Resilience of the DOD to change what does not work

Resilience of the DOD to change what does not work
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
March 5, 2013

It is fascinating to witness the web "reporters" and bloggers going nuts to get the big story out there before others. What is even more fascinating is they never seem to follow up those stories.

When the headline was "military suicides reached record high" they settled for repeating the number that did not include National Guards and Reservists in the total. They also seem to have not noticed that last month revised numbers were added to the figure they released in January.

Army Releases January 2013 Suicide Information
The Army released suicide data today for the month of January 2013. During January, among active-duty soldiers, there were 19 potential suicides: two have been confirmed as suicides and 17 remain under investigation.

For December 2012, the Army reported seven potential suicides among active-duty soldiers; however, subsequent to the report, another case was added bringing December’s total to eight: five have been confirmed as suicides and three are under investigation.

During January, among reserve component soldiers who were not on active duty, there were 14 potential suicides (six Army National Guard and eight Army Reserve): One has been confirmed and 13 are still under investigation. For December 2012, among that same group, the Army reported 15 potential suicides; since the release of that report, one case has been added for a total of 16 (11 Army National Guard and five Army Reserve): nine have been confirmed and seven cases remain under investigation.

CBS did a great job telling the story of Marine Clay Hunt who committed suicide in 2011. The report tells the story of what he did to try to heal. He did everything advocates say they should do. His family talks about how they blame themselves and interviewed his buddies also feeling as if they should have done more. Byron Pitts didn't seem to know very much about the questions he should have asked but keep in mind when reporters go out to interview they don't do enough homework before they go. Even at that, he did a good job.

Because of the exposure of this blog, I've been contacted more by family members and friends than veterans. While veterans do contact me and I thank God they found me before it was too late, most of them have already attempted suicide and were on the verge of doing it again. There are too many Clay Hunts but there are also too many Jake Woods still with the wrong idea of what PTSD is and dealing with their lack of knowledge of what this does.

The transcript of the segment is actually more informative than watching it was. When you remove the personal expressions of the heartache involved, you can focus more on what they said.

Talking about Clay having PTSD told a lot more about what they still believe PTSD is. It also shows that the talk about the military making it ok to get help is a load of BS.

"Jake Wood: It marked him. And I think he saw it as marking him as weak. Not being able to handle it."

Byron Pitts: Did guys treat him differently once they knew?

Jake Wood: No. I don't think so. I don't think so. He-- but he felt like they did.

Byron Pitts: I mean, there's no shame in that, right?

Jake Wood: Depends on who you ask and when. You know, ask a Marine rifleman if there's shame in having PTSD just coming back from a chest-thumping deployment to Iraq and he'll tell you, "You shouldn't have PTSD that's what we do."

"It's what we do" said a lot right there. Wood still doesn't understand what PTSD is or how one is hit by it while others seem fine.

Jake Wood: The rest of us refused to look at the larger picture of the war that we were fighting in Afghanistan. And Clay refused to allow himself not to look at it. He saw our friends continuing to die and get maimed. And, you know, we would go out on these missions, and we'd get in firefights where we'd kill people. And he had to justify that. And when those doubts start to creep in your mind, that's when you-- that's when you start to lose your mind. And that's what started to happen with Clay.

Wood seems to think that is the reason, but it isn't.

Clay's Mom is blaming herself.

Stacy Hunt: I blame myself, you know, for not, you know, seeing the deadly mixture of his depression and his PTSD and for not reacting strongly enough.

If you can't understand why all of this happened, then you've been assuming the military has a clue but they don't. They are not doing what they claim to be doing. After all these years, after all the reports of millions and millions of dollars being invested in "research" behind these deadly results it should be clear to everyone the claims don't add up while the numbers of successful suicides do.

The only way to defeat Combat PTSD is to know what it is and why it is different than the PTSD other people end up with. Combat PTSD is different and has to be treated differently than other causes. While the only way to be hit by PTSD is with a traumatic event, all events are not created equally and they cannot be treated as equals.

