Military spending millions to protect gophers, while workers go on furlough
FoxNews.com
By Dan Springer
Published July 12, 2013
A total of 650,000 civilian employees are now being furloughed at U.S. military bases in response to sequester cuts -- but the Department of Defense is still spending millions to protect fuzzy critters.
Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) in Washington state just received a $3.5 million department grant to purchase land around the base in an effort to protect the Mazama pocket gopher, a species that has not even been listed as endangered or threatened.
The expense is not sitting well with furloughed workers.
"That really makes me mad that they would do that," said Matt Hines, one of 10,000 civilian employees forced to take a 20 percent pay cut. "I'm all for saving animals, but at what cost?"
read more here
Showing posts with label Joint Base Lewis McChord. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Joint Base Lewis McChord. Show all posts
Friday, July 12, 2013
Friday, July 5, 2013
Warrior Transition Battalion “steals your soul and puts you in a deeper depression"
Joint Base Lewis-McChord's warrior transition unit lacks training
Some of the soldiers managing care for ill and wounded troops at Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Warrior Transition Battalion lacked proper training before they began their assignments, according to a recently released Defense Department audit.
News Tribune
ADAM ASHTON
STAFF WRITER
Published: July 4, 2013
Some of the soldiers managing care for ill and wounded troops at Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Warrior Transition Battalion lacked proper training before they began their assignments, according to a recently released Defense Department audit.
That inconsistent training coupled with lengthy delays in the Army’s medical retirement process exasperated soldiers at a vulnerable point in military careers, soldiers told the Defense Department Inspector General when a team visited the Lewis-McChord site in summer 2011.
The Warrior Transition Battalion “steals your soul and puts you in a deeper depression,” one National Guard soldier told the auditors. “They tell me to plan for the future, but they cannot tell me when I can leave.”
Comments in the Inspector General report echo some of the criticism that has been leveled at the Army’s 38 so-called warrior transition units since they were created in 2007. A 2010 New York Times story famously labeled them “warehouses of despair” that kept soldiers in limbo between the civilian and military worlds.
read more here
Some of the soldiers managing care for ill and wounded troops at Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Warrior Transition Battalion lacked proper training before they began their assignments, according to a recently released Defense Department audit.
News Tribune
ADAM ASHTON
STAFF WRITER
Published: July 4, 2013
Some of the soldiers managing care for ill and wounded troops at Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s Warrior Transition Battalion lacked proper training before they began their assignments, according to a recently released Defense Department audit.
That inconsistent training coupled with lengthy delays in the Army’s medical retirement process exasperated soldiers at a vulnerable point in military careers, soldiers told the Defense Department Inspector General when a team visited the Lewis-McChord site in summer 2011.
The Warrior Transition Battalion “steals your soul and puts you in a deeper depression,” one National Guard soldier told the auditors. “They tell me to plan for the future, but they cannot tell me when I can leave.”
Comments in the Inspector General report echo some of the criticism that has been leveled at the Army’s 38 so-called warrior transition units since they were created in 2007. A 2010 New York Times story famously labeled them “warehouses of despair” that kept soldiers in limbo between the civilian and military worlds.
read more here
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Raised concerns about mental health did little to stop redeployment from Lewis-McChord
Mental health surveys divert few soldiers from deployment
The News Tribune
ADAM ASHTON
STAFF WRITER
Published: June 29, 2013
A small fraction of soldiers deploying out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord during the peak of the Iraq War were removed from combat missions because their answers on last-minute screenings raised concerns about their mental health, according to data obtained by The News Tribune.
Just 250 out of more than 72,000 pre-deployment health surveys reviewed at Madigan Army Medical Center between 2006 and 2010 led to soldiers being taken off combat tours after they revealed signs of ailments such as post-traumatic stress disorder or head injuries. That’s less than 0.4 percent of the surveys that were completed.
The numbers appear small, but they come from a group of soldiers who had been considered healthy and ready to deploy when they took the surveys in the months before they were scheduled to leave the country.
“These are the people who have already drawn their gear and are on the ramp,” said Madigan Commander Col. Dallas Homas.
The data shed new light on one of the safety valves military officials put in place after it became clear they would be sending soldiers in an all-volunteer Army on multiple combat tours, continually exposing the same troops to insurgent bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Army-supported studies since 2007 have shown that repeated deployments increase the probability soldiers will experience PTSD.
read more here
Same reminder on this one.
The News Tribune
ADAM ASHTON
STAFF WRITER
Published: June 29, 2013
A small fraction of soldiers deploying out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord during the peak of the Iraq War were removed from combat missions because their answers on last-minute screenings raised concerns about their mental health, according to data obtained by The News Tribune.
