government budget cuts, also known as sequestration."

2012 was the highest suicide rate for members of the military but looks like no one is counting or remembering other than families and friends.

But hey, why not just do another bill and call it something else? After all, no one will notice what they already did and then blamed on someone else pretending they didn't just feed the hill of beans.

El Paso VA "We Make Our Own Diagnoses" on PTSD

Fort Bliss Shooting Highlights Broader VA Dysfunction
KRWG.com
By SIMON THOMPSON
January 21, 2015

"I want to tell you something we gave up our life for our country maybe we weren’t buried but a part of us got buried, we expect you to honor what we have done don’t treat us like we are here for a handout these are things that we were promised when we took the oath and we are warriors” Nick D'Amico

El Paso Veteran Nick D' Amico passed away in 2013

while waiting for medical care from the El Paso VA

Credit Simon Thompson

Every day 22 U.S. veterans commit suicide. The recent murder-suicide that took two lives at Fort Bliss is raising questions about the VA’s ability to manage ongoing mental health issues facing returning soldiers Simon Thompson reports.

Fort Bliss went on lockdown as authorities moved to contain an active shooter. The gunman was an Iraqi veteran and former El Paso VA employee Jerry Serrato. He shot and killed VA psychiatrist Doctor Timothy Fjordbak before turning the gun on himself and taking his own life. The FBI reported that Serrato had threatened Fjordbak in 2013 when both men were working at the El Paso clinic.

But there may have been another trigger. In a Washington post report- A former clinic employee said that Serrato was frustrated that the clinic had found his claim of post-traumatic stress disorder unwarranted and wasn’t going to give him the medical treatment he was expecting.

Lillian D’ Amico says it wouldn’t be the first time the El Paso VA has denied a veteran’s Post Traumatic Stress Disorder she says the El Paso VA rejected treatment for her son Nick…who was diagnosed with PTSD years earlier at the VA in Phoenix, Arizona. In fact, she says they even rejected Nick’s PTSD diagnosis.

“The first time he brought his records with him and they said ‘We are not interested in theses , we make our own diagnoses’. So Nick had been in Albuquerque they looked at the records. they looked at the records, come here and they don’t want to look at the records They don’t want to treat the mental ill because they don’t have the doctors and they don’t have the money, there is too many of them” she says
read more here


Fort Bliss Shooting Highlights Broader VA Dysfunction
January 21, 2015

Ex-Army Psychiatrist Says Veterans Killed Doctors "All Too Common"

This is the most baseless claim thing in this whole appalling article!

“Although we do not know all the details, what we know of the case suggests anger at the VA for denial of benefits,” says Elspeth Ritchie, who served as the Army’s top psychiatrist before retiring in 2010. “Unfortunately, the scenario of angry patients killing their doctors is way too common, both in and out of the military.”

Yes, she said that! Imagine this person is not some average imbecile saying something that has absolutely no connection to fact, but a highly educated imbecile forever tied to stupid statements just like this one along with being connected to the worst responses camouflaged as suicide prevention and "resilience" training. They were just too stupid to figure out when suicides went up THEY BLEW IT! Suicides started going up in 2008 and kept going up even as the number of enlisted went down.

Ok, sorry but this woman has a very long history of getting plenty of attention for just saying whatever she wants with nothing to back it up with. Imagine what this kind of statement did to veterans still trying to get over stupid idiots fueling the stigma of PTSD instead of encouraging them to get the help they need and wouldn't need had they NOT RISKED THEIR LIVES FOR OTHERS!

Start with what really is all too common and that is veterans surviving combat but end up committing suicide when they come back home. That happens a hell of a lot more often than a doctor being killed by a veteran! Next would be even more common and that is veterans attempting to commit suicide.

In this report from ABC News there is a list of doctors killed by patients and it is a short one. It is also one with only civilian patients. Patient Kills Psychiatrist in Murder-Suicide

There have been military reports as well. In Iraq there was a psychiatrist killed along with 4 others at Camp Liberty.

Maj. Matthew P. Houseal, a 54-year-old psychiatrist and father of seven in the Army Reserve, was there to counsel, having requested an Iraq deployment to support soldiers struggling with the heartache and hardship of war.

Sgt. John Russell was later convicted. There was also another report about an Army psychiatrist tied to the murder and wounding of a lot more. In this case, the shooter was the psychiatrist. Remember Major Nidal Malik Hasan and what he did at Fort Hood?

Veterans killing doctors over claims is not all too common but suffering because they served is. Would have been a better article if someone thought of actually reporting some facts here. Then we should also think about why on earth Thompson thought he needed to use "killed in action" instead of anything else, like maybe in the line of duty or on the job?