Combat PTSD is a double wound. The first one hits by the event and the other part hits with being a part of it as a participant not once, not twice, but many times topped off with the threat of more times to come.

It is a wound to the soul but the "moral injury" aspect of it was left out of the questions asked even though Wood touched on it when he said that Clay was questioning why they were there.

Last night during the leaders conference call on Skype with Point Man Ministries we were talking about the fact this program was lacking what all of this is and what should be done. If they continue to not treat the spirit/soul of the war fighter, they will continue to see the rise in suicides. I spoke about how I warned back in 2009 that if the DOD continued to push their "resilience training" they would see a rise in suicides. They did and more families like Clay Hunt's have to cope with blaming themselves because they keep reading excuses by the DOD claiming to be doing everything possible when in fact it isn't happening.

60 Minutes features Marine Clay Hunt

UPDATE
I should have said this last night. I received a call from Cathy Haynes on this program. I wouldn't have known it was on without her because I was in the shower washing my hair. My husband told me when I came out of the bedroom she called. Yep, that's how my day goes.

When I posted this, I cried. I still remember the sickening feeling in my throat.

Marine Clay Hunt another after combat casualty
April 9, 2011
Marine Clay Hunt became another after combat casualty when he took his own life. By all accounts, Hunt did everything experts say he needed to do. He went to the VA and got help. He talked about having PTSD openly, meaning the stigma induced silence was not a factor. Hunt went even beyond that and got involved trying to save the lives of others with PTSD. Even with all of this including an informed, supportive family, Hunt lost his battle after battle.

60 Minutes just featured his story. I just cried again. Not because I knew him, but because I knew too many like him. I cried for his family even though I never talked to them because I talked to too many families just like his. There needs to be a lot more reports like this because everyday, we lose at least 22 of them.

Marine Clay Hunt's life causes action for saving others

Combat veteran, Marine, Clay Hunt committed suicide and his life mattered so much more than he thought it did.

A Tragic Veteran Suicide Spawns An Entrepreneurial Call to Action
Forbes
Shaun So, Contributor
January 24, 2013

Sergeant Clay Hunt killed himself on March 31, 2011. He was a 28-year old Marine Corps Purple Heart recipient with multiple tours in Afghanistan and Iraq. Hunt also suffered from post traumatic stress disorder.

At his funeral, two close friends and fellow co-founders of Team Rubicon, Sgt. William McNulty and Sgt. Jacob Wood discovered that Hunt had additional Marine Corps friends that had actually resided within a 15-mile radius where Hunt had lived.

However, none of those nearby Marines knew Hunt was in need, let alone that he was just a few miles away.

POS REP, short for ‘position report’, was conceived by McNulty, Wood and Anthony Allman, another military veteran-turned entrepreneur, to prevent the next Clay Hunt tragedy.

This mobile application provides a location-enabled, social network exclusively for the military veteran community. While POS REP’s main purpose is to reconnect veterans who served together, its underlying significance is to connect veterans to peers and resources within their communities.
read more here

121212 1%ers take on Hurricane Sandy

With all the anger over GOP Congressmen fighting against raising taxes on the rich, the rich have gotten a very bad reputation. So far I've heard few rich people saying they want to keep all of their money. Last night was a glowing example of 1%ers coming together to help after Hurricane Sandy damaged so many lives.

Chase had just finished the American Giving Awards featuring average people setting aside their own needs and wants for the sake of others. Last night they pulled it off again. 121212 Concert for Sandy Relief and there were plenty of 1%ers doing more giving. From the stars taking phone calls for donations to those showing up to perform onstage it should have been easy to see that this night was more about a very different type of GOP, Group of Philanthropists working to get the Robinhood Foundation funds to help.

12-12-12: Concert For Sandy Relief Airs Tonight, Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Kanye West And Others Perform
Author: Kelly Westpublished: 2012-12-12 08:27:01
Numbers fans have likely already noticed that today is 12/12/12, which is an interesting date by its numbers alone. 12-12-12 also happens to be part of the title for the concert for Sandy relief, which is airing on numerous channels tonight. And will feature performances by the Rolling Stones, Bon Jovi, Eric Clapton, Dave Grohl, Billy Joel, Alicia Keys, Chris Martin, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Roger Waters, Eddie Vedder, Kanye West, The Who and Paul McCartney.

