Mental Health Crisis Leaves Decorated Veteran Fighting for Life

Kalispell shooting victim is decorated Army veteran who survived bomb blast
The Missoulian
VINCE DEVLIN
January 14, 2016

KALISPELL – The man who allegedly aimed a rife at two Kalispell police officers Tuesday before they shot him has been identified as a decorated Afghanistan and Iraq war veteran who suffered a traumatic brain injury in a bomb blast.

Ryan Pengelly, 30, was listed in critical condition at Kalispell Regional Medical Center, where he underwent surgery Tuesday following the incident.

The policemen had responded to a residence on Looking Glass Avenue after a report that a woman in the home had made comments that she was suicidal and homicidal, and “that her son had multiple weapons in the house and she had access to them,” according to a Kalispell Police Department news release from Chief Roger Nasset.
read more here

Montana Veteran Told TBI "Vanished" by VA Psychologist?

Why is a psychologist diagnosing TBI? PTSD and TBI are two different things!

Veterans denied benefits due to improper medical testing
EXPERTS SAY VETERANS UNFAIRLY DENIED BRAIN INJURY BENEFITS
KARE
A.J. Lagoe and Steve Eckert
Investigative Producer

"Obviously that's 9,000 opportunities for something to go wrong with a process that has some flaws in it," said Dr. Hall.

MISSOULA, Mont. - A ruling by a state medical board suggests that veterans nationwide may have been denied brain injury treatments and disability benefits because the Department of Veterans Affairs is using an improper test, according to a new investigation by KARE 11 News.

Traumatic Brain Injuries – known as TBI's – are often invisible, but they are considered the signature wound of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

The findings by the Montana Board of Psychology in the case of Army Captain Charles Gatlin indicate that a test commonly used by the VA to diagnose TBI's is missing too many brain injuries.

Unexplained improvement
Records show that Dr. Robert Bateen, a VA staff psychologist, apparently ignored the Army's more thorough tests and used a brief screening tool called an RBANS to evaluate Captain Gatlin.

"I saw this man for 20 minutes," Gatlin recalls. "And a decision was made."

Based on that short RBANS test, Dr. Bateen concluded that Gatlin's so-called "permanent" condition had seemingly vanished. He wrote, "If Mr. Gatlin had a cognitive impairment in the past, it is likely that this has resolved."

As a result, the Department of Veterans Affairs dropped Captain Gatlin's TBI disability rating dramatically: from 70 percent down to just 10 percent.

The Gatlin's appealed the ruling, but the VA defended Dr. Bateen's diagnosis and claimed the psychologist observed the proper procedures.
read more here

Earlier this year, KARE 11 exposed how the Minneapolis VA had used unqualified doctors to perform initial TBI exams, denying veterans a fair shot at benefits. According to Department of Veterans Affairs rules, only four types of specialists – including neurosurgeons and neurologists – are allowed to make that diagnosis. But KARE 11 documented cases in which veterans were examined by a nurse practitioner instead.

Ex-Deputy Facing Charges as Fake Veteran With PTSD

How is it that there is still a stigma about being a veteran with PTSD yet so many non-veterans are claiming they have it from service?

Former Warren County sheriff's deputy accused of filing false report, lying about military honors
KMOV News
By Stephanie Baumer, Online News Producer
Oct 28, 2015

WARREN COUNTY, Mo. (KMOV.com) – A former deputy with the Warren County Sheriff’s Department is accused of faking a report and lying about being a combat veteran with post-traumatic stress disorder.
read more here

PTSD On Trial: Montana Iraq Veteran

A Montana Iraq veteran says he has PTSD and a psychologist agreed but another did not. There are times when someone will use PTSD to get different "justice" from the system and then there are times when they are really suffering. The question is how do we know for sure? More and more times PTSD will be used during a trial but with all the years of research on PTSD, these trials show we are a long way from helping all of them come home from combat.

Little sentenced to 50 years deadly shooting
Bozeman Daily Chronicle
By Whitney Bermes Staff Writer
9 hrs ago

Little was convicted of shooting 24-year-old Larry “LJ” Clayton and James Armstrong with a shotgun during the early morning hours of Sept. 20, 2013. Clayton died the following day at a Seattle hospital. And Armstrong lost the lower part of his left leg due to injuries suffered in the shooting.

Little, who served in the U.S. Army for about two years, suffered from severe PTSD and he was acting under extreme stress when he shot the men, he defense argued when asking for a 10-year prison sentence to be followed by 15 years probation.

“PTSD in this case has been referred to by the state as an excuse,” defense attorney Diana Copeland said. “He has PTSD. He’s had it since Iraq.” And with the jury convicting Little of the lesser offense of mitigated deliberate homicide, they decided it was a “determining factor” in what happened that night.

Little needs specialized PTSD treatment. “He will not receive this treatment at the prison,” Copeland said.

But Gallatin County Attorney Marty Lambert said that Little did not actually suffer from PTSD, a determination an expert psychologist hired by the state determined after evaluating Little.

“The harm done by this defendant is great. The defendant was on Sept. 20, 2013, and still continues to be a threat to public safety, and the defendant must be held accountable,” said Lambert, who requested that Brown sentence Little the maximum of 80 years in prison. “That’s the price he ought to have to pay.”
read more here

Navy SEAL Vietnam Veteran Helped Other Veterans Heal

Seal team member returned from Vietnam to help other veterans

Greg Burham served a seven-month tour in Vietnam with SEAL Team 2 in 1970 and early ’71.

