National Guard support-campaign helps vets, families
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record - 05/10/09
A team of soldiers and airmen with the Montana National Guard will take their message to the streets over the next few weeks to let their fellow service members know that help is available if needed.
For the second consecutive year, members of the Guard will cross the state to promote the Yellow Ribbon Program, which aims to improve the post-deployment process and the care soldiers and families receive when returning from battle.
Col. Jeff Ireland, director of personnel and manpower, said four teams of soldiers and airmen will conduct the meetings over the next few weeks.
The public push continues the Guard’s efforts to change its deployment culture and raise awareness on the programs available around the clock to those who need help.
“We want to take this information to the people of Montana so they understand what levels and types of support are available to service members and their families before, during and after a deployment,” Ireland said.
The Guard made a similar effort last May when it sent similar teams to Libby, Glasgow, Lewistown, Great Falls and Belgrade.
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National Guard support-campaign helps vets, families
Showing posts with label Montana National Guard. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Montana National Guard. Show all posts
Monday, May 11, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Support the The Post Deployment Health Assessment Act of 2009
This is the moment it happened. Most of the media was not around but that was not what was important to then, Senator Obama. What he wanted to know, was what was working to help the warriors wounded by PTSD to heal and get the help they needed. After all, he was serving on the Veterans Affairs Committee, one more thing the media didn't seem too interested in. But you dear reader are smarter than the media and you care a lot more than far too many of them do. No, I'm not slamming everyone in the media because some have been doing some fantastic reports because they care. Right now though I feel I should point out something about this day in Montana when Obama promised to take the guard's program national if he ended up being elected.
I've tracked all of this since 1982. Over the last few years, spare time has turned into a 70 hour or more work week for free. I've read some of the most horrible stories you could imagine and lost too many people in my life. I take all of this very personally because of my own husband and too many of his friends, but above all, his nephew, another Vietnam veteran out of hope, so deeply in pain that he took his own life. The Montana National Guards program is one that I had been very hopeful with and you can read most of the posts I've done on this since they first began it. I am also a member of NAMI, on the Veterans' Council. There were programs all over the country when they came up with this, so Obama had plenty of programs to support if he only wanted to appear to care. When he decided that this program was so vital he wanted to focus on it and take it national, he did it because he not only cared, but the man paid attention. PTSD was no passing thought in his mind. He made sure he knew what he was talking about. He did not try to support programs that were not working. Had he done so, that would have shown us that he really didn't think it was important enough to pay attention.
With all the horrible posts I've done, even with them, I have more hope than ever that we will someday soon get to where the troops and veterans need us to be.
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Support the The Post Deployment Health Assessment Act of 2009
Matt Kuntz, the keynote speaker at our upcoming Annual Education Conference, has asked us to take a few minutes to contact our Congressional Representatives and Senators to ask them to support comprehensive mental health screenings for our returning soldiers.
Two years ago, Matt, the Executive Director of NAMI Montana and one of President Obama's "18 Ordinary Americans Making an Extraordinary Difference," lost his step-brother Chris Dana to a post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) induced suicide sixteen months after he returned from Iraq.
The events around Chris’s death led Governor Brian Schweitzer and the Montana National Guard to develop the premier program in the country for caring for National Guard members suffering from PTSD. Matt says, "The foundation of this successful system is a series of five face-to-face mental health screenings that every returning service member must complete upon their return home from combat."
This broad screening program overcomes the traditional barriers that have kept service members from receiving treatment for PTSD. Over forty percent of the individuals that have completed the screening asked for help in dealing with their combat stress injuries.
Senator Max Baucus introduced “The Post Deployment Health Assessment Act of 2009” to implement this common sense screening program throughout our fighting force. The Act would require face-to-face screening before deployment, upon return home, and then every six months for two years. This basic and effective program will help safeguard the mental health of our entire fighting force for approximately the same price tag as a single F-22 Fighter. The Act is supported by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI), Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA), the National Guard Association, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW).
Please take a few minutes out of your day to contact your Congressional Representatives and Senators to ask them to support this critical legislation. Our military suicide rates are at record levels and climbing. We can’t afford to wait any longer to help our heroes get the care they deserve. You can follow this link to find your Representatives’ and Senators’ contact information: http://www.visi.com/juan/congress/.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Montana National Guard's proactive PTSD program becoming national model
Montana National Guard's proactive PTSD program becoming national model
By ERIC NEWHOUSE • Tribune Projects Editor • March 1, 2009
HELENA — Two years after former Army Spc. Chris Dana committed suicide after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, the Montana National Guard is spending approximately half a million dollars a year to make combat deployments easier for its soldiers and their families.
The Montana Guard's Yellow Ribbon program has become a model that the rest of America should adopt, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.
"We're getting terrific responses to the program from the families of our soldiers, but also some great suggestions," said Col. Jeff Ireland, chief of manpower and personnel for the Montana Guard. "For instance, we were told it would be useful to have a special breakout session for spouses.
Ireland said officials believe the session was a great idea.
"We plan to act on it and other suggestions until we meet all the needs we're aware of," he added.
With the approval and funding of the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., the Montana National Guard is adding five positions and spending approximately $500,000 to fund the Yellow Ribbon program, Ireland said.
The core of the program is twofold: mental health assessments every six months after deployment and crisis response teams that can be activated immediately to check out concerns about the emotional wellbeing of a soldier.
"The genius of the Montana screening model is that it happens every six months," Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last week during testimony in Washington.
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By ERIC NEWHOUSE • Tribune Projects Editor • March 1, 2009
HELENA — Two years after former Army Spc. Chris Dana committed suicide after struggling with post-traumatic stress disorder, the Montana National Guard is spending approximately half a million dollars a year to make combat deployments easier for its soldiers and their families.
The Montana Guard's Yellow Ribbon program has become a model that the rest of America should adopt, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.
"We're getting terrific responses to the program from the families of our soldiers, but also some great suggestions," said Col. Jeff Ireland, chief of manpower and personnel for the Montana Guard. "For instance, we were told it would be useful to have a special breakout session for spouses.
Ireland said officials believe the session was a great idea.
"We plan to act on it and other suggestions until we meet all the needs we're aware of," he added.
With the approval and funding of the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C., the Montana National Guard is adding five positions and spending approximately $500,000 to fund the Yellow Ribbon program, Ireland said.
The core of the program is twofold: mental health assessments every six months after deployment and crisis response teams that can be activated immediately to check out concerns about the emotional wellbeing of a soldier.
"The genius of the Montana screening model is that it happens every six months," Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, told the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee last week during testimony in Washington.
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Monday, February 23, 2009
Army leaders add training to detect suicidal soldiers
Army leaders add training to detect suicidal soldiers
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON
Helena Independent Record
HELENA - A military investigation into the death of Pvt. Daren Smith found the Butte soldier was acting “normal” at his forward operation base in Iraq on the evening of Dec. 13, 2007.
So it came as a surprise to his peers when the 19-year-old entered the latrine that evening, locked the door to his stall, turned his M-4 rifle toward his head, and pulled the trigger.
Smith's death, the second known suicide of a Montana soldier over the past five years, added to the Army's growing list of men and women who are taking their lives at a rate not seen in at least 30 years.
Suicides in the Army jumped to a record high in 2008, growing for the fourth straight year. January saw an additional 24 suicides, marking an ominous start to 2009.
Hoping to get a handle on the wave of self-inflicted deaths, Army leaders have ordered a 30-day “safety stand-down,” giving commanders a chance to educate soldiers on suicide behavior and early intervention.
The Montana Army and Air National Guard will also participate in the stand-down, which went into effect on Sunday.
“We can't afford to lose one soldier or airman in the Montana National Guard to suicide,” said Brig. Gen. John Walsh, adjutant general of the state Guard. “We're making this training our priority during the next 150 days.”
Maj. Tim Crowe, public relations officer for the Montana Guard, said state commanders will oversee the training. Soldiers and airmen across the state will spend their drill weekends in March receiving suicide prevention and recognition classes.
The latest effort continues the Guard's own drive to raise awareness on the topic of suicide. Montana's military made suicide prevention a priority after one of its own soldiers, Chris Dana, shot himself to death in 2007 after returning from Iraq.
go here for more
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2009/02/21/news/mtregional/news13.txt
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON
Helena Independent Record
HELENA - A military investigation into the death of Pvt. Daren Smith found the Butte soldier was acting “normal” at his forward operation base in Iraq on the evening of Dec. 13, 2007.