Team Rubicon represents another group from a different 1% club. The men and women that risked their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan then turned around to risk them back home to help after disasters.

Team Rubicon
The entertainment portion of the show took a pause as a presentation honoring Team Rubicon and other volunteers who helped and are still helping with the rebuilding effort. Members of Team Rubicon noted that many people still do not have power - or homes to go back to for the holidays, and that help is needed.

The part that showed New York attitude was when Adam Sandler sang this song.

Sandy Screw You

It was really great to see so many people coming together to help others but what made it even more wonderful was they did it because they could feel compassion for others.

Team Rubicon makes top 5 of American Giving Awards

Team Rubicon Makes Top 5
by Kathie Costos
Wounded Times Blog
December 9, 2012

While it was wonderful to see so many people starting charities to take care of others as quiet heroes, my heart was cheering for Team Rubicon because of what has inspired them all this time.

American Giving Awards on NBC last night focused on how charities are not just doing good work for others, they are changing minds about the causes they work for.

"The Leadership Award was given to actress Glenn Close for her work with her non-profit organization Bring Change 2 Mind, which aims to end the stigma of mental illness. The cause is a personal one, because Close has family members that suffer from mental illness."

Glenn Close said “It's huge. You don't see that many things about mental illness. ... That shows that mental illness is not a comfortable thing for people to talk about, and the fact that they are giving me this award and my family — my sister, two of her children and my daughter are going to come up with me — because I think the image of a family together surrounding and supporting their members who have mental illness, there's no words for it. That's where I'm so moved and honored by this recognition and excited, actually, that we can put that image on television."

Families think they have to protect the member of the family with mental health illness but more and more are talking about it knowing there is no shame in having this type of illness anymore than there is any other illness.

Gary Sinise talked about how our veterans are showing up to help out areas hit by hurricane Sandy. A strong advocate for veterans and our troops, Sinise has been traveling the country and overseas entertaining the troops, visiting the wounded and working hard for our veterans.

The best part for me was when Team Rubicon made it into the top 5. This group is made up of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans traveling the country when disaster hits.

Mission Team Rubicon unites the skills and experiences of military veterans with medical professionals to rapidly deploy emergency response teams into crisis situations.

I have been tracking this organization since the suicide of Clay Hunt, one of the founding members.

Clay Hunt (1982-2011) was an original member of Team Rubicon, joining the team in Port-au-Prince for its first mission. Prior to Team Rubicon, Clay served two hard tours as a Marine Corps sniper with TR cofounder Jake Wood. Clay was wounded in combat in Iraq in 2007, only to return to duty and deploy again to Afghanistan in 2008. Clay was diagnosed with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) upon leaving the Marines.

Clay became a national face for PTSD awareness and suicide prevention, but sadly, Clay lost his battle with depressions when he took his own life in March, 2011. Clay’s death inspired Team Rubicon to focus on helping veterans through continued service in disasters; by doing so Team Rubicon can provide the purpose, self-worth and community that Clay so badly needed.

Team Rubicon was one of the nominees of the CNN Hero Awards as well.

Congratulations to all the winners of the awards and to More Than Me

CNN Heroes has Veterans

Mary Cortani, Operation Freedom Paws help war veterans train their own service dogs in northern California.

Jake Wood
COMMUNITY CRUSADER
Iraq war veteran Jake Wood started Team Rubicon, a nonprofit that brings military veterans together to help communities hit by natural disasters. Since 2010, the group has grown to 1,400 volunteers and carried out 14 missions around the world.



Lyrics to Heroes by Ne-Yo
Never doubt never doubt
Here for you, here for me
Worry not, I'll be there
Strength when you feel weak
In the dark when you can't see
Guiding light I will be
All I need all I need
Is for you to do the same for me
Cause

Even heroes need heroes sometimes
And even the strong need someone to tell them it's all right
Even heroes need heroes sometimes
Will you be my hero tonight?