I was the only veteran I ever met at the university who had a job, too, at Sparta Health Spa. If you put Vietnam on a resume back in the early ’70s, forget getting hired. We were all supposed to be psychopaths and drug addicts and crazy.

You probably remember the TV programs in the early ’70s and a lot of the movies. The villains and the perpetrators and the crazies were all Vietnam veterans. What the heck?

You know, my dad and all my friends’ fathers were World War II veterans. And they were so honored for their service that I wanted to be in the military when I got old enough, so I could be honored like my father and my friends’ fathers were. ... Well, it didn’t work out that way for us when we first returned.

Really good story you should read but wanted to point this out just in case you forgot what it was like for them coming home before Facebook.

Congress Underfund the VA By Nearly $1 billion, Again

Look up how many times this has happened in the past.

"If they can afford to pay for wars, they can afford to pay for the treatment after the wars," says Garry Augustine, with Disabled American Veterans. DAV and other private veterans' organizations draw up their own "independent budget" for the Department of Veterans Affairs every year. "We've been saying it every year for the last 10 years in our independent budget, that the funding is not sufficient to sustain the demand," Augustine says.

Tester, Daines disagree on Veterans Affairs funding bill
Independent Record
MARTIN KIDSTON
October 02, 2015

MISSOULA -- Montana’s two U.S. senators criticized a proposed Veterans Affairs funding bill this week, with Republican Steve Daines accusing Democrats of blocking the bill, while Democrat Jon Tester said the measure would underfund the VA by nearly $1 billion.

While both senators have worked to improve VA care for Montana veterans and have introduced needed reforms to the system, they have differing views on funding the agency -- a debate that's tied in part to budget caps proposed by the GOP leadership.

Daines said the latest legislation includes a record $163.8 billion in funding for the VA. He said the figure marks an increase of $4.6 billion.

“This legislation contains numerous important provisions to address Montana veterans’ long-standing concerns and it would be shameful to see these much-needed reforms fall victim to Democrats’ obstructionism,” Daines said.

Tester, however, has urged his colleagues to oppose the VA funding bill, saying it underfunds veteran care by nearly $1 billion and would undermine VA reforms passed by Congress a year ago.

Earlier this year, Tester offered an amendment to increase funding for the VA to a level that better reflected what department officials said was needed to carry out veteran care.

His amendment failed on a 16-14 party-line vote, with all 16 Republicans voting against it.
read more here

Iraq Combat Medic Doing What is Needed Back Home

‘Doc Lucas’: Iraq War Medic Now Aids Veterans At Home
Lake Expo.com
Nathan Bechtold
September 18, 2015

Now, with the local VFW post in a fight for its life, Lucas is still "doc" to the entire group. 

Camdenton, Mo. — War leaves its participants with wounds: sometimes visible, others invisible. And across history, military medics have played a special role that takes a special kind of courage—entering the battle not to harm, but to heal.

Lake-area resident Keith “Doc” Lucas was the lead medic assigned to A Company, 1140th Engineer Company during its deployment to Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom II, Feb. 2004–Feb. 2005.

Lucas’ company commander during the deployment was Captain James Phillips. Here are his words about “Doc’s” willingness to plunge into a horrific scene:

1st Platoon was conducting route clearance operations southwest of Baghdad while being supported by C Battery 4/27 FA and a contingent Engineers from the 40th Engineer Brigade in the lead up to Operation Phantom Fury. It was the day Keith “Doc” Lucas not only performed his duties as Medic, he was faced with a mass causality event that would have broken most people.

A suicide bomber with a large quantity of artillery rounds loaded into his car drove into a squad of soldiers and detonated. Doc was the on the site and dismounted before his vehicle had even came to a full halt. He rushed into the “Hell” of combat without hesitation. He went from one American Soldier laying on the battlefield to the other, triaging them as a good Medic should.

He passed the soldiers that were either already dead or so close to death that he would be unlikely be able to save them. He focused on treating the soldiers he could provide for. He did this while surrounded in what was worse than I described in the first paragraph.

Smells, sounds, emotions, unknown enemy locations, Apache attack helicopters circling just meters overhead as the medevac Blackhawks were coming in. He made life and death decisions that day and he made the right decisions. His first experience as Medic would have broken many, to include active duty medics. After 2 hours or so on the site, Keith reclaimed his position in the vehicle and the unit continued on with the mission finding IEDs and didn’t return to the Forward Operation Base until later that evening. The enemy would not deter us or Keith “Doc” Lucas. Keith received the Army’s Combat Medic Badge for his actions that fateful day.

Since returning to civilian life, Lucas works as a web designer for MSW Interactive Designs—a web marketing company at the Lake. But his service to his brothers-in-arms has not come to an end: Lucas is the Post Surgeon (Community Relations) at Camdenton VFW Post 5923. At the post and by keeping close contact with his old unit, Lucas is still helping veterans heal. As he sees it, Lucas is commissioned with connecting veterans across generations—helping recent war vets deal with potentially debilitating Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Those who served in Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm and other conflicts bring unique wisdom to veterans of America’s 21st-century wars, and can show them the way through the invisible wounds that tend to linger.

Lucas has a history of going beyond the call of duty. Phillips wrote, “Doc went out on more missions than the Combat Engineers in the company since his skills as a Medic were always needed. Doc confided in me early in the deployment that wasn’t sure he could do what needed to be done in the event his skills where called upon. Doc said his concern was due to his non-medic background in his civilian life. I told him his training would carry him through.” read more here

Mother of four servicemen honors eldest son buried at sea

Mother of four servicemen honors eldest son buried at sea
Montana Standard
Renata Birkenbuel
September 13, 2015

Aila West, 93, is one of only two surviving mothers of Butte Vietnam veterans now honored with an exhibit at the Butte-Silver Bow Archives.

