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| Taylor Lee Odom |
Harris was not dead; the blast against a wall about 7 feet behind him was closer to the beginning of his fight than its end. After momentarily losing consciousness, he recovered and valiantly fought, largely to protect his fallen team leader, Master Sgt. Danial “Slim” Adams. He braved close-range enemy fire multiple times to protect Adams from the insurgents, even after realizing Adams had died from his wounds.
Sgt. 1st Class Richard Harris in Wardak province in winter 2011
(Photo: Courtesy of Sgt. 1st Class Richard Harris)
Several military personnel were rescued by helicopter Friday in Colorado's Rocky Mountain National Park after some had trouble climbing one of the state's highest peaks.North Face of Longs Peak, May 2016
(National Park Service)
"Staff Sergeant Griffin is a twenty-seven year old man who served in the United States Army for eight years. During the course of his service he spent 12 months in Iraq, 9 months in Afghanistan and another 8 months in Qatar on a classified assignment, guarding a high-value asset. He spent additional time in Germany and at various state-side duty stations, including Ft. Carson."Griffin would not have missed had he actually targeted his friend instead of hitting a thumb.
"There's another critical, common sense consideration here: the Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) of SSG Cory Griffin–he was 19 Delta, a Cavalry Scout who also served on a sniper team in Afghanistan. He was a Sharpshooter. If you ask no other question about this case, ask this one: Does it make any sense at all that a man who served in some of the most dangerous places on the planet as a sniper would miss an intended target at close range? For those of us with any respect or any experience in the US military know, if a highly-trained US Army Sniper had intended to kill a man at close range, he'd be dead."
Female Fort Carson soldier summited Mount Everest Tuesday in bid to raise PTSD awareness
The Gazette
By: Seth Boster
May 25, 2016
"I think about the fallen soldiers I'm climbing for every day, especially when things got difficult on the mountain."
Capt. Elyse Ping Medvigy,Fort Carson Capt. Elyse Ping Medvigy, was atop the world Tuesday.
Medvigy, 32, summited Mount Everest in the morning hours with a fellow active-duty soldier and a veteran in a climb for U.S. Expeditions and Explorations, a nonprofit seeking to raise awareness of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. According to a news release, the nonprofit believes Medvigy to be the first active-duty female soldier to scale Earth's highest mountain.
The Ridgway native was joined on the 29,029-foot summit with 2nd Lt. Harold Earls and retired Staff Sgt. Chad Jukes, who lost his right leg in Iraq. She was the first to reach the top among the group, at 7:40 a.m. Everest time, according to an online chronicle of the climb by the nonprofit. She and her team began the ascent on the mountain's north side April 25.
In a photo provided by the group, Medvigy is shown on Everest's peak holding pictures of Army Pfc. Keith Williams and Staff Sgt. Benjamin Prange. The two died during combat in Afghanistan.
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Why was 1st brigade pushing so hard? Riney, 25, says it was driven by goal-focused leaders who cared for results more than their troops.The Army says a wrong turn led to a fatal rollover wreck last year that sent an 18-ton Stryker vehicle tumbling over a cliff.
“The atmosphere there was unbelievably toxic, and I feel it led directly to this,” Riney said.
The incident started around 1 p.m. Sunday when Fernandez's wife called 911 to report that a phone call with her husband had ended abruptly and that she believed she heard gunshots before he hung up, the sheriff's office said.A Fort Carson soldier who barricaded himself in his home Sunday and threatened to harm officers and himself told authorities he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
He's earned as many as 28 military awards, including a National Defense Service Medal, Kosovo Campaign Medal with Bronze Service Star, Korea Defense Service Medal, NATO medal and Senior Army Aircraft Crewman Badge.
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"You pray for your enemies and people that don't like you," explains Cheek. "And that's difficult, and as a veteran, you're praying for those people that actually shot at you. That helps you come to terms with a lot of the stuff."FORT CARSON - A centuries-old tradition has become a new form of treatment for soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, and the Native American sweat lodge on Fort Carson is leading the way for military installations around the country.
"It is all about going from Baghdad to Beijing and realizing it's the journey that really mattered."Melissa Stockwell
Iraq war veteran Melissa Stockwell shows her prosthetic leg while speaking with members of Ft. Carson's Wounded Warrior Transition Unit and others about her experiences Wednesday, January 20, 2016. Photo by Mark Reis, The GazetteIraq amputee Melissa Stockwell told a group of wounded, injured and ill Fort Carson soldiers that triathlon training saved her life after a bomb took her leg.