So it came as a surprise to his peers when the 19-year-old entered the latrine that evening, locked the door to his stall, turned his M-4 rifle toward his head, and pulled the trigger.
Smith's death, the second known suicide of a Montana soldier over the past five years, added to the Army's growing list of men and women who are taking their lives at a rate not seen in at least 30 years.
Suicides in the Army jumped to a record high in 2008, growing for the fourth straight year. January saw an additional 24 suicides, marking an ominous start to 2009.
Hoping to get a handle on the wave of self-inflicted deaths, Army leaders have ordered a 30-day “safety stand-down,” giving commanders a chance to educate soldiers on suicide behavior and early intervention.
The Montana Army and Air National Guard will also participate in the stand-down, which went into effect on Sunday.
“We can't afford to lose one soldier or airman in the Montana National Guard to suicide,” said Brig. Gen. John Walsh, adjutant general of the state Guard. “We're making this training our priority during the next 150 days.”
Maj. Tim Crowe, public relations officer for the Montana Guard, said state commanders will oversee the training. Soldiers and airmen across the state will spend their drill weekends in March receiving suicide prevention and recognition classes.
The latest effort continues the Guard's own drive to raise awareness on the topic of suicide. Montana's military made suicide prevention a priority after one of its own soldiers, Chris Dana, shot himself to death in 2007 after returning from Iraq.
go here for more
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2009/02/21/news/mtregional/news13.txt
Wednesday, February 18, 2009
Montana Model for Assessing Returning Vets for PTSD and TBI
Before Barack Obama became President, he met with Matt Kuntz because he heard about the great work the Montana National Guard was doing to prevent suicides and address PTSD. President Obama gave me the most hope I've ever had the PTSD will be taken seriously, finally, and that the DOD and the VA will be given what they need to address it. Readers of this blog know this is one of the biggest reasons I supported him and still do.
We talk a lot about the death count when wars are going on but we hardly mention the true tally when they come home wounded by what they went through. So far, no other president has taken any of this untold price paid seriously enough. Had any of them been as involved in PTSD, there would be very few suicides of veterans, no veteran being discharged under Personality Disorder or other misdiagnoses, no veteran turned away when they seek help and total public awareness of what PTSD is. PTSD is a killer and it is time it was treated like the enemy instead of the men and women it wounds.
We talk a lot about the death count when wars are going on but we hardly mention the true tally when they come home wounded by what they went through. So far, no other president has taken any of this untold price paid seriously enough. Had any of them been as involved in PTSD, there would be very few suicides of veterans, no veteran being discharged under Personality Disorder or other misdiagnoses, no veteran turned away when they seek help and total public awareness of what PTSD is. PTSD is a killer and it is time it was treated like the enemy instead of the men and women it wounds.
Barack Talks to Vets in Billings
By Zach in Helena - Aug 28th, 2008 at 1:52 pm EDT
Senator Obama spoke to a group of veterans and military families yesterday at Riverfront Park in Billings. He spoke at length on the failures of the current administration to take care of the nation’s veterans, before taking questions from the audience on a variety of issues. You can watch his remarks about veterans, energy, and the VA system here.
What's going on right now, the simple fact is we're not doing right by our veterans. Not here in Montana, and not anywhere in the United States, and I want you to know that one of the reasons I'm running for president of the United States is because I want to make sure that today's veterans are treated like my grandfather was, when he came home, he got the GI Bill and was able to go to college and got FHA loans to go to school and was treated with honor. As President I'm going to make sure that the VA system in Montana gets the oversight, direction, and resources it needs to do the job. [Watch the video]
Before he spoke, Senator Obama talked privately with the family of Spc. Chris Dana, a Montana National Guard veteran who suffered from Posttraumatic stress disorder and committed suicide in 2007, shortly after returning from Iraq. His stepbrother, Matt Kuntz, has became an advocate for better treatment of PTSD.
Montana Model for Assessing Returning Vets for PTSD and TBI
Wednesday 18 February 2009
by: Eric Newhouse, t r u t h o u t Perspective
Montana is becoming a model state for assessing its returning combat vets for PTSD and TBI.
Following the suicide two years ago of a recently deployed combat vet, Montana has become a model for accessing and assisting veterans who show symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). While the plan doesn't go nearly far enough, it's one that I understand the Obama administration is seriously considering for nationwide implementation - and it would be an excellent first step.
Montana's reforms started after Chris Dana, a specialist with the 163rd Infantry of the Montana National Guard, returned from combat, began isolating himself from family and friends, and quit attending Guard drills. His commanders told him to get his act together or they'd run him out of the Guard. Dana received a less-than-honorable discharge a few months later and put a bullet through his brain on March 4, 2007. That occurred as I was flying to New York City to help judge the Pulitzer Prizes at Columbia University; after I got back to Montana, I've covered this story ever since.
In a highly patriotic state - Montana has the second-highest ratio of vets in its population, trailing only Alaska - Dana's suicide was an outrage. His stepbrother Matt Kuntz, a former Army officer and attorney in Helena, stirred the pot with angry guest editorials in Montana's newspapers.
"I may sound pretty damn angry and bitter, and I am," Kuntz told me at the time. "We should have fixed this before. And the clock is ticking. If you think there aren't people out there right now staring at their guns, you're wrong."
Stung by the public reaction, Gov. Brian Schweitzer and Adjutant General Randy Mosley convened a panel, solicited suggestions for reform, and adopted them all within about 15 months. Many of the reforms broke new ground within the National Guard Bureau because they set a new standard. They also cost more money to implement.
Probably most important was that soldiers returning from deployment receive a mental health assessment every six months for the first two years after their return. Counselors probe for signs of stress, including anxieties, sleep disorders, family problems and excessive alcohol use. It's a mandatory requirement, so it reduces the stigma of a soldier reaching out for help with an emotional disorder. And it recognizes that many soldiers don't begin to experience the symptoms of PTSD or TBI until they've been home for six months to a year.
Second was the creation of crisis response teams made up of unit officers, NCOs, personnel officers and a chaplain. When a soldier quits coming to drill, they're activated to find out why and provide help. They can also respond to concerns voiced by family members of other soldiers.
In addition to that, TriWest Healthcare has provided the funding to station counselors with the Army National Guard and the Air National Guard during their drill weekends. They're on hand to talk with personnel and observe. The theory is that soldiers feel more comfortable talking with counselors in a less formal setting, and it seems to be working because TriWest has recently renewed its one-year pilot program.
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Monday, December 1, 2008
The death of Chris Dana changed Montana National Guard
From NamGuardianAngel.com
List of Names Gone Too Soon
While I posted on PTSD on my blog (link above) and on my newer blog Wounded Times Blog, I try to spotlight what comes after this kind of tragedy. Families step up and go to Washington to offer testimony to congress. Regular people decide to start programs, groups and foundations to try to keep other families from experiencing what they had to live thru.
I was doing research for the video on suicides, Death Because They Served, when I found some pretty remarkable stories. Regular people suffering after the tragedy of a suicide death usually causes people to become more introverted. There are others willing to do whatever it takes to try to stop it from happening to others. In the next series of posts, I want to spotlight some of these great stories of what came after the loss of some amazing warriors.
The life of Chris Dana from the Montana National Guard is one of those stories because of what came after his life ended.
When you read about the backlog of VA claims, you may not stop and think about what waiting is doing to the veteran and their family. It's not just about the financial compensation they need to pay their bills because they can no longer work. It's about justice. On one hand the VA doctors and DOD doctors will tell them it's PTSD but the administration end of the VA tells them to prove it beyond a doubt then wait to have the decision made on their case. This brings either an approval or a denial. They have to fight a denial feeling as if they just received a knife in their backs. The VA says that legitimate claims are honored, which is true, but what they don't say is how claims can be turned down because the paperwork is not filled out right or they don't have all the paperwork they need.
In Chris Dana's case, he was one of the over 20,000 discharged under "less than honorable" when it was PTSD that was causing the problems. I would still love to know who is looking at all of those discharges to find out what happened to them or at least to find out if they have PTSD or not.
The following was posted on my blog but I cannot give the link to the Great Falls Tribune. The link must have moved and I cannot find it.
This is what I wrote on my blog about this program.
This is what came after because Chris Dana's life meant something to the family and to the National Guard enough that they said there needed to be more done to hit PTSD head on.
Spc. Chris Dana's story told to Obama by step brother
Stepbrother tells guardsman's story to Obama Helena soldier took his own life after tour of duty in IraqBy LAURA TODEOf The Gazette StaffMontana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona.
Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter.
The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq.
"He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide.
"Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.Besides the additional screenings, the Montana National Guard has developed crisis response teams that include a chaplain to investigate behavioral problems among its troops, and TriWest Healthcare pays to have four part-time counselors on hand to talk with soldiers and airmen during weekend drills.
After the briefing, Obama spent about 20 minutes telling several hundred veterans and their families that, if elected as president, he will be committed to meeting their needs.
Obama win also means PTSD work gets new hero
This is one of the biggest reasons I am so delighted that Senator Obama will be President Obama. In August, he visited the Montana National Guard because he heard about the great work they were doing on PTSD. He was so impressed that he promised to take their program nationally.Up until now, PTSD has only recently become a hot topic. President Bush surrounded himself with people who either had no clue what PTSD was or denied it was real. This prevented years of research not being done and programs that could have been created sooner, to not even be dreamt of. Thousands of our veterans and troops, guardsmen and reservists died as a result, not by enemy hands but because of the enemy within them.
Military families and veteran families have a new hero coming to fight for them and I'm sure when you get to know exactly how much he does care, plans to act, you will feel the same way too. He's been on the Veterans Affairs Committee and has paid attention to all that is going on.
List of Names Gone Too Soon
While I posted on PTSD on my blog (link above) and on my newer blog Wounded Times Blog, I try to spotlight what comes after this kind of tragedy. Families step up and go to Washington to offer testimony to congress. Regular people decide to start programs, groups and foundations to try to keep other families from experiencing what they had to live thru.
I was doing research for the video on suicides, Death Because They Served, when I found some pretty remarkable stories. Regular people suffering after the tragedy of a suicide death usually causes people to become more introverted. There are others willing to do whatever it takes to try to stop it from happening to others. In the next series of posts, I want to spotlight some of these great stories of what came after the loss of some amazing warriors.
The life of Chris Dana from the Montana National Guard is one of those stories because of what came after his life ended.
CHRIS DANA 23 MONTANA GUNSHOT FORT HARRISON - 3/4/2007
It took several months of pushing, but finally, Chris Dana was ready.
The 23-year-old veteran of the Iraq war, who served with the 163rd Infantry Battalion, Montana National Guard, agreed to see a counselor for post-combat stress.
Members of his family, concerned for months about his change in behavior, believed they were starting to get through to him. Their son and brother promised to seek the help they all knew he so desperately needed.Then Dana canceled the appointment. He began screening his calls. He stopped showing up at drill with the National Guard.
He quit his job at Target, cleaned his car and the trailer he shared with a friend. And then, on March 4, he shut himself into his bedroom, put a blanket over his head, and shot himself.
Chris Dana
When you read about the backlog of VA claims, you may not stop and think about what waiting is doing to the veteran and their family. It's not just about the financial compensation they need to pay their bills because they can no longer work. It's about justice. On one hand the VA doctors and DOD doctors will tell them it's PTSD but the administration end of the VA tells them to prove it beyond a doubt then wait to have the decision made on their case. This brings either an approval or a denial. They have to fight a denial feeling as if they just received a knife in their backs. The VA says that legitimate claims are honored, which is true, but what they don't say is how claims can be turned down because the paperwork is not filled out right or they don't have all the paperwork they need.
Suicide shocks Montana into assessing vets' care
Chris Adams
December 28, 2007 1:25 PM
McClatchy Newspapers
(MCT)
HELENA, Mont. - Chris Dana came home from the war in Iraq in 2005 and slipped into a mental abyss so quietly that neither his family nor the Montana Army National Guard noticed.
He returned to his former life: a job at a Target store, nights in a trailer across the road from his father's house.
When he started to isolate himself, missing family events and football games, his father urged him to get counseling. When the National Guard called his father to say that he'd missed weekend duty, Gary Dana pushed his son to get in touch with his unit.
''I can't go back. I can't do it,'' Chris Dana responded.
Things went downhill from there. He blew though all his money, and last March 4, he shot himself in the head with a .22-caliber rifle. He was 23 years old.
As Gary Dana was collecting his dead son's belongings, he found a letter indicating that the National Guard was discharging his son under what are known as other-than-honorable conditions. The move was due to his skipping drills, which his family said was brought on by the mental strain of his service in Iraq.
The letter was in the trash, near a Wal-Mart receipt for .22-caliber rifle shells.
All across America, veterans such as Chris Dana are slipping through the cracks, left to languish by their military units and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
The VA's ability to provide adequate care for veterans with mental ailments has come under increasing scrutiny, and the agency says it's scrambling to boost its resources to help treat post-traumatic stress disorder, prevent suicides and help veterans cope. It's added more mental health counselors and started more suicide-prevention programs.
But the experience in Montana, which by some measures does more than any other state to support America's wars, shows how far the military and the VA have to go.
''The federal government does a remarkable job of converting a citizen to a warrior,'' said Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer, a Democrat. ''I think they have an equal responsibility converting a warrior back to a citizen.''
''I can't imagine that it's only Montana that's experiencing this,'' Schweitzer added. ''Our men and women are part of this country, and we have common experiences.
It's not as though the water we drink and the air we breathe in Montana make our experience completely different than everywhere else.''
McClatchy Newspapers analyzed a host of VA databases and records, and found that mental health treatment across the country remains wildly uneven. While mentally ill veterans in some parts of the country are well tended, those in other places - especially Montana - are falling by the wayside.
The data and records, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, included all 3 million VA disability claims in the nation and 77 million medical appointments in the agency's health system in fiscal 2006.
At a U.S. Senate committee hearing last summer in Great Falls, Mont., a top VA official touted the success of the department's mental-health operations in the region that includes Montana. But the agency's records indicate that it ranks below most other regions in measures of access and success.
In fact, Montana veterans trail far behind their peers around the country on the two main VA functions:-By several measures, the agency provides less specialized mental-health care in Montana than it does in most other states. Veterans seeking to enter the mental health system at Montana's only VA hospital had longer waits and received fewer visits than veterans did at almost any other VA hospital in the country.
-Recent veterans in Montana with mental ailments receive far lower payments, on average, from the VA disability system than veterans in almost any other state do.
Adam Olivas, from the central Montana town of Laurel, had his post-traumatic stress disorder payment cut this month.
Olivas had been regular Army, and had come home from Iraq with a Purple Heart, shrapnel in his left side, ringing in his ears, back problems and the nightmares, hair-trigger responses and survivor's guilt that are hallmarks of PTSD.
Since Olivas left the military, his life has been a blur of sleepless nights, drowsy days, nightmares, flashbacks, constant fatigue, spotty memory, counseling sessions and medication. He goes to work, goes home and rarely sees other people.
''I married Adam right before he went to basic training,'' said his wife, Shannon. ''The only reason I am married to this man is because I know who he was before he went to Iraq.''
His PTSD was rated a 50 in the VA's complicated system, and with his other injuries he was entitled to a monthly disability check for $1,567. Earlier this year, however, the Montana VA benefits office sent Olivas a letter proposing to drop his PTSD rating from 50 to 30. It would cost him $2,600 a year.
PTSD is rated at zero, 10, 30, 50, 70 or 100, and the VA office in Montana, the McClatchy analysis found, is less likely to rate recent war veterans 50 or above than any other office is. The McClatchy analysis zeroed in on veterans who've left military service recently and most likely had combat experience in Iraq or Afghanistan.
The lower rating was a slap in the face, to both Adam and Shannon Olivas, who said that the last four years had been ''absolutely horrific.''
Adam Olivas, who works in hospital security, and his wife, a schoolteacher, drove three hours to Helena to appeal the decision, assisted by experts from two veterans groups. A representative from the American Legion said that Olivas' PTSD rating probably should go up, not down.
But the Montana VA office said that Olivas' symptoms weren't severe enough to warrant a 50, and that he'd gotten it only because of a quirk in the rating rules.
The Montana office dropped the rating after it was allowed to do so.
Olivas doesn't know how he'll handle the cut in income.
''I can't afford to pay for the gas to go to all these meetings and counselings and all this stuff,'' he said. ''Which probably isn't going to be the best thing for me.''
More than 2,500 members of the Montana Air National Guard and Montana Army National Guard are among the 10,000 men and women from the state who've served in Iraq and Afghanistan or elsewhere in the war on terrorism, according to Department of Defense numbers.
''When they were called to active duty, they were running a business, driving a truck, working at a mill, teaching school,'' Gov. Schweitzer said. ''When they returned from being a soldier, they didn't go back to a military base. . . . They don't have people they can talk to. They are 300 miles away from their detachment, and everybody where they work didn't experience what they've gone through.