Her eldest son, radarman Kenneth Peter West, 24, drowned in Vietnam's Mekong River on June 22, 1969, while maneuvering between two pontoon boats.

His body was recovered the next day; the Navy buried him at sea in Vietnam waters on July 1, 1969. His family was unable to attend the services.

West’s remains did not return home, and neither did Butte’s lone Missing in Action serviceman from Montana, Capt. Robert Holton, 27, presumed to have gone down with his Air Force fighter plane near Laos on Jan. 29, 1969.

Aila West, formerly of Butte but who now lives in Whitehall, is considered a Blue Star Mother. Her son died accidentally while serving in the U.S. Navy in Vietnam.

Dorothy Hoerner, a Gold Star Mother who lives in Columbia Falls and is unable to attend Sunday’s Vietnam Exhibit ceremony, is the only other surviving Montana parent of the honored vets, said JoAnn Piazzola, an Archives volunteer. Dorothy's son, Raymond Dale Hoerner, died in action on Jan. 10, 1967.

Aila’s youngest, Mary Jane West, barely knew her oldest sibling, Kenneth. She was only 4 years old when he died. She remembers clearly when Naval recruiting officers came to the family home in Butte to notify the Wests of Kenneth’s death.

“There’s a hole,” Mary Jane said, acknowledging the grief her family has endured since Kenneth’s passing 46 years ago.

Four of Aila’s sons served in the military, including Edward, who served in Vietnam, where he was exposed to the horrors of war. After returning home, Edward died by suicide in 1984.

Butte’s 24 veterans who died in Vietnam

Here are Butte’s 24 fallen heroes, in chronological order in which they died in Vietnam:

Joseph Edward Parker Jr., Daniel John Janhunen, Raymond Dale Hoerner, Weston Henry Reece, Ronald Gregory Babich, Kenneth Sanford Bercier, Edward Anthony Carruthers, Dennis Wayne Sonsteng, Sanford Kim Archer, Robert William Cawley, Edward Joseph Hagl, Florian J. Zahn, Marvin Kent Robertson, Gregory Phillip Helsley, Raymond George Kriskovich, Steven Patrick Murphy, Lester Allan Doan, Russell James E. Hevern, Daniel John O’Neill, Richard D. Satterthwaite, Kenneth Peter West, Raymond L. Robertson Jr., Greg Neal Henderson, Robert Edwin Holton.

read more here

Fort Harrison PTSD Treatment Unit 90% Full

Great way to write a headline and miss the bigger news.

It was closed because they were using something else.

"The program has been at 90 percent capacity since the expansion was finalized two weeks ago."

VA Permanently Closes Acute Care Center at Fort Harrison
Associated Press
KTVH News
Aug 04, 2015

Helena, MT - VA Montana has dissolved its urgent mental health unit in favor of additional long-term beds at Fort Harrison west of Helena.

Fort Harrison's Residential Rehabilitation and Treatment Program absorbed the acute care resources. The eight beds are now dedicated to treating veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder.

The program has been at 90 percent capacity since the expansion was finalized two weeks ago.

Childers says Fort Harrison operates Montana's only outpatient facility that treats PTSD and substance abuse.
read more here

Vietnam Veteran Receives Long Overdue Medals Including 4 Bronze Stars

Vietnam veteran receives medals nearly five decades after service 
KBZK News
By Keele Smith
July 12, 2015

BOZEMAN - Sunday was an emotional day for a Vietnam war veteran who was officially recognized nearly five decades after serving.

U.S. Senator Steve Daines presented Tom Creasey with six medals Sunday morning, 46 years after serving in the Vietnam War. Creasey served in the U.S. Navy on active duty from 1966 until 1969. 

He received the National Defense Service Medal, the Vietnam Service Medal with Four Bronze Stars and the Vietnam Campaign Medal, among others. 
read more here

Specialist Discusses Effects of PTSD

Here is someone talking about PTSD the way it needs to be talked about. The fact that there is hope to heal needs to be followed by what works toward healing. That begins with understanding what it is. If you are a veteran with PTSD, go to the article and watch the video. Listen to what she is saying because it is the same thing experts I've read over the last 30 years discovered.

PTSD sets of a chain of change including chemicals in the brain. Researchers have shown what PTSD does to the brain by taking scans proving once and for all that PTSD is real.
Another reality is that PTSD does not have to take control over your life. There are things you can do to defeat it by treating everything you are, mind, body and spirit.

Get mental health help. Do things for your body so that your system learns how to calm down again. Yoga and martial arts like Tai Chi, will help get things back to natural balance. Then you need to take care of your spirit/soul. With combat there is a lot of help to find peace.

Remember PTSD cannot be cured unless they invent a magic wand to undo what happened, but you can undo most of the damage.

Specialist discusses effects of post-traumatic stress disorder
GALLATIN COUNTY
NBC Montana
By Jacqueline Gedeon, KTVM Reporter
June 19, 2015

BOZEMAN, Mont. - Post-traumatic stress disorder is an issue that professionals and counselors see in law enforcement officials and first responders.

We spoke with one professional about what PTSD is, where it comes from, and whether symptoms of violence usually come with it.

A Bozeman man is on trial for shooting and killing one man and injuring another. Cody Little's attorney says Little's actions came from being unstable with post-traumatic stress disorder after spending four years in the military.

Carol Staben-Burroughs works with people with a variety of mental health disorders.