Just 250 out of more than 72,000 pre-deployment health surveys reviewed at Madigan Army Medical Center between 2006 and 2010 led to soldiers being taken off combat tours after they revealed signs of ailments such as post-traumatic stress disorder or head injuries. That’s less than 0.4 percent of the surveys that were completed.
The numbers appear small, but they come from a group of soldiers who had been considered healthy and ready to deploy when they took the surveys in the months before they were scheduled to leave the country.
“These are the people who have already drawn their gear and are on the ramp,” said Madigan Commander Col. Dallas Homas.
The data shed new light on one of the safety valves military officials put in place after it became clear they would be sending soldiers in an all-volunteer Army on multiple combat tours, continually exposing the same troops to insurgent bombs in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Army-supported studies since 2007 have shown that repeated deployments increase the probability soldiers will experience PTSD.
read more here
Same reminder on this one.
Friday, May 31, 2013
Army admits Staff Sgt. Robert Bales given steroids and alcohol
Lawyer: Army plied JBLM soldier behind Afghan massacre with booze, steroids
MyNorthwest.com
BY JOSH KERNS
May 30, 2013
The lawyer for the JBLM soldier accused of massacring 16 villagers during a bloody rampage in Afghanistan says his client suffered post traumatic stress disorder and was on steroids at the time.
Seattle attorney John Henry Browne told CNN Thursday special forces troops "pumped" Sgt. Robert Bales with steroids and alcohol regularly before the March, 2012 rampage.
"Of course nobody forces him to take it but that's how he got it. The Army admits that," Browne said.
read more here
After Staff Sgt. Bales' arrest, military tried to delete him from the Web
Dr. Frank Ochberg talks about Sgt. Robert Bales and the nature of PTSD
Military Scrambles To Limit Malaria Drug Just After Afghanistan Massacre
MyNorthwest.com
BY JOSH KERNS
May 30, 2013
The lawyer for the JBLM soldier accused of massacring 16 villagers during a bloody rampage in Afghanistan says his client suffered post traumatic stress disorder and was on steroids at the time.
Seattle attorney John Henry Browne told CNN Thursday special forces troops "pumped" Sgt. Robert Bales with steroids and alcohol regularly before the March, 2012 rampage.
"Of course nobody forces him to take it but that's how he got it. The Army admits that," Browne said.
read more here
After Staff Sgt. Bales' arrest, military tried to delete him from the Web
Dr. Frank Ochberg talks about Sgt. Robert Bales and the nature of PTSD
Military Scrambles To Limit Malaria Drug Just After Afghanistan Massacre
Thursday, May 30, 2013
Staff Sgt. Bales plea deal could cause retaliation in Afghanistan
This story leaves so many questions. Why did Bales go on the rampage? What medication was he on? There are stories circulating he had PTSD but PTSD does not usually cause anything close to this. There are reports about others committing crimes after being given Mefloquine and the Bales case caused the military so scramble to stop using it after this. There are also reports Bales had TBI and PTSD but so far there have been few answers as to why this happened. Now with troops still in Afghanistan, this plea deal could inflame retaliation against them. There needs to be answers and fast or this could get a lot worse.
Bales to plead guilty in Afghan massacre
Proposed deal would allow Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier to avoid the death penalty.
Seattle Times staff and news services
May 29, 2013
In a proposed deal to avoid the death penalty, Staff Sgt. Robert Bales has agreed to plead guilty to killing 16 Afghans during a March 2012 tour of duty with an Army unit from Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
John Henry Browne said his client has “tremendous remorse” and would enter the plea at a court hearing at the base scheduled for June 5.
“The commanding general (at the base) has approved this so the only thing left is for the judge on the 5th to accept this plea,” Browne said Wednesday.
The Army judge has set aside a day for the plea agreement, and Bales is prepared to talk about the crimes.
Bales, 39, is accused of carrying out the most serious U.S. war crimes to emerge from more than a decade of American military involvement in Afghanistan.
In Afghanistan, the plea deal could inflame tensions. In interviews with The Associated Press in Kandahar in April, relatives of the victims became outraged at the notion Bales might escape the death penalty and even vowed revenge.
“For this one thing, we would kill 100 American soldiers,” said Mohammed Wazir, who had 11 relatives killed that night, including his mother and 2-year-old daughter.
read more here
Monday, May 13, 2013
Soldier premeditated killing 5 U.S. troops in Iraq
Judge: Soldier premeditated killing 5 U.S. troops in Iraq
May. 13, 2013
Associated Press
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASH. — A military judge found Army Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder Monday in the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq.
