Soldiers in WTU with PTSD degraded and told to "man up"

Why do they not go for help? Why do they feel as if there is still a reason to be ashamed? The answer is because of the attitude of too many in the military.

"Howard said the WTU medical staff tried to help but the unit’s non-medical commanders treated him more like a drunk and a troublemaker who needed to be punished, not a soldier suffering from PTSD who needed compassion."

This is the result of "resilience training" telling them it was their fault. When brass told soldiers it is to make them mentally tough, that meant they were mentally weak. When brass told them this, it was because of what they actually believed no matter how many years have proven them wrong.

Injured Heroes, Broken Promises: Injured Soldiers Question Training of WTU Leaders
Soldier with PTSD questions being given leadership role inside WTU
NBC 5 and Dallas Morning News
By Scott Friedman, Eva Parks and David Tarrant
November 24, 2014

NBC 5 Investigates found hundreds of injured soldiers complain of harassment and verbal abuse inside the Army’s Warrior Transition Unit’s (WTUs) that were designed to help active duty soldiers heal.

Now, more questions have surfaced about how the Army chooses WTU commanders and how much training they’re receiving to care for injured soldiers.

NBC 5 Investigates teamed up with The Dallas Morning News for a six month investigation to uncover stunning allegations described by soldiers recovering in Texas from the wounds of war.

Spc. Michael Howard returned home to Texas Dec. 24, 2011. It was the moment every family waits for. “Life was perfect that day,” said Robin Howard, Michael’s wife.

But for Robin and Michael Howard, the homecoming wasn’t the happy ending it appeared to be.

Michael Howard served as an Army medic in Southeastern Iraq and the images of combat traveled home with him.

Suffering from post-traumatic stress he tried to erase the memories by self-medicating with alcohol to get rid of the pain.

The Army sent Howard to the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Hood, which is one of more than 20 special units created across the country to treat mentally and physically injured soldiers.

When Howard first arrived at the unit he said he was expecting to find relief but instead found nothing but stress.

Howard said the WTU medical staff tried to help but the unit’s non-medical commanders treated him more like a drunk and a troublemaker who needed to be punished, not a soldier suffering from PTSD who needed compassion.

He said commanders told him to “man-up” and “get over it,” even calling him degrading and offensive names.
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Part One

WTF! Fort Hood WTU Mistreatment of Wounded Soldiers!

PTSD soldiers treated like recruits "had to be whipped into shape" and they wonder why soldiers don't want to seek help?

Injured Heroes, Broken Promises: Hundreds of Soldiers Allege Mistreatment at Army Warrior Transition Units
Wounded soldiers found harassment and verbal abuse from commanders assigned to care for the injured.
By Scott Friedman, Eva Parks and David Tarrant
NBC 5 and Dallas Morning News
November 24, 2014

NBC 5 Investigates has learned hundreds of America's active duty soldiers have complained about harassment, verbal abuse and mistreatment at the Army’s Warrior Transition Units that were designed to help the injured heal.

NBC 5 investigative reporter Scott Friedman teamed up with The Dallas Morning News' Dave Tarrant for a six-month investigation to uncover the stunning allegations described by soldiers recovering in Texas from the wounds of war.

The soldiers returned home injured, both physically and mentally, and were once again under attack as they were ridiculed, harassed and threatened by commanders assigned to help the recover.

Army Sgt. Zack Filip served as a combat medic at a primitive outpost in Afghanistan earning a bronze star for valor as he treated the wounded in harsh conditions, under nearly constant attack.

"I thought I was going to die there. I mean I had actually prayed about it and came to peace with the fact that I was going to die," said Filip.

Filip came home to Fort Hood suffering from post-traumatic stress — haunted by things he had seen. Then came another nightmare; the 2009 Fort Hood shooting that left 13 dead.

Filip jumped into action — helping save the life of a wounded police officer. For his heroics The Army Times named him the 2010 "Army Soldier of the Year."

"I was just kind of in awe of the whole situation”, Filip said.
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Fort Stewart soldier killed on Florida beach, daughter in critical condition

Man killed in beach plane crash was veteran, family man
Bay 9 News
July 28, 2014

Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured.

VENICE
The man killed Sunday on a beach near Venice was a seasoned U.S. soldier who survived two tours of duty in Iraq.