"I work with a lot of post-traumatic stress disorder, specifically with law enforcement and other emergency services people," said Staben-Burroughs.

She's a licensed clinical professional counselor. She said people develop PTSD after they experience traumatic incidents like a car wreck, rape or combat.
read more here

Montana Veteran Files VA Appeal Over Unqualified Doctor Evaluation

Mont. case could have implications for thousands of vets 
Great Falls Tribune
Eric Newhouse
May 15, 2015

But since the Montana Board of Psychologists concluded that the RBANS test wasn't sufficient to measure neurological impairment because of a TBI and that Bateen wasn't qualified to make neurological diagnoses, Del Negro argues that all vets diagnosed by Bateen ought to have their cases re-evaluated.

Gatlin studies for his classes at his home office.
Gatlin and his wife have been fighting the VA for last
two years while Gatlin has been a grad student, and
struggling to find a balance between school and his case.
(Photo: TRIBUNE PHOTO/ABBY REDFERN)

WASHINGTON – Echoing a state licensing board, a VA appeals board here has ordered the Fort Harrison VA Hospital to provide a full neurological examination for a University of Montana graduate student with a traumatic brain injury.

It's a decision that could have implications for thousands of vets with TBI across the state and around the country — but the VA flatly says that won't happen.

The case involves Charles Gatlin, a Ranger-qualified former Army captain who suffered a brain injury after a large truck bomb knocked him unconscious near Kirkuk, Iraq, in 2006.

The Army put Gatlin through a three-day battery of neuropsychological tests in 2006, 2007 and 2009 and concluded he had suffered significant attention problems, processing speed deficits and persistent frontal lobe dysfunction.

After three years, the final test concluded that the injuries had stabilized and appeared to be permanent.

Retired from the Army with a 70 percent TBI disability rating, Gatlin and his wife, Ariana Del Negro, returned to Montana.

At the Fort Harrison VA hospital, staff psychologist Robert Bateen ran Gatlin through a short screening exam, concluded that his cognitive deficits were not significant and dropped his TBI disability rating to 10 percent, although he also added a 30 percent rating for post-traumatic stress disorder.

Gatlin appealed that ruling to the VA Board of Appeals two years ago, but also filed a complaint with the Montana Board of Psychologists, the state board in Helena that licenses psychologists, arguing that the screening assessment wasn't adequate to measure his cognitive ability; that Bateen wasn't qualified to make the assessment because he wasn't a neuropsychologist; and that Bateen incorrectly characterized the results of that test.
read more here

Montana Veterans Speaking; VA Hasn't Listened

UPDATE
Looks like Jon Tester is expecting veterans to forget about how long all of this has been going on when "he was watching" before.

Jon Tester: All eyes on the Veterans Affairs

We’re all asking a lot from the Veterans Affairs right now. And we should be.

After all, a lot was asked of Montana veterans like Jim Kerr, who served our country bravely on a Navy river patrol boat during Vietnam. Jim and all Montana veterans deserve access to quality, timely care at the VA. Anything less is unacceptable.

But unfortunately, the VA has been falling short.

Last summer, after reports surfaced about veterans not getting the care they earned, I traveled across Montana asking them what I could do to address their problems.

Veterans gave me some great ideas, and I went back to Washington to draft and help pass a VA reform bill that improves the care veterans like Jim receive.

The VA is now implementing many of those reforms, while at the same time trying to meet the needs of those who have returned home from war.

There is a lot of pressure on the department right now and it continues to grow as folks return home from the Middle East with injuries both seen and unseen. And with some calling for more U.S. troops on the ground to fight ISIS, pressure on the VA may rise even higher.

VA Montana is having its own issues, as the eight-month search for a permanent director continues and Fort Harrison struggles to keep medical professionals from leaving.

Last week, Acting VA Montana Director Johnny Ginnity told me that there aren’t enough staff to keep a wing of Fort Harrison’s mental health facility open. Veterans in immediate need of care will have to look elsewhere.

That’s completely unacceptable.

The VA was falling short before he was sent to the Senate and not much has changed since then. What makes it "unacceptable" still after all these years?

MISSOULIAN EDITORIAL: Veterans are speaking; VA isn't listening
The Missoulian
February 15, 2015

Once again, veterans are the victims of bureaucratic machinations beyond their control.

Montana veterans continue to face unacceptable obstacles to health care services. It is a national disgrace that the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the agency responsible for ensuring our veterans receive the care they so undeniably deserve, is oftentimes to blame.

This is painfully apparent in Montana, which has one of the highest rates of veterans per capita in the nation.

Consider:

The Montana Veterans Administration facilities at Billings, Fort Harrison and Great Falls were among the 110 centers - out of 1,700 sites - flagged for followup audits after a federal audit last year revealed unacceptably long wait times for medical appointments.

Facilities across the state continue to be understaffed and under-equipped for the number of veterans they serve. The clinic in Missoula, in particular, is woefully inadequate and overdue for expansion.

Montana VA does not employ a single certified medical examiner, whose certification is necessary for veterans to obtain a commercial driver's license.

A new VA Montana director still has not been named. One was supposed to be selected by the end of 2014. Incredibly, this past week brought even more bad news.

Starting at the end of this month, Missoula veterans who reside at two assisted-living centers that have canceled contracts with the Montana VA will have to find some other way to pay for their housing and care – or some other place to live.

At the same time, VA Montana is "temporarily" closing its eight-bed acute care mental health unit in Helena because of "chronic workforce shortages." The shortage apparently came about after two mental health providers retired and a third resigned to take a different job. It speaks volumes that the VA has been chronically unable to hire and retain a sufficient number of workers to provide essential health services.