Just above, up so high
Just above you is where I fly
But if I fall from the sky
On you, can I rely
I'll protect you from the world
Whenever I can
But will you do the same for me
Now and again

Even heroes need heroes sometimes
And even the strong need someone to tell them it's all right
Even heroes need heroes sometimes
Will you be my hero tonight?

Come to my, my rescue
Do for me as I do for you
Be my eyes when I am blind
'Cause no one can be strong all the time

Even heroes need heroes sometimes
Will you be my hero tonight? (will you be my hero?)

Even heroes need heroes sometimes (will you be my hero?)
And even the strong need someone to tell them it's all right (will you be my hero?)
Even heroes need heroes sometimes
Will you be my hero tonight? (will you be my hero?)
Will you be my hero tonight?

Firefighter answers call of duty for fallen son

Marine answers the call of duty for his slain son
by ERIC WILKINSON
KING 5 News
Posted on November 29, 2012

Mike Washington is one of three generations in his family who've dedicated their lives to serving others. The retired marine and 25 year Seattle firefighter taught his children the importance of being part of something bigger than themselves.

“I told them when people need help, why not help?” he said.

So, when Hurricane Sandy ravaged the East Coast, Washington rallied the troops in the Northwest, bringing desperately needed relief to New York and New Jersey. For two weeks the Northwest members of "Team Rubicon," a nationwide band of military brothers and sisters, helped storm victims dig out of the ruins of their former lives. It was a proud moment for this humble marine.

“I look at these young people and they've stepped up before and now they're stepping up again and thriving,” said Washington. “This is what they were meant to do.”

But this story isn't about Mike Washington or Team Rubicon, or even the victims of Hurricane Sandy. It's about someone who never set foot in the disaster zone, but is helping to inspire much of the good work being done there.

That inspiration comes in the form of a black and white photo taped to Washington's firehouse locker, and a tribute typed below it. It’s a picture of hope and promise.

It’s a picture of Mike Washington’s 20 year old son, Michael, killed in action in Afghanistan.
read more here

Hundreds of Veterans Help Sandy Victims and Each Other

Hundreds of Veterans Help Sandy Victims and Each Other
By JAMES DAO
November 14, 2012

They have come from as far as Alaska to tear down water-damaged walls and clear debris from flood-ravaged yards. They have been assigned team leaders and given marching orders. They have been asked to work in the rain, sleep on a gym floor and eat military Meals Ready to Eat. If that all sounds like a military humanitarian mission, well, that’s sort of the idea.

For the past week, hundreds of military veterans from across the nation have flocked to Far Rockaway, summoned by a beacon from Team Rubicon, a nonprofit created by veterans to help other veterans through a therapy known as disaster relief.

Team Rubicon was formed in 2010 by two Marines, Jake Wood and William McNulty, to help veterans who were struggling to find their way back into civilian life. The idea was to employ skills the veterans had learned in the military, combine them with some high-adrenaline action and give them a healthy dose of public service.

The result, they hoped, would be experiences that might renew the sense of purpose many veterans say they lose after separating from military life.

“We became a veterans service organization that happens to be good at disaster response,” Mr. McNulty said.
read more here

Team Rubicon spends Veterans Day Weekend helping after Hurricane Sandy

Hundreds of vets lend a hand in Sandy relief
By LEO SHANE III
Stars and Stripes
Published: November 10, 2012

The official New York City Veterans Day festivities take place Sunday in Manhattan, but members of Team Rubicon have been holding their own parade in Queens for the last week.

These volunteers — all skilled U.S. veterans — have been walking the main routes of the Rockaways, having traded their camouflage for uniforms of dirty jeans and group-issued T-shirts. The streets are clogged for their procession — but with storm surge sand and downed tree limbs, the remnants of SuperStorm Sandy and the nor’easter that arrived a week later.

Almost 400 veterans have joined the disaster relief organization’s efforts in the region, helping with search and rescue, shelter setup, aid logistics and basic cleanup.

“It’s our biggest effort to date,” said William McNulty, co-founder of Team Rubicon.