The 2016 Winter Colorado Wildland Fire and Incident Management Academy (CWFIMA) has been holding a weeklong class in Colorado Springs. A group of the first-time firefighters spent the afternoon on a grass hill behind UCCS knocking down an imaginary fire on Wednesday, January 13, 2016. Kenny Bower, a Fort Carson soldier who had several severe injuries while serving in Afghanistan, mans the radio for his group during the class. He wants to fight fires to honor a friend of his who a member of the Granite Mountain hotshot crew, who was killed in 2013 along with 18 others. Photo by Jerilee Bennett/The GazetteHis firefighting tool was still by his side while he listened to the transmission - winds were picking up, humidity was dropping and nearby trees were starting to ignite. He called out the warning to his crew and bent back to his work cutting a line into the dirt up the hill.
"We're part of this community. They don't call Fort Carson the best home town in the army for nothing!" Maj. Boyd to Fox 21 News.
• Chief Warrant Officer 4 Jason McCormack, 43 from Maryland, Fort Campbell 101st
• Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brandon Smith, 38 from Colorado. Fort CarsonCW4 Jason McCormack (Photo: Army)
read more hereCW3 Brandon Smith (Photo: Army)
Cassidy's family also provided to The Star key documents from the Army's investigation of his death that had not previously been released and shared some notes Cassidy wrote at Fort Knox about his anxiety over loud noises and lack of sleep and his concern for the impact of his illness on his family.
The family says it is speaking out in hopes that greater public awareness will help other soldiers get better treatment.
The family found an ally in Indiana Sen. Evan Bayh, who is calling for numerous changes in the way the military handles mental health services for wounded soldiers.
"The pain is never going to go away," said Cassidy's mother, Kay McMullen, Carmel. "You've got to do something then to change the outcome for other people."
Even as combat winds down, demand for mental health care remains high and number of staffers too few, forcing long waits.But the problem with that is, it wasn't new either. Shortages had been reported all along. Congress knew but while they held hearing after hearing no one turned on a hearing aid loud enough so they actually did something to fix any of it. This is really stunning considering that soldiers were actually cheating to stay in the Army back in 2007. Yes, you read that right.
A Court of Inquiry is composed of at least three high-ranking military officers and can subpoena civilians. Geren can refuse the request.So it all still goes on and on. While everyone is doing a whole lot of promising to fix everything that is wrong, the only ones doing their jobs are the soldiers that get wounded and then shafted.
"It's very important for the Army and very important for my clients. This is an investigation that is long overdue," said Louis Font, a Boston attorney who represents Currie and Spec. Alex Lotero, 21, a Fort Carson soldier from Miami.
The request says the Court of Inquiry should "investigate the extent to which the (generals) have been derelict in failing to provide for the health and welfare of wounded soldiers."
Army To Review Pattern Of PTSD, Brain Injuries Discharges
Colorado Public Radio
BY NATHANIEL MINOR AND MICHAEL DE YOANNA
DEC 3, 2015
The U.S. Army says it will conduct a "thorough" review of how it discharges soldiers who were diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder or brain injuries.The Evans Army Community Hospital in Fort Carson, Colo.
In November, CPR News and NPR reported that the Army has kicked out 22,000 soldiers since 2009, who served in Iraq or Afghanistan, for "misconduct." The soldiers had also been diagnosed with mental health issues or traumatic brain injuries. Some served at Fort Carson near Colorado Springs.
Soldiers who are discharged in this way are in danger of losing their benefits, including long-term health care for disabilities that may have been caused by combat.
In the wake of that report, a group of U.S. senators, including Colorado Democrat Michael Bennet, demanded the Army investigate itself. Earlier this week, the Army sent Bennet a letter saying it was doing just that. Bennet gave the letter to CPR News on Thursday.
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John Ah-King told The Denver Post that his daughter 36-year-old Jennifer Markovsky, was one of three people who died Friday when a gunman opened fire. He described Markovsky as a kind-hearted, lovable person with two children.
Garrett Swasey worked as a police officer at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs. He was there when he was called to assist with an active shooter at the nearby clinic. read more here
"This is my first Thanksgiving away from home, I mean, it sucks, but they do their best to make up for it," Wolf said. "This is the coolest thing ever or at least since I've been in the army."Soldiers serve families and compete in Thanksgiving culinary competition
More than 800 people shared a Thanksgiving meal together at Fort Carson’s annual Thanksgiving meal and culinary competition.
Costabile was discharged from the Army on March 27, 2012, and soon he was homeless. His wife was living with her parents, and he wasn’t welcome there. So he went to a shelter and filed for unemployment.
Frank Costabile, a former Fort Carson Army private first class, was discharged with an "adjustment disorder" after serving in the war in Afghanistan. (Michael de Yoanna/CPR News)Frank Costabile was broke and paranoid after the Army forced him out in 2012. The former private first class was so jittery from his time in a war zone he says he couldn’t walk down the street without looking over his shoulder.
“My depression is under control,” he said. “I mean it's still a constant struggle. I'm never going to be off medication for it. Also my PTSD, it's never going to be cured, but I have tools now that I know how to cope with certain things and I still have nightmares but not as intense as they used to be.”Former Fort Carson Commander: 'We Need To Help, Not Judge'
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