It's just one more sign that the VA isn't getting the message.

Missoulian editorial board: Publisher Mark Heintzelman, Editor Sherry Devlin, Opinion Editor Tyler Christensen.
read more here

From Senator Tester's Site

HIGH-RISK REPORT UNDERSCORES URGENCY OF TESTER’S ACTIONS

Not the first time he brought the VA to Montana to answer questions.

2007

Mental health treatment for Montana vets lags behind nation
Statistics contradict praise of mental health programs Mental health treatment for Montana vets lags behind nation
By CHRIS ADAMS
McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON — Sen. Jon Tester, a Montana Democrat, took officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs to an auditorium at the Montana State University-College of Technology campus in Great Falls last summer to talk about the best way to provide health care to veterans in the region's vast rural areas.

The director of the VA region that includes Montana, Colorado, Utah and Wyoming detailed all that the agency was doing to provide for veterans' health needs — physical and mental.

"Comprehensive mental-health care is one of the top priorities for Network 19," Glen Grippen said, referring to the multi-state Rocky Mountain region. He said that mental health staff had been added recently, specifically for treating post-traumatic stress disorder.

Each medical center now has a suicide prevention coordinator, he said, and the VA's medical centers "actively collaborate with state National Guard and Reserve components to ensure that no returning soldier slips through the cracks."

2008

Senator Tester, fix Montana's VA problem sooner
Tester, VA chief hear from veterans
Agency chief says help is on way; senator, vets tell of inadequate services
By TOM LUTEY
Of The Gazette Staff

Limited by staff and space, veterans' health care services in Montana fall short, said U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who brought U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary James Peake to Billings to meet with local veterans.

"What I'm getting at is the staff and the square footage is a big issue," Tester said Wednesday.

"That's not just here. It's the same in Great Falls and other places."

Tester and Peake got a firsthand look at the tight cramped quarters of the Veterans Affairs Primary Care Center in Billings. Roughly a decade old, the facility at 2345 King Ave. W. is no longer big enough to accommodate services for Billings-area veterans. Plans to relocate to a larger facility are in the works, but the VA Primary Care Center is also short on staff members.

Veterans speaking to Tester and Peake said phone calls to the VA Primary Care Center sometimes go unanswered for half an hour. Getting in to see a counselor about war-related stress can take days.

There's a debate about how many claims will still be made by veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. The Bush administration estimates that 33,690 new veterans will enter the system, but the majority of staff for the Senate Veterans Affairs Committee, on which Tester serves, expects 200,000 claims by veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

If the committee is correct, the president's budgeted amount for new claims could leave funding short for about 150,000 veterans.

And the topper was from 2011

Montana VA stresses suicide prevention without a full time psychiatrist?
Montana VA stresses suicide prevention, awareness
Posted: Sep 8, 2011 4:48 PM by Melissa Anderson (Helena)

This is Suicide Prevention Week, and the suicide rate among veterans is reported to be two times higher than the civilian population.

Registered nurse Kellie LaFave of the Montana VA in Helena explained, "Veterans are at greater risk because they're exposed to such extremes and where they do their service. They may be injured physically or emotionally. They may be suffering from traumatic brain injury or post-traumatic stress syndrome. "

That's why the VA has stressed mental health as a key priority in its healthcare system.

The VA Montana system recently added the 24,000 square foot mental health facility that will house up to 24 veterans.

The PTSD program, which opened in July, is set up in six week outpatient sessions.

While the VA awaits hiring a full time psychiatrist, they are not taking inpatients at this time. However, veterans can still be referred.

Montana VA Mental Health Center Shut Doors

By October of 2014, 46 veterans in Montana committed suicide. That was just in Montana and just the ones reported so the public could read about them. 9 months, 46 suicides

Within the report was the story of Brandon Slack. His story reflected what was going on all across this country, after all the speeches and bills being signed, after all the claims, and after all the elected officials got angry for the cameras.

Brandon Slack, 29, came from a long line of public service. Many of his family members served in the U.S. Marine Corps, including his mother Kate Slack. For Brandon, being a Marine was not just a career, it was in his blood.

"My son Brandon was one of those larger-than-life type personalities," said Slack. "Brandon did two tours in Iraq. He was every bit of what a Marine should be."

After his first deployment to Fallujah, Brandon began taking medication for PTSD when he came home.

"Something was desperately wrong, his temper was startling," said Slack. "I came into the house one day, he was on the phone with somebody and I didn't even recognize who this person was."

Despite the noticeable change in her son's behavior, Brandon would be deployed for a second tour, this time in Ramadi.

Brandon survived, but suffered the invisible wounds of PTSD from the two combat tours.

After trying for years to find her son help through the Veterans Affairs Hospital and through many other avenues including therapy, he ultimately lost his battle. Brandon committed suicide in October of 2013.

So here they go again, complaining in anger over something the got angry about a very long time ago.

VA Montana temporarily closing mental health center at Fort Harrison
Independent Record
ERIC KILLELEA
February 10, 2015

Tester urges VA to fill state director's job, reconsider third-party vendors

MISSOULA -- U.S. Sen. Jon Tester this week expressed concern over the lack of a permanent VA Montana director, and said morale and staffing co… Read more

Tester calls protracted search for VA director 'unacceptable'

BILLINGS -- The selection process for naming someone to lead Montana’s VA Health Care system is taking “far, far too long,” U.S. Sen. Jon Test… Read more

VA Montana is temporarily closing its acute care mental health unit on the Fort Harrison campus because of “chronic workforce shortages,” said U.S. Sens. Jon Tester and Steve Daines in press releases on Tuesday.