“The size and the scale of the damage down there is so huge. There are still blocks down there that haven’t seen much help. So we’re doing all we can to get to them.”

The group formed in 2010, with the goal of creating a rapid-response disaster relief team of U.S. veterans. They’ve sent volunteers to Haiti to work alongside Marines in earthquake recovery efforts; cleanup crews to Missouri and Texas after tornadoes; and evacuation teams to Louisiana after several hurricane landings.
read more here

Clay Hunt

Marine Clay Hunt another after combat casualty

Marine Clay Hunt became another after combat casualty when he took his own life. By all accounts, Hunt did everything experts say he needed to do. He went to the VA and got help. He talked about having PTSD openly, meaning the stigma induced silence was not a factor. Hunt went even beyond that and got involved trying to save the lives of others with PTSD. Even with all of this including an informed, supportive family, Hunt lost his battle after battle.

Family photo

Clay Hunt, 28, a Houston native, joined the Marines in 2005.

War casualty on the home front
A poster boy for suicide prevention, Houstonian becomes another statistic
By LINDSAY WISE
HOUSTON CHRONICLE
April 8, 2011, 6:43PM

"He thought the world was supposed to be a better place than it is, and he lived every day of his life thinking, perhaps naively, that his efforts could make the world be what he thought it should be."

Marine veteran Clay Hunt had a tattoo on his arm that quoted Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien: "Not all those who wander are lost."

"I think he was a lot more philosophical about life than a lot of us are, but trying to search for some inner peace and the meaning of life, what was the most important thing," said his father, Stacy Hunt.

His son's quest ended last week when he took his own life at his Sugar Land apartment.

The 28-year-old had narrowly escaped death in Iraq four years ago, when a sniper's bullet missed his head by inches. But he wrestled with post-traumatic stress disorder and survivor's guilt over the deaths of four friends in his platoon who weren't so lucky.

"Two were lost in Iraq, and the other two were killed in Afghanistan," said his mother, Susan Selke. "When that last one in Afghanistan went down, it just undid him."

In many ways, Hunt's death is all too familiar: the haunted veteran consumed by a war he can't stop fighting.

Suicides among Texans younger than 35 who served in the military jumped from 47 in 2006 to 66 in 2009 - an increase of 40 percent, according to state records.

The problem seems increasingly intractable. Efforts by the Pentagon and Department of Veterans Affairs to stop the alarming rise in military suicides nationwide through training and screening have had limited success.
read more here
War casualty on the home front

When they come home with PTSD and the family was very involved in their healing, it should stun every expert. What is still missing in what we're trying to do? Why are they still reaching the point where hope has vanished to the point they do not want to survive one more day?

When they come home, deny they need help, we've pointed to that as a factor in their suicide. We say, help is available, PTSD came at them and was not caused by them. We keep talking until they get to that place within where they understand there is nothing to be ashamed of at all. Most of the time it works to the point where they want to get into treatment to heal. Then we think, ok, our job is done but we never seem to be able to wonder why so many are still calling the suicide prevention hotlines. We stop wondering why it still reaches that level of desperation they feel the need to call.

When they come home and their family turns them away, kicks them out, we say it is because their family is not supportive, didn't understand what was going on so they couldn't cope. So we end up pushing for more awareness, more understanding and more support for the families. Well aware that this is the number one cause of veterans becoming homeless we believe if we can help the families, we can prevent the homeless veteran population from growing. Yet here is a family with everything in place and still they are left to grieve for a death that did not have to happen.

Is it because of some medications being given with warnings of causing suicidal thoughts? Is it because a lot of them mix alcohol with their medications or have drug interactions? Are they not hearing what they need to know in therapy? Is it the clergy not getting involved to help them heal spiritually? Is it the lack of knowledge the general public has about where we sent them? What do we keep missing or is it all so complicated that we need to understand that sometimes everything is just not enough?

All of their deaths break my heart but when I read a story like this, it is very hard because he is one more reminder that no matter how far we've come since the early 80's, we are still not where we need to be to stop losing more after combat than during it.