Russell now faces a sentencing phase of his court-martial to determine whether he will face life in prison with or without the possibility of release.
The 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. Under the agreement, prosecutors were allowed to try to prove to an Army judge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the killings were premeditated.
read more here
Fate of Sgt. John Russell in hands of judge
May. 13, 2013
Associated Press
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASH. — A military judge found Army Sgt. John Russell guilty of premeditated murder Monday in the 2009 killings of five fellow service members at a combat stress clinic in Iraq.
Russell now faces a sentencing phase of his court-martial to determine whether he will face life in prison with or without the possibility of release.
The 14-year veteran from Sherman, Texas, had previously pleaded guilty to unpremeditated murder in exchange for prosecutors taking the death penalty off the table. Under the agreement, prosecutors were allowed to try to prove to an Army judge at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the killings were premeditated.
read more here
Fate of Sgt. John Russell in hands of judge
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Fate of Sgt. John Russell in hands of military judge
Five killings at Camp Liberty in Iraq: Calculation or despair?
By Kim Murphy
May 11, 2013
Los Angeles Times
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, WASH. — The court-martial of Army Sgt. John Russell concluded Saturday with a military judge asked to decide whether the 14-year Army veteran was deluded by depression and despair as he shot five fellow service members in Iraq, or was executing a calculated plan of revenge against psychiatrists who had blocked his hopes for an early exit from the Army.
In closing arguments after a week of testimony, Judge David L. Conn was presented two starkly different views of what drove Russell, 48, to seize his escort’s M-16 rifle and gun down five people at the Camp Liberty combat stress center at the Baghdad airport on May 11, 2009.
While the defense says Russell was suffering from organic brain damage, major depression and post-combat stress that was aggravated by hostile mental health workers, Army prosecutors argued Saturday that Russell had been trying to paint himself as mentally ill even before the murders in an attempt to win early retirement and had then struck back “in the language of revenge” when a psychiatrist refused such a diagnosis.
Russell has already pleaded guilty to five specifications of murder, but the judge will determine whether the acts were premeditated, a key factor in whether he must serve life in prison or is eligible for parole.
read more here
By Kim Murphy
May 11, 2013
Los Angeles Times
JOINT BASE LEWIS-McCHORD, WASH. — The court-martial of Army Sgt. John Russell concluded Saturday with a military judge asked to decide whether the 14-year Army veteran was deluded by depression and despair as he shot five fellow service members in Iraq, or was executing a calculated plan of revenge against psychiatrists who had blocked his hopes for an early exit from the Army.
In closing arguments after a week of testimony, Judge David L. Conn was presented two starkly different views of what drove Russell, 48, to seize his escort’s M-16 rifle and gun down five people at the Camp Liberty combat stress center at the Baghdad airport on May 11, 2009.
While the defense says Russell was suffering from organic brain damage, major depression and post-combat stress that was aggravated by hostile mental health workers, Army prosecutors argued Saturday that Russell had been trying to paint himself as mentally ill even before the murders in an attempt to win early retirement and had then struck back “in the language of revenge” when a psychiatrist refused such a diagnosis.
Russell has already pleaded guilty to five specifications of murder, but the judge will determine whether the acts were premeditated, a key factor in whether he must serve life in prison or is eligible for parole.
read more here
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales Defense Must Decide Strategy
Bales Defense Must Decide Strategy
Apr 24, 2013
Tacoma News Tribune
by Adam Ashton
Attorneys for the Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians last spring are five weeks from a deadline for declaring whether they intend to use a mental health defense at his court-martial.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales faces the death penalty on charges that he slipped out of his combat outpost by himself twice in the early hours of March 11, 2012, to murder the civilians in their homes and to wound six more noncombatants.
His lawyers have said for the past year that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and combat-related head injuries, suggesting those ailments overcame him on what was his fourth combat deployment from Lewis-McChord since 2003.
Army judge Col. Jeff Nance on Tuesday ordered the lawyers to signal by May 29 whether they plan to argue that Bales' mental health ailments diminished his responsibility for the massacre in Kandahar province's Panjwai district.
They also must hand to prosecutors by that date a summary of a sanity review Bales recently completed if they plan to call a mental health expert to testify at any point.
"Bottom line is, on the 29th of May the defense has to advise the government if they are going to defend on lack of mental responsibility," Nance said.
read more here
Apr 24, 2013
Tacoma News Tribune
by Adam Ashton
Attorneys for the Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier accused of murdering 16 Afghan civilians last spring are five weeks from a deadline for declaring whether they intend to use a mental health defense at his court-martial.