Tester said he raised concerns about the closure during a phone call with VA Montana interim director John Ginnity last week.

Ginnity said on Tuesday that a “perfect storm” recently occurred when two mental health providers retired, and one provider resigned for a position elsewhere. He said the eight-bed, 24/7 acute care unit has been underused compared with the 16-bed residential rehabilitation unit for post-traumatic stress disorder or substance abuse.

“Only about 35 percent of the acute unit is utilized and 65 percent is unused,” Ginnity said. “Most veterans seek inpatient mental health treatment at the hospitals in their local communities.”
read more here

In 2007 2 Wisconsin clinics shut down.

Two recently opened Minneapolis VA clinics in western Wisconsin were abruptly shut down this week by the company under contract to run them. Kentucky-based Corporate Health and Wellness says it lost hundreds of thousands of dollars opening the clinics. It blames the closings on a lack of additional funding from the VA.

St. Paul, Minn. — The two clinics that sit idle now opened to much fanfare this summer and fall. The VA said, and local veterans agreed, the facilities in Hayward and in Rice Lake would make it much easier for area vets to get basic health care. No longer would they have to travel long distances to VA facilities in places like Duluth-Superior or the Twin Cities.

But without warning, the clinics closed this week.

VA spokesman Ralph Heussner says the locked doors are an unexpected disappointment.

"It's an inconvenience and we apologize for that," says Heussner. "The reason we set the clinics in those communities is to provide service so the veterans would not have to travel long distances."

Heussner says the VA is looking into several primary care options for more than 900 veterans who've been using the Hayward and Rice Lake clinics.

29 Patients at Marion VA died because of substandard and questionable care That happened in 2008 when the national news didn't care. But what the hell, they didn't care to remind anyone that back then the VA budget was $3 billions short.

VA was losing Care Coordinators

How we treat our veterans is how this nation is measured. If we do not care for the men and women retaining our freedom, that what have we become?

Now here's a flashback to 2012 and Montana VA

In Montana, where veterans wait an average of five weeks to begin counseling, an eight-bed wing of a mental health facility at Fort Harrison has been vacant for nine months because of a lack of psychiatrists, the VA says. The Rocky Mountain VA region needs to fill nearly one of four psychiatrist positions.

The vacancies occur at a time when the number of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder is increasing by about 10,000 every three months, what experts say is the cumulative effect of a decade of war, VA data show.

The VA has about a 20% shortfall in psychiatrists at hospitals throughout the Northwest, Deep South and Southern California, according to department data.

ANYONE BOTHER TO ASK TESTER TO EXPLAIN ANY OF THIS?

Has President Obama Forgotten Promise and Spc. Chris Dana?

Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 3, 2015

I was just reading a good article on Private moments in Obama's war education help shape his evolution on casualties and wondering what the point was. Why do it? It tells about how hard it has been on Obama as Commander-in-Chief. Wars are always hard on Presidents. It told the story of how in 2012 he visited mortuary affairs soldiers in Afghanistan and those 15 soldiers wondered why.

As I kept reading I began to wonder about something else that has been asked thousands of times ever since President Obama had made another detour away from the press way back in 2008. He was just a Senator back then and was on the Veterans Affairs Committee.

In 2007 when he announced his list of advisors on veterans issues.

Veterans from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and Current Conflicts to Advise Obama Chicago, IL - The Obama campaign announced the launch of his National Veterans Advisory Committee today that will advise Senator Obama through the course of the campaign on issues related to the challenges facing troops and veterans. The group will also take the lead on building the grassroots network of support in the veteran's community in key primary states and in communities with large veteran's populations across the country.

"Senator Obama has been a leader for veterans in the Senate, and has laid out the most comprehensive plan to care for veterans among the 2008 candidates," said Major General Merrill "Tony" McPeak, a retired four-star Air Force general. "I am honored to work with him to care for our fighting men and women, both when they serve and when they return home. I firmly believe Barack Obama is the best candidate for our nation's veterans, and I would be proud to call him my commander in chief."

"Barack Obama has fought to improve veterans' care, to reduce homelessness among veterans, and ensure fair disability benefits," said Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, who served as a United States Air Force intelligence officer. "As President, Barack Obama will continue his leadership for the rights and benefits of veterans. He will stand with veterans -- just as they have stood up for us."

"I'll be a President who ensures that America serves our men and women in uniform as well as they've served us, and that's why I'm proud to have the support of these veterans advising me on the issues facing our troops and veterans," Obama stated. "After seven years of an Administration that has stretched our military to the breaking point, ignored deplorable conditions at some VA hospitals, and neglected the planning and preparation necessary to care for our returning heroes, America's veterans deserve a President who will fight for them not just when it's easy or convenient, but every hour of every day for the next four years."

As a member of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee, Senator Obama is committed to helping the heroes who defend our nation today and the veterans who fought in years past. As a grandson of a World War II veteran who went to college on the G.I. Bill and a member of the Senate Committee on Veterans Affairs, Senator Obama has successfully reached out to Republicans and Democrats to pass laws to improve care for troops recovering from injuries, combat homelessness among veterans, and make the disability benefits process more equitable.

Obama has made it a priority to reach out to veterans as part of his presidential campaign. In August, he laid out a comprehensive plan to build a 21st-century Department of Veterans Affairs that upholds America's sacred trust with our veterans.