''In fact, nobody where they work experienced what they've gone through. Their family doesn't understand it well.''
Montana has more veterans per capita than any other state, and they return from war to a vast expanse with few hospitals and miles between the ones that do exist. The VA has only one hospital in the state.
Chris Dana's suicide roiled Montana, which set up a task force to determine how a Guardsman had slipped through the cracks. It concluded that the Montana National Guard was following the national standard program, designed by the Department of Defense, to catch mental health issues as soldiers return from war.
But the task force also found that the national program is ''deficient'' because it doesn't provide the vision or the resources necessary to pinpoint veterans' mental heath problems.
Among other things, the task force said, the standard demobilization process is ''ineffective for identifying mental health issues,'' and coming-home briefings include such a blizzard of paperwork that things get lost in the shuffle. It noted that veterans are reluctant to disclose their mental health problems and that counseling is lacking and uncoordinated in many parts of the state.
Guard members themselves - more than 40 percent in a survey the task force conducted - said they didn't think that they were getting sufficient information about the health benefits and services available to them.
The Montana Guard is working to beef up its demobilization process significantly, hoping to keep better tabs on its soldiers as they return to their small towns and their businesses, farms, schools and families.
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(c) 2007, McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
In Chris Dana's case, he was one of the over 20,000 discharged under "less than honorable" when it was PTSD that was causing the problems. I would still love to know who is looking at all of those discharges to find out what happened to them or at least to find out if they have PTSD or not.
The following was posted on my blog but I cannot give the link to the Great Falls Tribune. The link must have moved and I cannot find it.
Montana Guard confronts post-combat stress head-on in wake of suicide
Great Falls Tribune
By ERIC NEWHOUSE
Tribune Projects Editor
HELENA — Montana's National Guard is becoming a model of how to help service members adjust to post-combat stress.
"Montana has gone beyond the level of other states in the country, and I applaud that," said Capt. Joan Hunter, a U.S. Public Service officer who was recently designated the director of psychological health for the National Guard Bureau in Washington, D.C.
"They saw an emergency need, studied the problems and make some significant improvements," Hunter said Friday.
State Adjutant General Randy Mosley said that the effort stems from a former Montana soldier who didn't get the help he needed and who killed himself a year ago.
"We want to make sure we're doing everything we can to help our people and their families pick up the pieces for the problems that may have begun during their deployment in Iraq," Mosley said last week.
"The Guard has done an unbelievable job in changing," said Matt Kuntz, a Helena attorney and stepbrother of the late Spc. Chris Dana, who killed himself March 4, 2007. At the time, Dana was having trouble handling weekend drills after returning from combat in Iraq. He was given a less-than-honorable discharge and then shot himself a few days later.
"It takes a lot for a big organization that does a lot of things right to look for what they did wrong and address those flaws," Kuntz said. "I'm really impressed with what they've done."
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Montana National Guard, Picking Up The Pieces
Picking up the Pieces (PDHRA)
This is the link to the video the Montana National Guard is showing. I've been posting about it for a couple of days now and it is very important that it not only be seen, but duplicated across the country.
Guard stresses PTSD symptoms at meetings
By ERIC NEWHOUSE
Tribune Projects Editor
May 21, 2008
LEWISTOWN — Montana's National Guard expanded its PTSD outreach efforts this week, hosting a series of 20 public meetings in armories across the state.
As part of its effort to familiarize the public — and veterans in particular — with post-traumatic stress disorder, it played a video produced at Fort Harrison entitled "Picking Up the Pieces."
That had Tiffany Kolar wiping her eyes."It raised a lot of questions for me," Kolar said after Monday night's meeting. "I have a brother who served with the Idaho National Guard and who later committed suicide. Now I'm learning a lot about what must have been happening."Kolar's husband is currently serving his second tour of duty in Iraq, and she and her mother-in-law need to understand the danger signs, she said.
"There were some things we didn't recognize the last time he came home, so we want to be better informed this time," said Darlene Kolar, his mother.Only a handful of people showed up for the meeting here, but the Guard's personnel officer, Col. Jeff Ireland, said he was happy for any attention."If these meeting are able to help even one person, for all the time and effort we've expended, it's been worth it," Ireland said.
The Guard has sent out personal invitations and videos to 2,000 behavioral health care specialists in Montana, as well as to all the veterans' organizations, he said. Next on the list is a mass mailing to all ministers and religious leaders in the state, he added.The meetings are the result of the suicide of Spec. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself in March 2007 after returning from combat with the 163rd Infantry. He was not able to handle weekend guard drills, and was given a less-than-honorable discharge as a result.As a direct result, Ireland said, Montana is now providing longer mental health assessments after return from combat, strengthening its family support units, creating crisis readiness teams to investigate abnormal behavior, requiring a personal investigation by the adjutant general before any soldier is discharged less than honorably, and producing and promoting its own video.
This is what I wrote on my blog about this program.
The video interviews hit all the points. Getting the clergy involved, how it hits the members of the family trying to understand and be supportive, what goes on inside of the veteran, how it's not their fault. The beginning of the video, I have to say I was no impressed. The graphics moved too fast and blurred when on full screen but as soon as the interviews began, I knew they hit the mark. Get passed the beginning and pay attention to the value in the interviews. It's a shame more people did not attend this.
This is what came after because Chris Dana's life meant something to the family and to the National Guard enough that they said there needed to be more done to hit PTSD head on.
Spc. Chris Dana's story told to Obama by step brother
Stepbrother tells guardsman's story to Obama Helena soldier took his own life after tour of duty in IraqBy LAURA TODEOf The Gazette StaffMontana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona.
Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter.
The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq.
"He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide.
"Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.Besides the additional screenings, the Montana National Guard has developed crisis response teams that include a chaplain to investigate behavioral problems among its troops, and TriWest Healthcare pays to have four part-time counselors on hand to talk with soldiers and airmen during weekend drills.
After the briefing, Obama spent about 20 minutes telling several hundred veterans and their families that, if elected as president, he will be committed to meeting their needs.
Obama win also means PTSD work gets new hero
This is one of the biggest reasons I am so delighted that Senator Obama will be President Obama. In August, he visited the Montana National Guard because he heard about the great work they were doing on PTSD. He was so impressed that he promised to take their program nationally.Up until now, PTSD has only recently become a hot topic. President Bush surrounded himself with people who either had no clue what PTSD was or denied it was real. This prevented years of research not being done and programs that could have been created sooner, to not even be dreamt of. Thousands of our veterans and troops, guardsmen and reservists died as a result, not by enemy hands but because of the enemy within them.
Military families and veteran families have a new hero coming to fight for them and I'm sure when you get to know exactly how much he does care, plans to act, you will feel the same way too. He's been on the Veterans Affairs Committee and has paid attention to all that is going on.
Thursday, November 27, 2008
Thankful for the Montana National Guard and Major General Randy Mosley
I am thankful for President Elect Obama going to meet with Matt Kuntz and see the outstanding work being done there to help the Guardsmen with PTSD. Major General Mosley is also a hero in my book. Because of the suicide of Chris Dana, they are moving mountains out of the way and came up with their own program. Here are just a few of the stories on the work being done. Click the links if you want to read more.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq."He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Matt Kuntz of Montana NAMI took up PTSD cause after death of stepbrother
Fighting for proper care - State NAMI head took up cause after losing stepbrother to PTSD, suicideBy MARTIN J. KIDSTON of the Helena Independent RecordHELENA - As a child, Matt Kuntz lost a friend to an eating disorder. When he entered Capital High School as a teen, he lost classmates to suicide.Mental illness had always been there; it was always something he'd seen. But it wasn't an issue Kuntz stopped to consider for very long.Then last spring, he watched helplessly as his stepbrother, Chris Dana, lost a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and ended his life in suicide. That, Kuntz said, changed everything.More than 17 months into his unplanned but energetic campaign to improve mental health care in Montana, Kuntz is working to change the way mental illness is perceived by the public.