Staff Sgt. Robert Bales faces the death penalty on charges that he slipped out of his combat outpost by himself twice in the early hours of March 11, 2012, to murder the civilians in their homes and to wound six more noncombatants.
His lawyers have said for the past year that he suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and combat-related head injuries, suggesting those ailments overcame him on what was his fourth combat deployment from Lewis-McChord since 2003.
Army judge Col. Jeff Nance on Tuesday ordered the lawyers to signal by May 29 whether they plan to argue that Bales' mental health ailments diminished his responsibility for the massacre in Kandahar province's Panjwai district.
They also must hand to prosecutors by that date a summary of a sanity review Bales recently completed if they plan to call a mental health expert to testify at any point.
"Bottom line is, on the 29th of May the defense has to advise the government if they are going to defend on lack of mental responsibility," Nance said.
read more here
Monday, April 22, 2013
Sgt. John Russell pleaded guilty
Iraq vet pleads guilty to killing fellow soldiers
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Monday, April 22, 2013
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) — An Army sergeant pleaded guilty Monday to killing four other soldiers and a Navy officer in 2009 at mental health clinic in Baghdad during the Iraq War.
The plea at a military court at Joint Base Lewis-McChord means Sgt. John Russell will avoid the death sentence. His maximum sentence would be a life term.
Russell — who is from Sherman, Texas — went on a shooting spree at the Camp Liberty Combat Stress Center near Baghdad in May 2009. It was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war.
Russell was nearing the end of his third tour when his behavior changed, members of his unit testified in 2009.
They said he became more distant in the days before the May 11, 2009, attack and that he seemed paranoid that his unit was trying to end his career.
read more here
Sgt. John Russell example of what went wrong
Seattle Post Intelligencer
Monday, April 22, 2013
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. (AP) — An Army sergeant pleaded guilty Monday to killing four other soldiers and a Navy officer in 2009 at mental health clinic in Baghdad during the Iraq War.
The plea at a military court at Joint Base Lewis-McChord means Sgt. John Russell will avoid the death sentence. His maximum sentence would be a life term.
Russell — who is from Sherman, Texas — went on a shooting spree at the Camp Liberty Combat Stress Center near Baghdad in May 2009. It was one of the worst instances of soldier-on-soldier violence in the Iraq war.
Russell was nearing the end of his third tour when his behavior changed, members of his unit testified in 2009.
They said he became more distant in the days before the May 11, 2009, attack and that he seemed paranoid that his unit was trying to end his career.
read more here
Sgt. John Russell example of what went wrong
Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Fatal police shooting of JBLM medic justified
Fatal police shooting of JBLM medic justified
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Mar 27, 2013
TACOMA, Wash. — The Pierce County prosecutor says a police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who pointed a loaded handgun at him last August outside a Tacoma home.
Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said 29-year-old Prince Jamel Gavin refused orders to drop the gun and was shot when he raised it toward the officer.
read more here
Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier killed by police
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Mar 27, 2013
TACOMA, Wash. — The Pierce County prosecutor says a police officer was justified in fatally shooting a man who pointed a loaded handgun at him last August outside a Tacoma home.
Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said 29-year-old Prince Jamel Gavin refused orders to drop the gun and was shot when he raised it toward the officer.
read more here
Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier killed by police
Monday, March 18, 2013
JBLM soldier injured reflects on 'lifetime change'
JBLM soldier injured reflects on 'lifetime change'
Shawn Graves said a final goodbye to the world as he lost consciousness. A man wearing a suicide vest had blown himself up inside a dining hall in northern Iraq. Graves had wounds all over his torso, and he did not expect to open his eyes again.
Seattle Times
By ADAM ASHTON
The News-Tribune
TACOMA, Wash.
Shawn Graves said a final goodbye to the world as he lost consciousness. A man wearing a suicide vest had blown himself up inside a dining hall in northern Iraq. Graves had wounds all over his torso, and he did not expect to open his eyes again.
"I thought I was done," he said.
The platoon sergeant from Fort Lewis woke up from his coma three weeks later. He had survived one of the worst attacks against U.S. forces in the Iraq War, an enemy infiltration that claimed 22 lives and wounded more than 70 other people inside a forward base most troops figured was safe.
On the 10th anniversary of the war, Graves still can't explain how he made it through.
Today the 37-year-old combat veteran is sewn up, healed and home with his wife, Elizabeth, in Medical Lake. But his journey isn't over.
It never really is for many of the nearly 32,000 service members who were wounded or injured in the eight-year war, or for the families of the 4,409 service members who lost their lives to it.