It was a big deal when he escaped the national press to meet with family of a National Guardsman, Chris Dana. Dana couldn't be there because Chris Dana committed suicide in March of 2007.

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 - 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.

Like everyone else paying attention to all of this, there was a lot of hope back then for me. Over the years I've been wondering where that guy went. After all the years claimed more and more lives and more men and women were kicked out of the military instead of helped while it in. More veterans ended up surviving combat but their lives ended back home. I kept waiting. Waiting to see that same guy show up and know what he was talking about. The same guy who showed that their lives mattered.

When the Vice Joint Chiefs of Staff admitted to the Senate Armed Service Committee they were not doing post deployment screenings, no one said anything about it and they sure as hell didn't do anything about the claiming they just didn't have the money or manpower to do them.

When suicides went up after Congress had been writing bill after bill, he signed them but never once demanded any of them to account for the increased suffering.

If seeing bodies in mortuary affairs was supposed to be some kind of reflection of being touched by the price of war, then why hasn't the deaths of thousands a year touched him enough to act? Why hasn't a history of being on the Veterans Affairs Committee and all the hard questions he used to ask actually carry on to when he was given the power to actually change things? This isn't the change we were hoping for.

Why has he forgotten that day on the park bench making a promise to Chris Dana's family that he was going to do something to save their lives?

This is what they knew during the first year Obama went from Senator to President.

Another family faced pain of suicide with hope of bill redo

Another family hopeful others will be spared the pain of losing a service member to suicide. How many more families will have to push a member of congress to do something before they do something right? These rules in this bill have already been done and the Joint Vice Chiefs of Staff admitted years ago they do not do post deployment screenings. No one did anything to enforce the bills that were already done so this will be more of the same.

Families touched by military suicide thankful for new federal law
FOX 59
BY DAN SPEHLER
DECEMBER 19, 2014

INDIANAPOLIS (Dec. 19, 2014) – It’s a problem that’s affected far too many of our Hoosier Heroes and their families, but now there’s a new federal law aimed at preventing military suicide.

Sen. Joe Donnelly’s office said they were anticipating President Obama would sign the Jacob Sexton Military Suicide Prevention Act into law by the end of the day. The new law requires annual mental health assessments for our military- including guardsmen and reservists.

Sexton’s parents, from Farmland, joined Donnelly Friday at the Indiana War Memorial to discuss the new law.

A few years ago, Sexton took his own life while home on leave.

“My son’s name on this bill will help other soldiers and that’s very important to me,” said Jacob’s mother, Barb Sexton. “I’m very proud this is going into law and I truly know this will help other families that are dealing with PTSD.”

Gregg Keesling’s family dealt with the same pain- when his son Chance took his own life in Iraq.

“I’m convinced beyond a shadow of a doubt this bill, if it had been in place, my son would be alive today,” said Keesling. “And when you lose a child all you have is hoping the death can help save other people.”
read more here

In 2008 it was another National Guardsman's family getting attention after he committed suicide. Spc. Chris Dana of the Montana National Guards got the attention of then Senator Obama. We had hope back then but as suicides went up, hope left a bitter taste from tears across the country.

Montana Veteran Suicides for 2014 46 By October

"He was every bit of what a Marine should be" - Mother of Montana Marine fights for change
KPAX Montana
Simone DeAlba
November 20, 2014

As of October, 46 veterans have committed suicide
in the state of Montana during 2014

BILLINGS - Imagine surviving war, and all the horrors that come with it, only to face a different type of battlefield once you come home.

That's the reality for many of our veterans, some suffering from invisible wounds such as depression or post traumatic stress disorder,also known as PTSD.

Brandon Slack, 29, came from a long line of public service. Many of his family members served in the U.S. Marine Corps, including his mother Kate Slack. For Brandon, being a Marine was not just a career, it was in his blood.

"My son Brandon was one of those larger-than-life type personalities," said Slack. "Brandon did two tours in Iraq. He was every bit of what a Marine should be."

After his first deployment to Fallujah, Brandon began taking medication for PTSD when he came home.

"Something was desperately wrong, his temper was startling," said Slack. "I came into the house one day, he was on the phone with somebody and I didn't even recognize who this person was."

Despite the noticeable change in her son's behavior, Brandon would be deployed for a second tour, this time in Ramadi.

Brandon survived, but suffered the invisible wounds of PTSD from the two combat tours.

After trying for years to find her son help through the Veterans Affairs Hospital and through many other avenues including therapy, he ultimately lost his battle. Brandon committed suicide in October of 2013.
read more here

Missoula State VA office cuts back rural outreach effort

There is what the Department of Veterans Affairs does on a national level and then there is what the states do. This is one of those cases.

Missoula VA office cuts back rural outreach effort
Missoulian
Martin Kidston
September 27, 2014

“We’re advertising the position, but since it’s a state job, the hiring process is very slow,” Blanche said. “We were able to do our outreach for September, but we’re giving vets notice about October. I’m hoping to have a position filled by the end of the year.”

A lack of staffing at an outreach program operated by the Montana Veterans Affairs Division has prompted the Missoula office to scale back its rural outreach efforts until the issue is resolved.

Roxanne Blanche, the regional services officer for the Montana VA’s Missoula office, said she is now the only employee available to meet veterans across a large western swath of the state.

“What we’re doing is asking vets to give us a call and file for medical benefits,” said Blanche. “Since I don’t have the staffing, those vets in outlying areas, if they live too far away, will have to schedule a phone appointment.” The number to call is 542-2501.
read more here

Montana VA intimidates DAV volunteer for picture reporter took?