Spc. Chris Dana's story told to Obama by step brother
Stepbrother tells guardsman's story to Obama Helena soldier took his own life after tour of duty in IraqBy LAURA TODEOf The Gazette StaffMontana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona. click post title for more
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Montana National Guard Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley moving mountains
I think I have a crush on Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley of the Montana National Guard. I love to post about what he is doing on PTSD. Spc. Chris Dana's suicide caused massive changes instead of just talking about "doing something" and much of it is owed to Mosley. I think above all, the frustration that comes with the fact taking care of the troops and the citizen soldiers should have been a guarantee. With some of the best minds in this country when it comes to waging war, you'd think they'd be able to put that kind of brain power behind taking care of the wounded caused by war, but they didn't think of any of this. The warriors are the ones who have been paying for it simply because they survived. I know I've been proven wrong before when I found hope in what some commanders have said they would do only to find they have done nothing more than talk about it but this time, Mosley has earned it already.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Montana National Guard, Picking Up The Pieces
Picking up the Pieces (PDHRA)
This is the link to the video the Montana National Guard is showing. I've been posting about it for a couple of days now and it is very important that it not only be seen, but duplicated across the country.
Guard stresses PTSD symptoms at meetingsBy ERIC NEWHOUSE • Tribune Projects Editor • May 21, 2008
LEWISTOWN — Montana's National Guard expanded its PTSD outreach efforts this week, hosting a series of 20 public meetings in armories across the state.As part of its effort to familiarize the public — and veterans in particular — with post-traumatic stress disorder, it played a video produced at Fort Harrison entitled "Picking Up the Pieces." That had Tiffany Kolar wiping her eyes."It raised a lot of questions for me," Kolar said after Monday night's meeting. "I have a brother who served with the Idaho National Guard and who later committed suicide. Now I'm learning a lot about what must have been happening."
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq."He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Matt Kuntz of Montana NAMI took up PTSD cause after death of stepbrother
Fighting for proper care - State NAMI head took up cause after losing stepbrother to PTSD, suicideBy MARTIN J. KIDSTON of the Helena Independent RecordHELENA - As a child, Matt Kuntz lost a friend to an eating disorder. When he entered Capital High School as a teen, he lost classmates to suicide.Mental illness had always been there; it was always something he'd seen. But it wasn't an issue Kuntz stopped to consider for very long.Then last spring, he watched helplessly as his stepbrother, Chris Dana, lost a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and ended his life in suicide. That, Kuntz said, changed everything.More than 17 months into his unplanned but energetic campaign to improve mental health care in Montana, Kuntz is working to change the way mental illness is perceived by the public.
Spc. Chris Dana's story told to Obama by step brother
Stepbrother tells guardsman's story to Obama Helena soldier took his own life after tour of duty in IraqBy LAURA TODEOf The Gazette StaffMontana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona. click post title for more
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Montana National Guard Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley moving mountains
I think I have a crush on Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley of the Montana National Guard. I love to post about what he is doing on PTSD. Spc. Chris Dana's suicide caused massive changes instead of just talking about "doing something" and much of it is owed to Mosley. I think above all, the frustration that comes with the fact taking care of the troops and the citizen soldiers should have been a guarantee. With some of the best minds in this country when it comes to waging war, you'd think they'd be able to put that kind of brain power behind taking care of the wounded caused by war, but they didn't think of any of this. The warriors are the ones who have been paying for it simply because they survived. I know I've been proven wrong before when I found hope in what some commanders have said they would do only to find they have done nothing more than talk about it but this time, Mosley has earned it already.
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Montana National Guard, Picking Up The Pieces
Picking up the Pieces (PDHRA)
This is the link to the video the Montana National Guard is showing. I've been posting about it for a couple of days now and it is very important that it not only be seen, but duplicated across the country.
Guard stresses PTSD symptoms at meetingsBy ERIC NEWHOUSE • Tribune Projects Editor • May 21, 2008
LEWISTOWN — Montana's National Guard expanded its PTSD outreach efforts this week, hosting a series of 20 public meetings in armories across the state.As part of its effort to familiarize the public — and veterans in particular — with post-traumatic stress disorder, it played a video produced at Fort Harrison entitled "Picking Up the Pieces." That had Tiffany Kolar wiping her eyes."It raised a lot of questions for me," Kolar said after Monday night's meeting. "I have a brother who served with the Idaho National Guard and who later committed suicide. Now I'm learning a lot about what must have been happening."
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Obama win also means PTSD work gets new hero
This is one of the biggest reasons I am so delighted that Senator Obama will be President Obama. In August, he visited the Montana National Guard because he heard about the great work they were doing on PTSD. He was so impressed that he promised to take their program nationally.
Up until now, PTSD has only recently become a hot topic. President Bush surrounded himself with people who either had no clue what PTSD was or denied it was real. This prevented years of research not being done and programs that could have been created sooner, to not even be dreamt of. Thousands of our veterans and troops, guardsmen and reservists died as a result, not by enemy hands but because of the enemy within them.
Military families and veteran families have a new hero coming to fight for them and I'm sure when you get to know exactly how much he does care, plans to act, you will feel the same way too. He's been on the Veterans Affairs Committee and has paid attention to all that is going on
Up until now, PTSD has only recently become a hot topic. President Bush surrounded himself with people who either had no clue what PTSD was or denied it was real. This prevented years of research not being done and programs that could have been created sooner, to not even be dreamt of. Thousands of our veterans and troops, guardsmen and reservists died as a result, not by enemy hands but because of the enemy within them.
Military families and veteran families have a new hero coming to fight for them and I'm sure when you get to know exactly how much he does care, plans to act, you will feel the same way too. He's been on the Veterans Affairs Committee and has paid attention to all that is going on
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008
August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq."He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.
Besides the additional screenings, the Montana National Guard has developed crisis response teams that include a chaplain to investigate behavioral problems among its troops, and TriWest Healthcare pays to have four part-time counselors on hand to talk with soldiers and airmen during weekend drills.After the briefing, Obama spent about 20 minutes telling several hundred veterans and their families that, if elected as president, he will be committed to meeting their needs.
go here for morehttp://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11028
Monday, October 6, 2008
Matt Kuntz of Montana NAMI took up PTSD cause after death of stepbrother
Fighting for proper care - State NAMI head took up cause after losing stepbrother to PTSD, suicide
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON of the Helena Independent Record
HELENA - As a child, Matt Kuntz lost a friend to an eating disorder. When he entered Capital High School as a teen, he lost classmates to suicide.
Mental illness had always been there; it was always something he'd seen. But it wasn't an issue Kuntz stopped to consider for very long.
Then last spring, he watched helplessly as his stepbrother, Chris Dana, lost a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and ended his life in suicide. That, Kuntz said, changed everything.
More than 17 months into his unplanned but energetic campaign to improve mental health care in Montana, Kuntz is working to change the way mental illness is perceived by the public.
“We've got an opportunity right now to help develop a system that takes better care of Montana's mentally ill,” he said recently at a downtown Helena cafe. “I think there are a lot of challenges that need to be met. But people are working hard. There's no doubt about that.”
The former Army infantry officer who became a lawyer but quit his practice to serve as executive director of the Montana chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness admits his road has been a strange one.
He adds that his new position with NAMI wasn't something he saw coming. Yet the timing was right and change was needed, and since last March, change is what he's been fighting to achieve.
Kuntz praised the system implemented by the Montana National Guard this summer in response to Dana's death. In less than two years, the Guard revamped its entire post-combat environment and adjusted the way it works with soldiers returning from deployment.
That effort began in March 2007, when Dana shot himself after returning home with the Montana National Guard from Iraq.
In the day's following his death, Kuntz began pushing for change within the service. He met with the press, wrote several op-ed pieces for newspapers, called the governor's office and stayed abreast of the progress.
“The night before I wrote my first letter, I felt really sad and defeated,” Kuntz said. “I didn't want Chris to die in vain, and I didn't want to read about other people in the paper. I just hoped the people would respond.”
During a Memorial Day celebration at Fort Harrison last summer, a service member approached Kuntz and told him not to worry - told him the problems would be fixed. It was then, he knew, that things would finally begin to change.
go here for more
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/10/06/news/local/news05.txt
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON of the Helena Independent Record
HELENA - As a child, Matt Kuntz lost a friend to an eating disorder. When he entered Capital High School as a teen, he lost classmates to suicide.
Mental illness had always been there; it was always something he'd seen. But it wasn't an issue Kuntz stopped to consider for very long.
Then last spring, he watched helplessly as his stepbrother, Chris Dana, lost a battle with post-traumatic stress disorder and ended his life in suicide. That, Kuntz said, changed everything.
More than 17 months into his unplanned but energetic campaign to improve mental health care in Montana, Kuntz is working to change the way mental illness is perceived by the public.
“We've got an opportunity right now to help develop a system that takes better care of Montana's mentally ill,” he said recently at a downtown Helena cafe. “I think there are a lot of challenges that need to be met. But people are working hard. There's no doubt about that.”