Killed in Action, Far From the Battlefield
Time
Mark Thompson
Iraq Archive 2007

Iraq, 2007: Both a VA psychologist and the veteran who allegedly killed him served in Iraq that year.

Benjamin Lowy / Getty Images

VA psychologist gunned down by Iraq war vet

KIA means “killed in action,” and might not seem to apply to the death of Timothy Fjordbak, 63, allegedly at the hand of Jerry Serrato, 48, on the fourth floor of the El Paso clinic at Fort Bliss.

But, unfortunately, it does.

Serrato, 48, had served in Iraq for several months in 2007. He was discharged from the Army in 2009 for undisclosed physical reasons. He worked for a short time at the clinic in 2013, where Fjordbak, 63, was the chief psychologist.

A former employee at the clinic has told the Washington Post that Serrato was upset that the clinic had found his claim of post-traumatic stress disorder unwarranted.

“I know what you did,” Lindquist quoted Serrato telling Fjordbak, “and I will take care of it.” Fjordbak reported what he perceived to be a threat to local police.
read more here

VA Dr. Timothy Fjordbak Remembered For What He Did For Veterans

Look at all the reporters and cameras! Wouldn't it have been wonderful if they paid this much attention to a VA psychologist who could tell the difference between PTSD and TBI? Wouldn't it have been wonderful if they actually spent some time on all the people working for the VA throughout the entire nation doing the best they can for veterans? Guess it is just a lot easier for them to pay attention when it is too late. Lord only knows what possessed the veteran to shoot him or what he went through.

Doctor killed at El Paso VA remembered as being committed to veterans' mental wellbeing
El Paso Times
By Aaron Martinez
POSTED: 01/07/2015

El Paso FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Lindquist, center, speaks during a news conference Wednesday. (photos by VICTOR CALZADA — EL PASO TIMES)

The doctor shot and killed Tuesday at the El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System clinic was described as a great psychologist who was committed to helping veterans.

Timothy Fjordbak, 63, left a successful private psychology practice after the terrorist attacks in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, to focus on helping returning soldiers, said FBI Special Agent in Charge Douglas Lindquist.

Fjordbak was a mental and behavioral health psychologist at the VA clinic.

He had 33 years experience as a psychologist and was licensed to practice in Florida, Georgia and New Mexico, according to medical records.

He earned a doctoral degree of psychology from the University of Denver. Fjordbak had a practice in Macon, Ga., where he specialized in neuropsychology, clinical neuropsychology and clinical psychology, according to medical records.

Fjordbak left a lasting impact on his patients, said Michael Rushton, a U.S. Air Force veteran who was treated by Fjordbak in late November.

"His main thing was that he could differentiate between symptoms of PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) and traumatic brain injury," said Rushton, who suffered a severe traumatic brain injury about a year ago and was also being treated for PTSD. "It was a five-hour appointment and it was a very comprehensive series of tests. He was amazing and an excellent guy."
read more here

FBI: Doctor Killed at Fort Bliss El Paso VA Named

FBI says shooter at Texas VA clinic was ex-employee 
Associated Press
By RUSSELL CONTRERAS and SETH ROBBINS
January 7, 2015

EL PASO, TEXAS — An Army veteran who fatally shot a psychologist at a West Texas veterans' hospital before killing himself was a former clerk at the clinic and had threatened the doctor in 2013, the FBI said Wednesday. 

The FBI identified the gunman in Tuesday's shooting as Jerry Serrato, a 48-year-old who was medically discharged from the Army in 2009 after serving in Iraq two years earlier.

Douglas Lindquist, who heads the FBI's El Paso office, said Serrato used a .380-caliber handgun to shoot Dr. Timothy Fjordbak, 63, and himself at the El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System at Fort Bliss.

Fjordbak was a psychologist who left private practice after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks because he wanted to work with military veterans, officials said. 

Serrato had served in the Ohio Army National Guard from 1985 to 1993, then enlisted in the Army in July 2006, military records show. He served in Iraq for five months in 2007.
read more here

VA Secretary Bob McDonald visits El Paso clinic after fatal shooting of doctor
Washington Post
By Emily Wax-Thibodeaux
January 8, 2015

With a promise to ramp up security, Veterans Affairs Secretary Robert McDonald visited the El Paso VA clinic Thursday after an agency psychologist was fatally shot by an Iraq war veteran and former employee of the clinic.