"Between the physical wounds and the mental wounds that come with it, it's a lifetime change, and it affects both them and their spouses," said Brittney Hamilton of Tacoma, the director of a nonprofit group called Operation Ward 57 that supports wounded service members.
read more here
Shawn Graves said a final goodbye to the world as he lost consciousness. A man wearing a suicide vest had blown himself up inside a dining hall in northern Iraq. Graves had wounds all over his torso, and he did not expect to open his eyes again.
Seattle Times
By ADAM ASHTON
The News-Tribune
TACOMA, Wash.
Shawn Graves said a final goodbye to the world as he lost consciousness. A man wearing a suicide vest had blown himself up inside a dining hall in northern Iraq. Graves had wounds all over his torso, and he did not expect to open his eyes again.
"I thought I was done," he said.
The platoon sergeant from Fort Lewis woke up from his coma three weeks later. He had survived one of the worst attacks against U.S. forces in the Iraq War, an enemy infiltration that claimed 22 lives and wounded more than 70 other people inside a forward base most troops figured was safe.
On the 10th anniversary of the war, Graves still can't explain how he made it through.
Today the 37-year-old combat veteran is sewn up, healed and home with his wife, Elizabeth, in Medical Lake. But his journey isn't over.
It never really is for many of the nearly 32,000 service members who were wounded or injured in the eight-year war, or for the families of the 4,409 service members who lost their lives to it.
"Between the physical wounds and the mental wounds that come with it, it's a lifetime change, and it affects both them and their spouses," said Brittney Hamilton of Tacoma, the director of a nonprofit group called Operation Ward 57 that supports wounded service members.
read more here
Wednesday, March 6, 2013
Iraq veteran, shot by police, was outspoken on combat PTSD
Armed man killed by Portland police was Iraq vet
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man fatally wounded by Portland police after they say he fired at them was an Iraq war veteran who had talked about the challenges of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Santiago A. Cisneros III, 32, died of the wounds he received Monday night, the Multnomah County medical examiner's office said.
Two officers said the man had a shotgun and fired at them when they encountered him on a parking lot roof in northeast Portland. They said they returned fire.
Cisneros died at a Portland hospital. No officers were injured.
San Francisco Chronicle
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A man fatally wounded by Portland police after they say he fired at them was an Iraq war veteran who had talked about the challenges of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Santiago A. Cisneros III, 32, died of the wounds he received Monday night, the Multnomah County medical examiner's office said.
Two officers said the man had a shotgun and fired at them when they encountered him on a parking lot roof in northeast Portland. They said they returned fire.
Cisneros died at a Portland hospital. No officers were injured.
Cisneros was an Army combat veteran who was one of three soldiers who spoke to KOMO-TV in Seattle in 2009 about the struggles they faced with PTSD, the television station reported Tuesday. He said then he had tried to kill himself just eight months after leaving Iraq.
"I fought a war back there in Iraq. I didn't know I was going to have to fight a war back here in the United States within myself," Cisneros said in the KOMO interview.
read more here
Shattered soldiers say there was no help
KOMO News
By Liz Rocca
Published: Mar 26, 2009
Army Combat Veteran Santiago Cisneros tried to kill himself just eight months after leaving Iraq.
"I fought a war back there in Iraq. I didn't know I was going to have to fight a war back here in the United States within myself," says Santiago.
All three men told the Problem Solvers they are shattered soldiers, diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and didn't get the help they needed from the military they served.
Susan Avila-Smith is a veteran and an advocate for military members suffering from trauma and says these soldiers need help now.
"It's imperative to understand these people went over there, were trained to kill, they killed, they came back and there's no debriefing, there's no 'ok, we're going to train you how to adapt to society now,'" she says.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Army won't release Madigan PTSD data
Army withholding findings of Madigan PTSD probe
By Rebecca Ruiz
NBC News contributor
The results of a months-long investigation into the reversal of post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center are being kept confidential.
Earlier this month, Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the Madigan findings would not be disclosed.
Days later, the Army denied Freedom of Information Act requests for documents related to the controversy made by three Seattle-area news organizations.
George Wright, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, told NBC News that “concerns brought up in the Madigan matter will be addressed” in a separate forthcoming report by the Army's Task Force on Behavioral Health.
read more here
By Rebecca Ruiz
NBC News contributor
The results of a months-long investigation into the reversal of post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses at Madigan Army Medical Center are being kept confidential.
Earlier this month, Army Secretary John McHugh told reporters at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington state that the Madigan findings would not be disclosed.
Days later, the Army denied Freedom of Information Act requests for documents related to the controversy made by three Seattle-area news organizations.