The former Army infantry officer who became a lawyer but quit his practice to serve as executive director of the Montana chapter of the National Alliance on Mental Illness admits his road has been a strange one.
He adds that his new position with NAMI wasn't something he saw coming. Yet the timing was right and change was needed, and since last March, change is what he's been fighting to achieve.
Kuntz praised the system implemented by the Montana National Guard this summer in response to Dana's death. In less than two years, the Guard revamped its entire post-combat environment and adjusted the way it works with soldiers returning from deployment.
That effort began in March 2007, when Dana shot himself after returning home with the Montana National Guard from Iraq.
In the day's following his death, Kuntz began pushing for change within the service. He met with the press, wrote several op-ed pieces for newspapers, called the governor's office and stayed abreast of the progress.
“The night before I wrote my first letter, I felt really sad and defeated,” Kuntz said. “I didn't want Chris to die in vain, and I didn't want to read about other people in the paper. I just hoped the people would respond.”
During a Memorial Day celebration at Fort Harrison last summer, a service member approached Kuntz and told him not to worry - told him the problems would be fixed. It was then, he knew, that things would finally begin to change.
go here for more
http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2008/10/06/news/local/news05.txt
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Obama talks about Montana National Guard at Columbia University
Columbia University Presidential Forum
LIVE VIDEO: Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain make a joint appearance at Columbia University to discuss civic engagement in the post 9/11 world.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/22886841#22886841
At about half way through Senator Obama's question and answer session, he brings up the Montana National Guard and their PTSD program. I know I must be boring some readers with this but it is one of the best programs in the country.
Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD ProgramEric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq.
"He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.
click above for more
I've done a lot of posts on the Montana National Guards program.
http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/search?q=Montana+National+Guard
The other point Senator Obama made, aside from how good this program is, is that Chris Dana's brother gave up his career to take on the cause of PTSD suicides and do something about it. Obama said that he never asked Matt if he was a Democrat or a Republican and he didn't care. All he cared about was that there was a need and Matt stepped up to fill that need.
Now, wouldn't it be great if we all managed to do that?
I am very grateful to Obama for going to Montana to talk to the family of Chris Dana and find out what kind of great work can be done. I was really excited when I read about this knowing that his attention would lead to national attention on this. Now, with this national spotlight on him tonight on MSNBC, I'm sure there will be.
Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington
Army seeks help of AF, civilians on suicides
Army seeks help of Air Force, civilians on suicides?
A good place to start is to
GET RID OF BATTLEMIND! It does not work! How much longer do they need to see the suicide and attempted suicide rate go up instead of down to figure out it does not work. This is not a matter of "it's better than nothing" because evidence shows it's worse than nothing.
I posted how a few days ago I was at the VA hospital with my husband and met a couple of Marines back from Iraq. I had a lengthy conversation with one of them who was having a very hard time. I had on my chaplain shirt, so it was obvious to him he could talk to me freely. He apologized for crying. He said Marines are trained to be tough and strong. Battlemind enforces this ideology that any emotion was bad. They need to stop using this program. They need to do what has been working. Videos like mine help just as a lot of others on the net have been working. They are saving lives. The Montana National Guard has a program that is working.
I've done 15 posts on the Montana National Guard stepping up.
http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/search?q=Montana+National+Guard
Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley is a hero in all of this so much so that Senator Obama went there to find out more about the program and Chris Dana. Chris Dana's death started the program they have been doing. His life and suicide touched the commanders so much they knew they had to do something above what was being done and not working. They began Picking Up the Pieces.
If the DOD and the VA are serious about finding out what works, they need to talk to the people on the front lines of this to really find out and stop making the same mistakes over and over again.
Army seeks help of AF, civilians on suicides
By Dan Elliott - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday Sep 11, 2008 5:49:37 EDT
DENVER — The Army’s top medical officer says commanders are looking to their counterparts in the Air Force and in civilian agencies for ways to cope with an alarming increase in suicides.
“We work real closely with the Veterans Administration, who have for many years taken the lead in this,” Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, the Army’s surgeon general, said Wednesday in a telephone interview. “We’ve also looked across the services and at other models that have been more successful than our own.”
The Army’s suicide rate was 18.1 per 100,000 last year, the highest since the service started keeping records in 1980. It was 9.8 just five years earlier.
The U.S. civilian rate is 19.5 per 100,000.
Leading factors behind soldier suicides are troubled personal relationships; legal, financial and work problems; and repeated deployments and longer tours in Afghanistan and Iraq, the Army says.
Schoomaker said the Army has redoubled its prevention efforts and looked outside for new models, especially to the Air Force, which he said successfully encouraged support systems to reduce suicides.
The Army’s program includes removing the stigma from asking for help, encouraging soldiers to look after each other and a campaign called ACE, for Ask, Care and Escort.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/09/ap_suicides_091008/
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Obama promises to repeat Montana's National Guard PTSD work nation wide
Obama Pledges Nationwide Use of PTSD Program
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008
August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.
The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq.
"He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."
Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.
Besides the additional screenings, the Montana National Guard has developed crisis response teams that include a chaplain to investigate behavioral problems among its troops, and TriWest Healthcare pays to have four part-time counselors on hand to talk with soldiers and airmen during weekend drills.
After the briefing, Obama spent about 20 minutes telling several hundred veterans and their families that, if elected as president, he will be committed to meeting their needs.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11028
Eric Newhouse
Great Falls Tribune
Aug 28, 2008
August 28, 2008 - Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama promised Wednesday to expand Montana's pilot program to assess the mental health of combat vets nationwide, if elected.
The Montana National Guard has developed a program to check its soldiers and airmen for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder every six months for the first two years after returning from combat, then once a year thereafter. The program exceeds national standards set by the U.S. Department of Defense.
The pilot program was created in response to the suicide of former Army Spc. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself on March 4, 2007, days after being given a less-than-honorable discharge because he could no longer handle attending drills following a tour in Iraq.
"He (Obama) told me he understood why we need to have additional screenings for PTSD," said Matt Kuntz, Dana's stepbrother, who was among a small group invited to meet with Obama on Wednesday in Billings. "And he told me when he is elected president, he will implement Montana's pilot program nationwide."
Kuntz, who recently gave up his job as a lawyer in Helena to advocate for the mentally ill and their families, said he was invited to brief Obama on how Montana had become a national model for assessing the mental health of its combat vets.
Besides the additional screenings, the Montana National Guard has developed crisis response teams that include a chaplain to investigate behavioral problems among its troops, and TriWest Healthcare pays to have four part-time counselors on hand to talk with soldiers and airmen during weekend drills.
After the briefing, Obama spent about 20 minutes telling several hundred veterans and their families that, if elected as president, he will be committed to meeting their needs.
go here for more
http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/11028
In Billings, Obama blames GOP for veteran troubles
In Billings, Obama blames GOP for veteran troubles
By TOM LUTEY Billings Gazette
BILLINGS - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, speaking Wednesday in Billings, faulted Republican leaders for chronically underfunding veteran services for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I have some significant differences with McCain and George Bush about the war in Iraq,” Obama said. “But one thing I thought we'd agree to is when the troops came home, we'd treat them with the honor and respect they deserve.”
Several trends indicate veterans are not getting the health care and other benefits they need to succeed at home, Obama told a group of around 200 people during an invitation-only morning listening session in Riverfront Park.
Armed services veterans are seven times more likely to be homeless than Americans who don't serve. In Montana, roughly half the veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder go untreated for the psychological condition, Obama said.
Before speaking, the candidate met for several minutes with the family of Spec. Chris Dana, a Montana National Guard veteran suffering from PTSD who committed suicide in March 2007, several months after returning from Iraq. Dana's stepbrother, Matt Kuntz, became a vocal advocate for better treatment of PTSD after Dana's death.
Jess Bahr, a Vietnam veteran, drove more than 200 miles from Great Falls to hear Obama. Before being bused to the event with a veteran-heavy crowd, Bahr said the number of homeless U.S. veterans was inexcusable and that the needs of retired warriors across the country were being ignored by communities.
“In Great Falls, they're building a $6.5 million animal shelter and we don't have a shelter for veterans. What does that tell you about priorities?” asked Bahr, a 1967 Army draftee who survived the Tet Offensive, a nine-month series of battles that resulted in more than 6,000 deaths and 24,000 injuries among American and allied troops during the Vietnam War.
click post title for more
By TOM LUTEY Billings Gazette
BILLINGS - Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama, speaking Wednesday in Billings, faulted Republican leaders for chronically underfunding veteran services for troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I have some significant differences with McCain and George Bush about the war in Iraq,” Obama said. “But one thing I thought we'd agree to is when the troops came home, we'd treat them with the honor and respect they deserve.”