Sgt. 1st Class Ommy Irizarry, 36, and his daughter, 9-year-old Oceana, were hit while walking on the beach. Ommy was killed, and Oceana was badly injured. She remains in critical condition at All Children's Hospital in St. Petersburg.

Originally from Puerto Rico, Irizarry lived with his family on base at Fort Stewart in southeast Georgia. The family was vacationing in Florida.
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Sad update

“He was a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.”

Soldier remembered for ‘indomitable spirit’
Fort Hood Sentinel
By Gloria Montgomery, WTB Public Affairs
MAY 15, 2014

WTB Soldiers render a final salute to Capt. Jeremy Linn during an April 30 memorial service at the 73rd Street Chapel. Linn, 33, died April 8 from a terminal illness.
Photo by Gloria Montgomery, WTB Public Affairs

Warrior Transition Brigade Soldiers, Family and friends celebrated the life of Capt. Jeremy Linn during a memorial ceremony April 30 at the 73rd Street Chapel.

Linn, who was assigned to Community-Based Warrior Transition Unit-Arkansas, died April 8 from a terminal illness.

“Captain Linn was an exemplary military police officer. He was a mission-first Soldier – a lethal, focused package of competence,” said Lt. Col. Roberto Marin, WTB’s executive officer. “Whether on dangerous missions on patrol in Iraq or on the mountains of Afghanistan, Linn was a leader to the core. He had an indomitable spirit.”

Linn’s company commander, Capt. Kanika Haynes, also praised Linn for his mission-first attitude.

“The challenges he faced were very difficult and tiresome, yet Capt. Linn remained positive and faced his challenges with strength and courage,” she said. “He was a model Soldier who lived the Army Values despite his condition,” adding that even in his sickness, he maintained his arms, his equipment and himself.

“He stood ready to deploy, engage and destroy the enemy in close combat,” she said. “He was a guardian of freedom and the American way of life.”
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Where is the safety net for Wounded Warriors?

Remote care for wounded warriors raises concern
Army Times
Joe Gould
Staff Reporter
Apr. 24, 2014

“Of 27,000, you’re going to manage at least 20,000 in a remote manner, so how can we be assured you won’t have the same problem other services have had, or return to 10 years ago,” Stone said. “What’s the safety net?”

The potential for thousands of wounded soldiers to have to rely on remote medical care has some Defense Department healthcare officials challenging Army logic.

Members of the Recovering Warrior Task Force, an organization which oversees the services’ wounded warrior programs, at a recent business meeting in Arlington, Va., questioned the wisdom of providing remote care to soldiers with complicated healthcare needs.

“When I take your website and your [presentation], how do we not assume that your intent is to indirectly manage this very complex population?” Dr. Richard Stone, a member of the task force, asked Tom Webb, deputy to the commander of Army Warrior Transition Command, on April 16.

Driven by a shrinking wounded warrior population, the Army announced in January it would restructure community-based care for wounded warriors. It will launch 13 new Community Care Units across 11 installations by Sept. 30, and mothball its nine Community-Based Warrior Transition Units, which primarily provide care for Reserve and National Guard troops. These units support more than 1,300 soldiers.

Community-Based Warrior Transition Units provide remote management to soldiers whose medical needs were not deemed complex and are able to live with their families. These units are to be replaced by Community Care Units nested within Warrior Transition Battalions on active-duty Army installations, cutting administrative overhead.
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Hunting for Heroes at Fort Polk

Hunting for heroes
Recovering veterans appreciate outing
News Star.com
Written by
Margaret Croft
February 8, 2014

There was only one rabbit taken in a Saturday morning hunt for 13 recovering Army veterans from the warrior transition units at Fort Polk in Louisiana and Fort Sam Houston in Texas, but everyone involved in the event at Chemin-A-Haut State Park near Bastrop thought it was a rousing success.

“Going on these hunts and participating in this stuff really does help us break up the monotony of going to appointments and the everyday life,” said Iraq veteran Jeff Leger of the Fort Polk unit. “It means a lot to me that these guys put in their time, and they volunteer to bring us out here and get us away from the everyday life of injuries and doctor’s appointments and all the things we have to go through back at Fort Polk.”