“The entire Veterans Affairs family is here to show their empathy for the employees here and the veterans here that we care so much about,” McDonald said. “I’m here to talk to employees today and to tell that that whatever support they need they will get.”

read more here

A security assessment is underway at the El Paso clinic following the shooting

Texas VA shooter named as a 48-year-old former clinic clerk and Iraq veteran who threatened his victim before at nearby supermarket
Daily Mail
By OLIVER O'CONNELL FOR MAILONLINE
January 7, 2015

A security assessment is underway at the clinic following the shooting, which comes four months after it was found that the base was not compliant with Department of Defense directives

Jerry Serrato, 48, shot Dr Timothy Fjordbak, 63, before turning the gun on himself at the Fort Bliss veterans' clinic near El Paso, Texas
Serrato had previously worked as a clerk at the clinic, but authorities believe he did not have a working relationship with the victim
The shooting triggered a 'code white' active shooter alert as hundreds of patients and staff sought shelter
Serrato verbally threatened Fjordbak at an El Paso supermarket in 2013
He reportedly said to him: 'I know what you did and I will take care of it'
Fort Bliss had yet to implement new Department of Defense security measures, despite an announcement four months ago that it would
The clinic is also under fire for having the longest wait times for veterans to see a mental health professional, and longer to see a physician

An Army veteran who fatally shot a psychologist at a West Texas veterans' hospital before killing himself was a former clerk at the clinic.

He had publicly threatened the doctor in 2013, the FBI said on Wednesday.

The gunman in Tuesday's shooting, which caused hundreds of patients and staff to seek shelter, was Jerry Serrato, 48, who was medically discharged from the Army in 2009 after serving in Iraq two years earlier. Serrato used a .380-caliber handgun to shoot Dr Timothy Fjordbak, 63, and himself at the El Paso Veterans Affairs Health Care System at Fort Bliss, Texas.
read more here
Shooter at El Paso VA Dead, Doctor Shot

Shooter at El Paso VA Dead, Doctor Shot

UPDATE
Shooter kills doctor at El Paso VA clinic, then self
El Paso Times
By Daniel Borunda
POSTED: 01/06/2015

FORT BLISS
The FBI is trying to determine what caused a gunman to kill a doctor and then himself Tuesday afternoon at an El Paso veterans clinic.

The shooting led to a massive law enforcement response and a precautionary security lockdown that had people in closed, darkened rooms for hours inside the El Paso VA Health Care System building next to William Beaumont Army Medical Center on Fort Bliss.

"The alleged shooter is dead and we have one casualty and that casualty is deceased. All other VA patients and staff are safe," Maj. Gen. Stephen M. Twitty, commanding general of Fort Bliss and the 1st Armored Division, said at a news conference Tuesday night.

Hours later, white buses arrived to shelter those waiting. The American Red Cross also arrived at the scene.

Douglas Lindquist, the special agent in charge of the El Paso division of the FBI, said agents were interviewing witnesses and FBI crime-scene investigators were working at the clinic. The FBI is leading the investigation because the crime occurred on federal property.

"I also want to stress that we have hundreds of potential witnesses," Lindquist said at the news conference. "We are processing them right now. Those people were here seeking medical assistance. We understand what this situation represents to them. We are trying to expeditiously get through those hundreds of witnesses to find out details about this incident."
read more here

Officials: Doctor at El Paso VA Health Care System shot, shooter kills self
Times staff report
POSTED: 01/06/2015
Update 4:40 p.m.:

A doctor at the El Paso VA Health Care System was shot today and the shooter apparently shot and killed himself, officials said a preliminary investigation shows.

The office of U.S. Rep. Beto O'Rourke, D-El Paso, said the information is preliminary and the investigation is continuing.

The shooting was reported about 4 p.m.
go here for more and update

This is from CNN

No one else has the right report other than the Times

Fort Bliss Chaplain Deployed 7 Times

Ready First: Brigade chaplain inspired by 9/11 to serve in Army, minister to soldiers
El Paso Times
By David Burge
POSTED: 01/01/2015

Barkemeyer is also the most deployed Catholic priest and most deployed chaplain currently serving in the Army, Fort Bliss officials said. He has been to Iraq five times and to Afghanistan twice. He volunteered for six of those deployments.

Chaplain Maj. John Barkemeyer is the chaplain for the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team. He is the most deployed chaplain currently in the U.S. Army. (Rudy Gutierrez — El Paso Times)

Army Chaplain Maj. John Barkemeyer was a Catholic priest in the Chicago area when he was inspired to join the service.

He witnessed Ground Zero in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the Twin Towers in New York City. He served as a chaplain for the Chicago Fire Department when its firefighters went to New York to help out.