Several trends indicate veterans are not getting the health care and other benefits they need to succeed at home, Obama told a group of around 200 people during an invitation-only morning listening session in Riverfront Park.
Armed services veterans are seven times more likely to be homeless than Americans who don't serve. In Montana, roughly half the veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder go untreated for the psychological condition, Obama said.
Before speaking, the candidate met for several minutes with the family of Spec. Chris Dana, a Montana National Guard veteran suffering from PTSD who committed suicide in March 2007, several months after returning from Iraq. Dana's stepbrother, Matt Kuntz, became a vocal advocate for better treatment of PTSD after Dana's death.
Jess Bahr, a Vietnam veteran, drove more than 200 miles from Great Falls to hear Obama. Before being bused to the event with a veteran-heavy crowd, Bahr said the number of homeless U.S. veterans was inexcusable and that the needs of retired warriors across the country were being ignored by communities.
“In Great Falls, they're building a $6.5 million animal shelter and we don't have a shelter for veterans. What does that tell you about priorities?” asked Bahr, a 1967 Army draftee who survived the Tet Offensive, a nine-month series of battles that resulted in more than 6,000 deaths and 24,000 injuries among American and allied troops during the Vietnam War.
click post title for more
Spc. Chris Dana's story told to Obama by step brother
Stepbrother tells guardsman's story to Obama
Helena soldier took his own life after tour of duty in Iraq
By LAURA TODE
Of The Gazette Staff
Montana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.
Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.
Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.
Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona.
click post title for more
Helena soldier took his own life after tour of duty in Iraq
By LAURA TODE
Of The Gazette Staff
Montana National Guard Spc. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.
Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post-traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.
Since Dana's death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post-traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans.
Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he's been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park, Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife, Sandy, and their infant daughter, Fiona.
click post title for more
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Obama meets Chris Dana's family
Family of soldier who killed himself meets with Obama
By LAURA TODE Of The Gazette Staff
Montana National Guard Spec. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.
Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.
Since Dana’s death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans. Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he’s been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife Sandy and their infant daughter Fiona.
Kuntz was heavy with emotion, but hopeful and eager to share Dana’s story, and tell the senator about his work to ensure other Montana veterans aren’t suffering from the same condition that made his step-brother take his life.
click post title for more
By LAURA TODE Of The Gazette Staff
Montana National Guard Spec. Chris Dana will never know the impact his life and ultimately his death may someday have on the lives of veterans nationwide.
Dana took his life in March 2007, less than two years after returning from a tour in Iraq. His family believes he was a victim of post traumatic stress disorder, brought on by his combat experience.
Since Dana’s death, his stepbrother Matt Kuntz has campaigned for more awareness of the costs of untreated post traumatic stress syndrome in Iraq war veterans. Wednesday, he was invited to meet with Sen. Barack Obama to share the message he’s been spreading statewide for more than a year. At a quiet picnic table at Riverfront Park Obama sat across from Kuntz, his wife Sandy and their infant daughter Fiona.
Kuntz was heavy with emotion, but hopeful and eager to share Dana’s story, and tell the senator about his work to ensure other Montana veterans aren’t suffering from the same condition that made his step-brother take his life.
click post title for more
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Montana National Guard Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley moving mountains
I think I have a crush on Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley of the Montana National Guard. I love to post about what he is doing on PTSD. Spc. Chris Dana's suicide caused massive changes instead of just talking about "doing something" and much of it is owed to Mosley.
I think above all, the frustration that comes with the fact taking care of the troops and the citizen soldiers should have been a guarantee. With some of the best minds in this country when it comes to waging war, you'd think they'd be able to put that kind of brain power behind taking care of the wounded caused by war, but they didn't think of any of this. The warriors are the ones who have been paying for it simply because they survived. I know I've been proven wrong before when I found hope in what some commanders have said they would do only to find they have done nothing more than talk about it but this time, Mosley has earned it already. kc
Guard reaches goals for addressing PTSD
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record - 08/20/08
The Montana National Guard has achieved its plan to better watch for post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers who return from war, military leaders said Tuesday.
The announcement, given at a briefing in the State Capitol, comes 18 months after the suicide of a Helena soldier prompted Gov. Brian Schweitzer to challenge Montana’s senior military leaders to scrutinize the Guard’s post-deployment atmosphere.
“We will do whatever it takes to make our soldiers whole,” Schweitzer said at Tuesday’s briefing. “I’m proud that our National Guard has taken the lead. We’re not perfect and we won’t be perfect, even after this war. But we’ll learn, we’ll modify and we will change.”
Since 2001, the Montana Guard has seen more than 245,000 service-member deployments in the war on terror.
From 2004 to 2006, as many as 1,400 state soldiers deployed to Iraq, triggering concerns back home that the Montana Guard, like much of the nation’s military, was ill-equipped to deal with the mental-health consequences of war.
Those concerns came to light in March 2007 when Spc. Chris Dana killed himself several months after returning from Iraq. The loss pressed Dana’s family to call for change, and triggered action by state and military leaders.
click post title for more
I think above all, the frustration that comes with the fact taking care of the troops and the citizen soldiers should have been a guarantee. With some of the best minds in this country when it comes to waging war, you'd think they'd be able to put that kind of brain power behind taking care of the wounded caused by war, but they didn't think of any of this. The warriors are the ones who have been paying for it simply because they survived. I know I've been proven wrong before when I found hope in what some commanders have said they would do only to find they have done nothing more than talk about it but this time, Mosley has earned it already. kc
IR photo by Martin Kidston - Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley, adjutant general of the Montana National Guard, center, briefs Gov. Brian Schweitzer, right, on the completion of 14 recommendations passed down by a special task force dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder among soldiers coming home from war. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Ireland, left, spoke about the Guard’s ability to better care for its soldiers and their families.
Guard reaches goals for addressing PTSD
By MARTIN J. KIDSTON - Independent Record - 08/20/08
The Montana National Guard has achieved its plan to better watch for post-traumatic stress disorder in soldiers who return from war, military leaders said Tuesday.
The announcement, given at a briefing in the State Capitol, comes 18 months after the suicide of a Helena soldier prompted Gov. Brian Schweitzer to challenge Montana’s senior military leaders to scrutinize the Guard’s post-deployment atmosphere.
“We will do whatever it takes to make our soldiers whole,” Schweitzer said at Tuesday’s briefing. “I’m proud that our National Guard has taken the lead. We’re not perfect and we won’t be perfect, even after this war. But we’ll learn, we’ll modify and we will change.”
Since 2001, the Montana Guard has seen more than 245,000 service-member deployments in the war on terror.
From 2004 to 2006, as many as 1,400 state soldiers deployed to Iraq, triggering concerns back home that the Montana Guard, like much of the nation’s military, was ill-equipped to deal with the mental-health consequences of war.
Those concerns came to light in March 2007 when Spc. Chris Dana killed himself several months after returning from Iraq. The loss pressed Dana’s family to call for change, and triggered action by state and military leaders.
click post title for more
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Why Montana National Guard is taking PTSD head on
Post traumatic stress disorder claims soldiers life
Staff
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer tells the Joint Economic Committee the story of Iraqi War veteran Chris Dana who through post traumatic stress disorder shot and killed himself.
Schweitzer was on hand to testify before the committee on the high costs states like Montana are facing due to the Iraq War. (1:45)
go here to listen
http://talkradionews.com/2008/06/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-claims-soldiers-life/
And the man behind the work being done,
On Mosley's watch, Montana Guard sets the pace
May 15, 2008
Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley, Montana's adjutant general, has been on hand when nearly every Montana Guard unit leaves for or returns from Iraq or Afghanistan or stateside duties. He usually declines press interviews, saying he's there to thank the troops, not for personal publicity.
More sadly, Mosley has attended 27 funerals for Montana military members.
Those actions are appropriate, and Mosley did whatever it took to clear his schedule to attend.
He commanded the Montana Guard during its largest mobilization since World War II. Units sometimes left or returned in different cities the same day, often in wee hours of the morning.
Four-fifths of Montana Guard members have deployed for several months to a year during the nation's five years of fighting terrorism, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are civilian folks who previously pulled Guard drills one weekend a month.
Mosley, who is retiring in September, has done much for the state military.