VA 'intimidates' decorated war veteran for being photographed on VA property
Billings Gazette
By Cindy Uken
August 21, 2014

Ed Saunders is seen in this Aug. 14 photo that the Veterans Administration is claiming is in violation of their rules because it was taken on their property at the Majestic Lane Clinic without authorization.

Ed Saunders Statement

Who is Ed Saunders?

Ed Saunders is one of Yellowstone County's most trusted and respected veterans. He is:

-- a Ret. Lt. Col in the U.S. Army

-- a decorated ground combat veteran, Persian Gulf War

-- a disabled veteran with service-related disabilities

-- a former member of the Yellowstone County Veterans Cemetery which has been renamed Yellowstone National Veterans Cemetery

-- a member of the Big Sky Honor Flight Board of Directors

-- one of the veterans who led the effort to get public transportation to the West End VA Clinic.

-- a driver with the Disabled Veterans Transportation Network

-- a lifetime member of Disabled Veterans of America

-- a lifetime member of the Veterans of Foreign Wars

Saunders has also helped numerous veterans get medals they earned but never received.

A man who helps disabled veterans with transportation to Montana’s VA facilities has been threatened with a $50 fine for appearing in a photo with a newspaper article critical of the new West End VA clinic.

In a sworn affidavit, Ed Saunders, adjutant of Billings Chapter 10 of Disabled American Veterans, said he was at the Billings VA Clinic on Aug. 18 on DAV business when VA police officer Steve McCollum asked Saunders to come to his office.

McCollum said he wanted a written statement from Saunders about his involvement with the Billings Gazette photo that was published Aug. 15. The news article centered on glitches with the opening of the new $6.3 million Majestic Lane Clinic. Saunders was among those critical of the clinic.

McCollum claimed being in an unauthorized photo on VA property is in violation of VA rules and subject to a $50 fine, according to Saunders’ notarized statement.

Saunders was not aware of the photo rule and said as a DAV public affairs officer he has taken many photos of DAV activities on VA property, including dedication of the new clinic when Montana’s congressional delegation was on hand. Saunders said he has also taken photos of DAV vans parked on VA property.
read more here linked from The Republic

Blaming PTSD was Walsh's undoing

John Walsh quits Senate race in Montana, cites plagiarism charges was the headline however, that wasn't the biggest thing he had to overcome. It was the nonsense about trying to blame PTSD for doing it.

"I don't want to blame my mistake on PTSD, but I do want to say it may have been a factor," the senator said. "My head was not in a place very conducive to a classroom and an academic environment."

Every state needed veterans in office to take care of veterans but what happened more often was a lot of talk and little being done. Montana has had more than their share of troubles.

In 2012 the Montana VA was pretty happy about getting more mental health workers. 2012? Yes, that's right despite what the Congress has been trying to ignore with the passage of the latest round of spending during an election year.

10,000 new patients with PTSD checking in at VA every three months
Montana poised to benefit from increase in VA mental health staff
Billings Gazette
By CINDY UKEN
April 26, 2012

At a time when the VA Montana Health Care System is struggling to recruit psychiatrists to treat veterans with mental health problems, the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has announced an immediate, nearly 10 percent increase in mental health staffing across the country.

VA Montana has not yet been told how many new staff members it will receive or the specific type of mental health professionals it will receive, but VA officials are heralding the notification.

Some 1,600 mental health clinicians, including nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers, as well as nearly 300 support staffers, will be added to the existing mental health workforce of 20,590. The expanded mental-health services will include professionals from two additional health care fields: marriage and family therapists and licensed professional mental health counselors.

The infusion of mental health professionals coincides with the scores of men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.

The VA currently treats 1.3 million veterans for mental health problems, including an estimated 400,000 who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Since 2007, VA has seen a 35 percent increase in the number of veterans receiving mental health services. There are 10,000 new patients with PTSD checking in at hospitals every three months, according to the VA.

The investigation found that veterans on average must wait nearly two months — far longer than the VA has claimed.

At VA facilities in the Rocky Mountain Region, patients can wait up to four or five weeks to begin therapy.

Veterans Health Administration policy requires that all first-time patients requesting mental health services receive an initial evaluation within 24 hours, and a comprehensive diagnostic appointment within two weeks. VHA officials had said that 95 percent of its new patients were seen in that time frame.
read more here

The suicide rate of veterans in Montana was double the civilian rate. That didn't seem to matter too much when VA didn't have a full time psychiatrist according to KXLH News.

While the VA awaits hiring a full time psychiatrist, they are not taking inpatients at this time. However, veterans can still be referred.

VA Montana Healthcare Director Robin Korogi explained, "And so once we do, then we will have our eight inpatient beds open so that we don't have to send veterans to Warm Springs or Boise, Idaho or Sheridan."

Four years ago the VA realized that veterans coming home from war are at such high risk that they hired suicide prevention coordinators in every VA facility throughout the U.S.

They didn't have a full time surgeon either.

At least 300 Montana veterans who need orthopedic surgery are on a waiting list while the Department of Veterans Affairs Montana Health Care System works to recruit a full-time surgeon to help ease the growing backlog of disabled — and often disgruntled — veterans.

To receive surgery, Montana veterans without private insurance must travel out of state for care or pay for it out of their pockets. To compound this problem, Montana veterans are being told that the VA facilities in Denver and Salt Lake City are too busy to accept Montana patients.

Subsequently, they are being placed on a waiting list that is approaching two years.

During a time when Montana veterans needed someone fighting for them, he decided to use PTSD as a way out of something he did wrong instead of doing all he could for them.