Barkemeyer also saw many courageous young men and women in his parish join the military in a call to duty after 9/11.

"I saw the selflessness in them and asked myself, 'Am I doing everything I can do?'" said Barkemeyer, a 50-year-old native of Wilmette, Ill. "That coupled with the Ground Zero experience were two eye-opening experiences. 'OK, God, you got my attention.' "

Barkemeyer has now been in the Army for 12 years and is currently the brigade chaplain for the 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division. He became the Ready First Brigade chaplain in July 2014.

He helps fill one of the most critical shortages in the Army — a chaplain who is a Catholic priest. There are only about 100 Catholic priests serving in the Army and they probably need about 400 to ideally cover the needs of soldiers, Barkemeyer said.
read more here

Husband Charged After Fort Bliss Soldier Found Dead

Fort Bliss soldier killed in North Central El Paso apartment, husband arrested
El Paso Times
By Aaron Martinez
POSTED: 12/05/2014

The Fort Bliss soldier found dead Thursday afternoon in a North Central El Paso apartment was slain, and her husband has been arrested, officials said.

Pfc. Christina Bukovcik, 20, was found Thursday about 3:45 p.m. at the High Vista Apartments, 5041 Alabama, after police were called to check on her.

Police would not say how she was killed. Bukovcik was a food service specialist at Fort Bliss, post officials said.

According to Bukovcik's Facebook page, she is from Norwalk, Conn.

Her husband, Geomel Shaffa, 22, was arrested in Arizona in connection with her death. Shaffa was a former soldier in the Army, a post official said. No further details on his time in the army were released.

The aggravated assault charge was in connection to an incident in which Shaffa allegedly threw his wife at the time, Mariza Shaffa, off a third-story balcony, according to the El Paso Times archives. Shaffa was arrested on Oct. 26, 2013, and released from El Paso County Jail in March 2014.
read more here

Soldiers in WTU with PTSD degraded and told to "man up"

Why do they not go for help? Why do they feel as if there is still a reason to be ashamed? The answer is because of the attitude of too many in the military.

"Howard said the WTU medical staff tried to help but the unit’s non-medical commanders treated him more like a drunk and a troublemaker who needed to be punished, not a soldier suffering from PTSD who needed compassion."

This is the result of "resilience training" telling them it was their fault. When brass told soldiers it is to make them mentally tough, that meant they were mentally weak. When brass told them this, it was because of what they actually believed no matter how many years have proven them wrong.

Injured Heroes, Broken Promises: Injured Soldiers Question Training of WTU Leaders
Soldier with PTSD questions being given leadership role inside WTU
NBC 5 and Dallas Morning News
By Scott Friedman, Eva Parks and David Tarrant
November 24, 2014

NBC 5 Investigates found hundreds of injured soldiers complain of harassment and verbal abuse inside the Army’s Warrior Transition Unit’s (WTUs) that were designed to help active duty soldiers heal.

Now, more questions have surfaced about how the Army chooses WTU commanders and how much training they’re receiving to care for injured soldiers.

NBC 5 Investigates teamed up with The Dallas Morning News for a six month investigation to uncover stunning allegations described by soldiers recovering in Texas from the wounds of war.

Spc. Michael Howard returned home to Texas Dec. 24, 2011. It was the moment every family waits for. “Life was perfect that day,” said Robin Howard, Michael’s wife.

But for Robin and Michael Howard, the homecoming wasn’t the happy ending it appeared to be.

Michael Howard served as an Army medic in Southeastern Iraq and the images of combat traveled home with him.

Suffering from post-traumatic stress he tried to erase the memories by self-medicating with alcohol to get rid of the pain.

The Army sent Howard to the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Hood, which is one of more than 20 special units created across the country to treat mentally and physically injured soldiers.

When Howard first arrived at the unit he said he was expecting to find relief but instead found nothing but stress.

Howard said the WTU medical staff tried to help but the unit’s non-medical commanders treated him more like a drunk and a troublemaker who needed to be punished, not a soldier suffering from PTSD who needed compassion.

He said commanders told him to “man-up” and “get over it,” even calling him degrading and offensive names.
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Part One

WTF! Fort Hood WTU Mistreatment of Wounded Soldiers!

PTSD soldiers treated like recruits "had to be whipped into shape" and they wonder why soldiers don't want to seek help?