George Wright, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon, told NBC News that “concerns brought up in the Madigan matter will be addressed” in a separate forthcoming report by the Army's Task Force on Behavioral Health.
read more here
Sunday, February 10, 2013
Army refuses to release details of Madigan investigation
Army refuses to release details of Madigan investigation
By Adam Ashton
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
Published: February 10, 2013
TACOMA, Wash. — Army leaders insist they have fixed flaws in Madigan Army Medical Center’s behavioral health department that resulted in the misdiagnoses of hundreds of patients. But they have refused to release reports that could substantiate their findings and shed light on what happened at the Army hospital last year.
The latest in a long string of denials and non-disclosures happened last week when Secretary of the Army John McHugh visited Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He called a press conference Monday to announce the completion of an Army-wide behavioral health investigation that stemmed from the Madigan reports, but he declined to share it.
McHugh said a task force review had generated 24 findings and 47 recommendations, but he would not release them and described only one. He signed a memo intended to bolster Army wellness programs and left open the door to release more information later.
read more here
By Adam Ashton
The News Tribune (Tacoma, Wash.)
Published: February 10, 2013
TACOMA, Wash. — Army leaders insist they have fixed flaws in Madigan Army Medical Center’s behavioral health department that resulted in the misdiagnoses of hundreds of patients. But they have refused to release reports that could substantiate their findings and shed light on what happened at the Army hospital last year.
The latest in a long string of denials and non-disclosures happened last week when Secretary of the Army John McHugh visited Joint Base Lewis-McChord. He called a press conference Monday to announce the completion of an Army-wide behavioral health investigation that stemmed from the Madigan reports, but he declined to share it.
McHugh said a task force review had generated 24 findings and 47 recommendations, but he would not release them and described only one. He signed a memo intended to bolster Army wellness programs and left open the door to release more information later.
read more here
Friday, February 8, 2013
JBLM soldier arrested in Wisconsin killing
JBLM soldier arrested in Wisconsin killing
A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier has been arrested in connection with the torture and killing of her husband’s autistic stepbrother in Wisconsin last summer.
The News Tribune
STACIA GLENN
STAFF WRITER
Published: Feb. 7, 2013
A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier has been arrested in connection with the torture and killing of her husband’s autistic stepbrother in Wisconsin last summer.
Shannon Remus, 26, who works as a military police officer, waived extradition Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court and is expected to be transported back to Dane County to face charges in the next few days.
Detectives from Wisconsin arrested her Tuesday on base on suspicion of hiding a corpse. The woman’s husband, Jeffrey Vogelsberg, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse. Vogelsberg’s landlord and mother also are jailed in the case.
read more here
A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier has been arrested in connection with the torture and killing of her husband’s autistic stepbrother in Wisconsin last summer.
The News Tribune
STACIA GLENN
STAFF WRITER
Published: Feb. 7, 2013
A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier has been arrested in connection with the torture and killing of her husband’s autistic stepbrother in Wisconsin last summer.
Shannon Remus, 26, who works as a military police officer, waived extradition Wednesday in Pierce County Superior Court and is expected to be transported back to Dane County to face charges in the next few days.
Detectives from Wisconsin arrested her Tuesday on base on suspicion of hiding a corpse. The woman’s husband, Jeffrey Vogelsberg, is charged with first-degree intentional homicide and hiding a corpse. Vogelsberg’s landlord and mother also are jailed in the case.
read more here
Monday, February 4, 2013
Secretary of the Army will visit Joint Base Lewis-McChord
Top Army official to unveil new PTSD review at Lewis-McChord
By Mark Miller
Published: Feb 3, 2013
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - The Secretary of the Army will visit Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Monday to unveil the results of a controversial investigation triggered, in part, by local soldiers.
The results could lead to better mental health treatment for troops with post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
In the meantime, base officials are preparing for Monday's high-level visit as Secretary of the Army John McHugh comes under a lot of pressure to do something.
Lewis-McChord soldiers complained last year - accusing Madigan Army Medical Center doctors of changing PTSD diagnoses to other conditions that would cost the government less in benefit payouts.
That charge that upsets some military parents.
"That is important that they take care of these guys when they come back," says military parent Tony Scott. "It's not these guys' fault they did their part. The government should do their part."
Soldiers who wanted KOMO News to hide their identities say they think the Army has not done all it can for soldiers returning from combat with mental health issues.
"Listening and open ears to the soldiers - definitely, they do need to work on that," says one career soldier.
He said he is looking forward to hearing what the secretary will say Monday about the investigation into the complaints.
"You can make your speech - you can say anything. But has it happened yet?"
read more here
By Mark Miller
Published: Feb 3, 2013
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. - The Secretary of the Army will visit Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Monday to unveil the results of a controversial investigation triggered, in part, by local soldiers.