He put Montana in the vanguard of states helping soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder.
He created a Post Deployment Health Reassessment Task Force to look at what was wrong with the system and implemented the solutions it recommended.
Mosley created crisis response teams to meet regularly with troubled soldiers, including those who abruptly stop going to drills.
He got a Pentagon grant to do mental health evaluations every six months for two years after deployments. That's vital, he said, because problems can rise slowly.
Mosley also decided not to break up combat units that had gone overseas together, realizing that keeping on-going ties among buddies helps. He pledged not to discharge any soldier without personally investigating.
"We want to make sure we're doing everything we can to help our people and their families pick up the pieces for problems that may have begun during their deployment," he said.
Mosley said his effort stems from a Montana soldier who didn't get help and killed himself.
Army Guard Spc. Chris Dana of Helena skipped weekend drills after returning from combat in Iraq. He was given an "other than honorable" discharge and then shot himself on March 4, 2007.
go here for more
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/OPINION01/805150306
See, Chris Dana died from his wound, no matter if you could see it or not. Chris Dana touched the lives of people who knew him and because of him, many lives will be saved because his life meant something and they wanted to make sure his death taught them what they needed to do to make sure others did not die of the same wound no one else could see with their own eyes. PTSD is a wound but it is a wound you have to look at with your heart.
Staff
Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer tells the Joint Economic Committee the story of Iraqi War veteran Chris Dana who through post traumatic stress disorder shot and killed himself.
Schweitzer was on hand to testify before the committee on the high costs states like Montana are facing due to the Iraq War. (1:45)
go here to listen
http://talkradionews.com/2008/06/post-traumatic-stress-disorder-claims-soldiers-life/
And the man behind the work being done,
On Mosley's watch, Montana Guard sets the pace
May 15, 2008
Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley, Montana's adjutant general, has been on hand when nearly every Montana Guard unit leaves for or returns from Iraq or Afghanistan or stateside duties. He usually declines press interviews, saying he's there to thank the troops, not for personal publicity.
More sadly, Mosley has attended 27 funerals for Montana military members.
Those actions are appropriate, and Mosley did whatever it took to clear his schedule to attend.
He commanded the Montana Guard during its largest mobilization since World War II. Units sometimes left or returned in different cities the same day, often in wee hours of the morning.
Four-fifths of Montana Guard members have deployed for several months to a year during the nation's five years of fighting terrorism, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. These are civilian folks who previously pulled Guard drills one weekend a month.
Mosley, who is retiring in September, has done much for the state military.
He put Montana in the vanguard of states helping soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder.
He created a Post Deployment Health Reassessment Task Force to look at what was wrong with the system and implemented the solutions it recommended.
Mosley created crisis response teams to meet regularly with troubled soldiers, including those who abruptly stop going to drills.
He got a Pentagon grant to do mental health evaluations every six months for two years after deployments. That's vital, he said, because problems can rise slowly.
Mosley also decided not to break up combat units that had gone overseas together, realizing that keeping on-going ties among buddies helps. He pledged not to discharge any soldier without personally investigating.
"We want to make sure we're doing everything we can to help our people and their families pick up the pieces for problems that may have begun during their deployment," he said.
Mosley said his effort stems from a Montana soldier who didn't get help and killed himself.
Army Guard Spc. Chris Dana of Helena skipped weekend drills after returning from combat in Iraq. He was given an "other than honorable" discharge and then shot himself on March 4, 2007.
go here for more
http://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080515/OPINION01/805150306
See, Chris Dana died from his wound, no matter if you could see it or not. Chris Dana touched the lives of people who knew him and because of him, many lives will be saved because his life meant something and they wanted to make sure his death taught them what they needed to do to make sure others did not die of the same wound no one else could see with their own eyes. PTSD is a wound but it is a wound you have to look at with your heart.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Vet To Vet PTSD support system formed in Bozeman
PTSD support system formed in Bozeman
Posted: June 10, 2008 09:55 PM EDT
Updated: June 10, 2008 09:55 PM EDT
Local Veterans want to get the word out about a new group here in the Gallatin Valley. The Vet to Vet PTSD group is inviting area servicemen and women to join in.
It's a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder support system that hopes to help troops recover from war experiences. Veterans share emotional support and stories that aid in recovery.
The group is sponsored by VA Montana Healthcare Systems and meets on Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. Meetings are held in room 301 of the Gallatin County Courthouse.
For more information, call (406) 794-7460.
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=8461088&nav=menu227_3
Posted: June 10, 2008 09:55 PM EDT
Updated: June 10, 2008 09:55 PM EDT
Local Veterans want to get the word out about a new group here in the Gallatin Valley. The Vet to Vet PTSD group is inviting area servicemen and women to join in.
It's a Post Traumatic Stress Disorder support system that hopes to help troops recover from war experiences. Veterans share emotional support and stories that aid in recovery.
The group is sponsored by VA Montana Healthcare Systems and meets on Tuesdays from 6 to 9 p.m. Meetings are held in room 301 of the Gallatin County Courthouse.
For more information, call (406) 794-7460.
http://www.montanasnewsstation.com/Global/story.asp?S=8461088&nav=menu227_3
Thursday, May 29, 2008
PTSD:Montana National Guard doing what needs to be done
PTSD discussed in Helena, Butte
KPAX-TV - Missoula,MT,USA
Posted: May 27, 2008 10:15 AM EDT
The Montana National Guard is taking steps to help returning and deploying soldiers and airmen deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The Guard hopes to equip citizens with the tools to reach out to friends, family members and neighbors who could be suffering from PTSD through statewide meetings.
The meetings outline symptoms of both PTSD and mild traumatic brain injuries and how to get help.
Col. Jeff Ireland: "We want to do everything we can to most importantly take care of our soldiers, our airmen and their families and if we have someone suffering from PTSD, helping them to get into a program that will help to get them better so that we can continue them as a resource for the guard and also be a productive citizen."
There were two PTSD meetings Wednesday -- one in Helena at the Armed Forces Reserve Center and the other in Butte at the National Guard Armory.
When will the rest of the country do the same?
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Montana National Guard, Picking Up The Pieces
This is the link to the video the Montana National Guard is showing. I've been posting about it for a couple of days now and it is very important that it not only be seen, but duplicated across the country.
Guard stresses PTSD symptoms at meetings
By ERIC NEWHOUSE • Tribune Projects Editor • May 21, 2008
LEWISTOWN — Montana's National Guard expanded its PTSD outreach efforts this week, hosting a series of 20 public meetings in armories across the state.
As part of its effort to familiarize the public — and veterans in particular — with post-traumatic stress disorder, it played a video produced at Fort Harrison entitled "Picking Up the Pieces." That had Tiffany Kolar wiping her eyes.
"It raised a lot of questions for me," Kolar said after Monday night's meeting. "I have a brother who served with the Idaho National Guard and who later committed suicide. Now I'm learning a lot about what must have been happening."
Kolar's husband is currently serving his second tour of duty in Iraq, and she and her mother-in-law need to understand the danger signs, she said.
"There were some things we didn't recognize the last time he came home, so we want to be better informed this time," said Darlene Kolar, his mother.
Only a handful of people showed up for the meeting here, but the Guard's personnel officer, Col. Jeff Ireland, said he was happy for any attention.
"If these meeting are able to help even one person, for all the time and effort we've expended, it's been worth it," Ireland said.
The Guard has sent out personal invitations and videos to 2,000 behavioral health care specialists in Montana, as well as to all the veterans' organizations, he said. Next on the list is a mass mailing to all ministers and religious leaders in the state, he added.
The meetings are the result of the suicide of Spec. Chris Dana of Helena, who shot himself in March 2007 after returning from combat with the 163rd Infantry. He was not able to handle weekend guard drills, and was given a less-than-honorable discharge as a result.
As a direct result, Ireland said, Montana is now providing longer mental health assessments after return from combat, strengthening its family support units, creating crisis readiness teams to investigate abnormal behavior, requiring a personal investigation by the adjutant general before any soldier is discharged less than honorably, and producing and promoting its own video. go here for morehttp://www.greatfallstribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080521/NEWS01/805210309
The video interviews hit all the points. Getting the clergy involved, how it hits the members of the family trying to understand and be supportive, what goes on inside of the veteran, how it's not their fault. The beginning of the video, I have to say I was no impressed. The graphics moved too fast and blurred when on full screen but as soon as the interviews began, I knew they hit the mark. Get passed the beginning and pay attention to the value in the interviews. It's a shame more people did not attend this.
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