Injured Heroes, Broken Promises: Hundreds of Soldiers Allege Mistreatment at Army Warrior Transition Units
Wounded soldiers found harassment and verbal abuse from commanders assigned to care for the injured.
By Scott Friedman, Eva Parks and David Tarrant
NBC 5 and Dallas Morning News
November 24, 2014

NBC 5 Investigates has learned hundreds of America's active duty soldiers have complained about harassment, verbal abuse and mistreatment at the Army’s Warrior Transition Units that were designed to help the injured heal.

NBC 5 investigative reporter Scott Friedman teamed up with The Dallas Morning News' Dave Tarrant for a six-month investigation to uncover the stunning allegations described by soldiers recovering in Texas from the wounds of war.

The soldiers returned home injured, both physically and mentally, and were once again under attack as they were ridiculed, harassed and threatened by commanders assigned to help the recover.

Army Sgt. Zack Filip served as a combat medic at a primitive outpost in Afghanistan earning a bronze star for valor as he treated the wounded in harsh conditions, under nearly constant attack.

"I thought I was going to die there. I mean I had actually prayed about it and came to peace with the fact that I was going to die," said Filip.

Filip came home to Fort Hood suffering from post-traumatic stress — haunted by things he had seen. Then came another nightmare; the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that left 13 dead.

Filip jumped into action — helping save the life of a wounded police officer. For his heroics The Army Times named him the 2010 "Army Soldier of the Year."

"I was just kind of in awe of the whole situation”, Filip said.
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Fort Bliss soldier faces murder charges after death of constable

Officials: Soldier Charged in Death of Texas Constable
Texas News
Monday, Nov 3, 2014

A Fort Bliss soldier has been charged with capital murder after an off-duty constable working security at a Halloween haunted house died following a fight.

El Paso County jail records show 19-year-old Devon Huerta-Person was being held Monday on $5 million bond. Online jail records don't list an attorney for Huerta-Person, who was charged in the death of El Paso County Constable Robert White.
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Garrison Commander of Fort Bliss Relieved of Duty

Fort Bliss garrison commander relieved of duty
El Paso Times
By Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times, Texas (MCT)
November 1, 2014

(MCT) — The Fort Bliss Garrison Commander has been relieved of duty following an investigation into misconduct allegations, post officials said Friday evening.

Col. Thomas Munsey had been suspended earlier this month when an investigation began.

"Maj. Gen. Stephen Twitty, 1st Armored Division and Fort Bliss Commander, officially relieved Col. Thomas Munsey of command on Friday for a lack of trust and confidence in Munsey's ability to command based on the results of the investigation," stated a Fort Bliss news release.

Fort Bliss officials did not disclose what the allegations were against Munsey.

"Due to the Privacy Act and Army policy, the exact allegations of misconduct and details of the investigation will not be released," the news release said.

Officials said that Joseph Moscone, Fort Bliss deputy to the garrison commander, will be the interim manager until the Army names a replacement.
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Troubling Leadership Bringing More Troops Into Iraq

Army chief: Division headquarters going to Iraq
The Leaf Chronicle
Michelle Tan
September 24, 2014

Odierno says division has not yet been identified, but headquarters will be 'small'


As the U.S. expands its war against the Islamic State, the Army is preparing to deploy a division headquarters to Iraq.

Officials have not identified the division that will deploy — the first division headquarters to go to Iraq since the U.S. withdrawal in 2011.

An official announcement is expected in the coming days. But Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno recently confirmed the Army "will send another division headquarters to Iraq to control what we're doing there, a small headquarters."

It's unclear how many soldiers will be sent, or how long they will deploy. Division headquarters average between 100 and 500 soldiers and deploy for one year.

The division headquarters deploying to Iraq is expected to be responsible for coordinating the efforts of the 1,600 troops President Obama has sent to Iraq. Many of these troops are advising and assisting the Iraqi Security Forces, others are providing extra security, while others are providing intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities. The headquarters also is expected to head up the joint operations center that since July has been run by Maj. Gen. Dana Pittard, the deputy commanding general for operations for U.S. Army Central.
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Who are these two leaders?

Start with Major General Dana Pittard and what he wrote on the Fort Bliss blog while "Working out in the gym."

“I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act,” he wrote on his official blog recently. “I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”

And General Raymond Odierno, Army Chief of Staff said this last year during Suicide Prevention Month

"First, inherently what we do is stressful. Why do I think some people are able to deal with stress differently than others? There are a lot of different factors. Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations.

But it also has to do with where you come from. I came from a loving family, one who gave lots of positive reinforcement, who built up psychologically who I was, who I am, what I might want to do. It built confidence in myself, and I believe that enables you to better deal with stress. It enables you to cope more easily than maybe some other people.

Makes what more troops being sent to Iraq are going to be subjected to above combat all the more troubling.