The results could lead to better mental health treatment for troops with post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD.
In the meantime, base officials are preparing for Monday's high-level visit as Secretary of the Army John McHugh comes under a lot of pressure to do something.
Lewis-McChord soldiers complained last year - accusing Madigan Army Medical Center doctors of changing PTSD diagnoses to other conditions that would cost the government less in benefit payouts.
That charge that upsets some military parents.
"That is important that they take care of these guys when they come back," says military parent Tony Scott. "It's not these guys' fault they did their part. The government should do their part."
Soldiers who wanted KOMO News to hide their identities say they think the Army has not done all it can for soldiers returning from combat with mental health issues.
"Listening and open ears to the soldiers - definitely, they do need to work on that," says one career soldier.
He said he is looking forward to hearing what the secretary will say Monday about the investigation into the complaints.
"You can make your speech - you can say anything. But has it happened yet?"
read more here
Saturday, February 2, 2013
516 suicides across all branches for 2012
While Col. Carl Castro was quoted in this article, he was not asked why his programs have failed and what is being done to correct this less than honorable outcome. Why isn't anyone asking him about Battlemind? Why isn't anyone asking him about Resilience Training? Why isn't anyone asking who is being held accountable for any of this?
By Sig Christenson
Updated 11:01 pm, Friday, February 1, 2013
The Army, by far the largest branch of the armed forces, set a record for suicides last year with 325, almost two-thirds of all military suicides.
It also was a record year throughout the military, with 516 suicides across all branches.
Suicides have bedeviled the military for years, with deaths rising after the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the Army, which has borne the brunt of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, has suffered the most.
Posts most involved in those wars reflect the problem, and none has more suicides than Fort Hood.
The Central Texas installation, which sent two divisions to Iraq three times, has had 129 suicides since 2003, including 19 last year.
The Army's Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention Office has found that suicides are driven by a complex set of factors ranging from deployment time and relationship problems to substance abuse and money woes.
read more here
Army Col. Carl Castro, director of the Military Operational Medicine Research Program, said that while much is known about factors involved suicides, the Pentagon is playing catch-up.and then he said
“And I think that's sort of where we're at and why this is such a difficult problem to get a hold of,” Castro said. “They're all fully engaged, so I think until we can sort of turn that corner and get that sort of maximum involvement, it's always just going to be a real tough nut to crack, but we are committed to solving this problem.”Most suicides ever for Army, military
By Sig Christenson
Updated 11:01 pm, Friday, February 1, 2013
The Army, by far the largest branch of the armed forces, set a record for suicides last year with 325, almost two-thirds of all military suicides.
It also was a record year throughout the military, with 516 suicides across all branches.
Suicides have bedeviled the military for years, with deaths rising after the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq. But the Army, which has borne the brunt of fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, has suffered the most.
Posts most involved in those wars reflect the problem, and none has more suicides than Fort Hood.
The Central Texas installation, which sent two divisions to Iraq three times, has had 129 suicides since 2003, including 19 last year.
The Army's Health Promotion, Risk Reduction and Suicide Prevention Office has found that suicides are driven by a complex set of factors ranging from deployment time and relationship problems to substance abuse and money woes.
A plague of military suicides
The Army has tried to curb the number of soldiers killing themselves amid repeated tours to war zones, but so far it's found no solutions. The number of suicides since 2003 reported at some of the Army's largest posts:
Fort Hood: 129
Fort Bragg, N.C. : 101
Fort Campbell, Ky.: 92
Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.: 81
Fort Carson, Colo.: 59
Fort Stewart, Ga.: 57
SOURCE: U.S. Army
read more here
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Prosecutors seek death penalty for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales
Death penalty sought in Afghan massacre case
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 19, 2012 13:16:40 EST
SEATTLE — The U.S. Army said Wednesday it will seek the death penalty against the soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan villagers during pre-dawn raids in March.
The announcement followed a pretrial hearing last month for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 39, who faces premeditated murder and other charges in the attack on two villages in southern Afghanistan.
Prosecutors said Bales, who grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood, Ohio, left his remote base in southern Afghanistan early on March 11, attacked one village, returned to the base, and then slipped away again to attack another nearby compound. Of the 16 people killed, nine were children.
No date has been set for Bales' court martial, which will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle.
read more here
By Gene Johnson
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Dec 19, 2012 13:16:40 EST
SEATTLE — The U.S. Army said Wednesday it will seek the death penalty against the soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan villagers during pre-dawn raids in March.
The announcement followed a pretrial hearing last month for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 39, who faces premeditated murder and other charges in the attack on two villages in southern Afghanistan.
Prosecutors said Bales, who grew up in the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood, Ohio, left his remote base in southern Afghanistan early on March 11, attacked one village, returned to the base, and then slipped away again to attack another nearby compound. Of the 16 people killed, nine were children.
No date has been set for Bales' court martial, which will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle.
read more here
Monday, December 3, 2012
Report finds Madigan's head did not influence PTSD diagnoses
Army report backs Madigan leader
Finds Col. Dallas Homas did not use position to influence PTSD diagnoses
ADAM ASHTON
Staff writer
Published December 03, 2012
An Army investigation glowingly endorses the Madigan Army Medical Center commander who temporarily lost his post this year amid complaints about inconsistencies in the hospital’s post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses.
The report found that Col. Dallas Homas “did not exert any undue influence over PTSD diagnoses, and that he acted appropriately enforcing standard medical guidelines,” according to a summary The News Tribune obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The Army relieved Homas from his command from February until August as part of its investigation into the forensic psychiatry program at the Army hospital south of Tacoma.
Madigan’s forensic team had the last say on behavioral health diagnoses in disability evaluations, and patients couldn’t understand why the team’s psychologists sometimes changed other doctors’ PTSD diagnoses to other conditions.
Concerns about the program reached Homas’ level in part because one doctor in a staff meeting suggested psychologists be mindful of long-term costs to the government in making their diagnoses. PowerPoint slides from the briefing estimated the cost of a diagnosis at $1.5 million over time.
The Army has since given fresh PTSD diagnoses to 150 patients who had passed through the Madigan team over the past four years; all those patients previously were given a clean bill of health or a different diagnosis. Others who want their cases reviewed still can get new opinions.
read more here
Finds Col. Dallas Homas did not use position to influence PTSD diagnoses
ADAM ASHTON
Staff writer
Published December 03, 2012
An Army investigation glowingly endorses the Madigan Army Medical Center commander who temporarily lost his post this year amid complaints about inconsistencies in the hospital’s post-traumatic stress disorder diagnoses.
The report found that Col. Dallas Homas “did not exert any undue influence over PTSD diagnoses, and that he acted appropriately enforcing standard medical guidelines,” according to a summary The News Tribune obtained through the Freedom of Information Act.
The Army relieved Homas from his command from February until August as part of its investigation into the forensic psychiatry program at the Army hospital south of Tacoma.
Madigan’s forensic team had the last say on behavioral health diagnoses in disability evaluations, and patients couldn’t understand why the team’s psychologists sometimes changed other doctors’ PTSD diagnoses to other conditions.
Concerns about the program reached Homas’ level in part because one doctor in a staff meeting suggested psychologists be mindful of long-term costs to the government in making their diagnoses. PowerPoint slides from the briefing estimated the cost of a diagnosis at $1.5 million over time.
The Army has since given fresh PTSD diagnoses to 150 patients who had passed through the Madigan team over the past four years; all those patients previously were given a clean bill of health or a different diagnosis. Others who want their cases reviewed still can get new opinions.
read more here
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
Why would a good reporter get lazy on military suicides?
For Tacoma military base, a grim milestone in soldier suicidesNotice the reporter? ADAM ASHTON; TACOMA NEWS TRIBUNE
Joint Base Lewis-McChord passed an unwelcome milestone in 2011, recording more soldier suicides than in any previous year. Twelve soldiers took their own lives in 2011, up from nine in 2010 and nine in 2009, Army I Corps spokesman Lt. Col. Gary Dangerfield said. The total could grow as the Army completes investigations ahead of its annual suicide report next month.
Notice the date? Published: Nov. 27, 2012
So why at the end of this year, after all these reports, was it necessary to release a report that was already known last year?
JBLM suicides hit grim milestone in 2011 ADAM ASHTON; STAFF WRITER Published: Dec. 30, 2011
One service member commits suicide every two days, attempts every two hours September, 2011.
While this report was bad, the fact that almost half of the military suicides happened after they went for help to heal.
By November the news came out about Every 80 minutes another veteran commits suicide and attempted Marine Corps suicides. "11 Marines attempted suicide in October, raising that year-to-date figure to 163 for 2011."
By December "Army has identified 260 potential soldier suicides for 2011"
It turned out that Army Suicides Up 80 Percent Since Iraq War Start
Where are the questions that need to be asked? Where are the stories on families trying to keep their veterans alive or the parents trying to stop blaming themselves after they couldn't? Where are the questions asking about who the hell is being held accountable for any of this? Where are the reports on the failures of the "resiliency training" and suicide prevention the military has been doing for the last 10 years?
There are so many things that could have actually been helpful but this was re-released? What's going on here?
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