The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, the Louisiana Office of State Parks and the Louisiana Hunters for Heroes combined to sponsor the weekend rabbit hunt at Chemin-A-Haut in “appreciation for their service.” The hunt took place at Ben Lilly Conservation Area adjacent to the park.
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Army close 14 Warrior Transition Units

Army Closes 14 Wounded Warrior Transition Units
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan
Jan 09, 2014

The new warrior transition care units will be stood up at Fort Carson, Colo.; Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.; Fort Hood and Bliss, Texas; Fort Riley, Kan.; Fort Knox, Ky.; Fort Benning, Fort Stewart and Fort Gordon, Ga.; Fort Bragg, N.C.; and Fort Belvoir, Va.

With American combat operations in Afghanistan winding down, the Army has determined it can meet wounded troops' needs at home with fewer warrior transition units -- those set up especially for troops requiring at least six months of intensive care.

Brig. Gen. David Bishop, commander of the Warrior Transition Command, said Thursday the Army will shut down 14 Wounded Warrior transition units. He emphasized that the closure and reorganization of the units have nothing to do with the federal budget or the sequestration cuts.
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This is how you get Christmas cards to wounded war fighters

State Rep. Joe Dorman delivers Christmas cards for Wounded Warriors
The Express-Star
December 27, 2013

— Several thousand handmade Christmas cards for wounded warriors at Fort Sill were delivered recently by state Rep. Joe Dorman.

The holiday greetings were made primarily by children from various schools and churches, the Rush Springs Democrat related. In addition, adults making out their Christmas card lists were asked to remember a soldier unable to be home with his or her family this holiday season.

“We delivered the cards to the post chaplain on Thursday,” Representative Dorman said.

The cards will be handed out to soldiers recovering at Fort Sill’s Reynolds Army Hospital and the post’s Warrior Transition Unit.
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Therapeutic garden unearths soldier’s will

Therapeutic garden unearths soldier’s will
Beauregard Daily News
By Kathy Ports
Posted Dec. 13, 2013

Working in a therapeutic garden she helped develop has given Staff Sgt. Carolyn Darnell, a demobilized National Guard soldier in the Warrior Transition Unit, the strength to emerge from her room and the motivation to begin working her way out of her depression.

“Working in the garden allows you to let your mind go,” she said. “I gently planted those plants, nurtured them, watched them grow and it gave me the strength to come out of the dark cave I was in."

Darnell deployed to Iraq twice –– 2004 to 2006 and 2007 to 2009. From 2009 to July 2012, she was mobilized at Camp Shelby, Miss. Each deployment took its toll.

“My first deployment was tough," she said. We sustained a lot of mortar attacks. One time, I was on the phone with my mother and the shelling started. I really thought that I was going to die that night and I didn’t want my mother to be on the other end of the telephone if the end came."

The first deployment had more tough lessons in store for Darnell.
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Exclusive: 76,000 soldiers 'chaptered out' of benefits since 2006

This is on Al Jazeera and based on what Wounded Times has been reporting, it should be trusted but what bothers me is why didn't the other members of the press do this kind of work?

Exclusive: 76,000 soldiers 'chaptered out' of benefits since 2006
by Sheila MacVicar
November 11, 2013

Jerrald Jensen joined the Army when he was 34 – much older than the average recruit. He wascalled to duty, his wife says, by the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001.

In 2006, he deployed to Iraq, where he was the driver for a commander in his unit. By all accounts, he was an exemplary soldier.

In the fall of 2007, his patrol was attacked, and an explosive blew off part of his face and pierced his body with shrapnel. Jensen still managed to drive away from the attack, saving his commander, before being shot in the arm and the back. That incident resulted in a Purple Heart.

Doctors had to rebuild his jaw with titanium. After two years and 16 surgeries, Jensen volunteered for a second combat tour, this time in Afghanistan. He was assigned to Bari Alai, a remote U.S. outpost that faced nearly daily attacks from the Taliban. Six months into his tour, he fell while running to a gun post and rebroke his jaw.

Doctors did their best to patch him up, but half of Jensen's face was permanently numb, and he lost his remaining teeth. He felt he'd had enough. Soon, he was transferred to the Warrior Transition Unit, a special unit in Fort Carson, Colo., set up to help wounded active-duty soldiers heal and transition into civilian life.

Once there, Jensen told America Tonight that WTU commanders seemed bent on getting rid of him. He said they wrote him up for minor infractions, like showing up late to a medical appointment, or making an incomplete stop at a stop sign.

Then, on a routine urine test, Jensen came up positive for amphetamines. He had been prescribed the decongestant pseudoephedrine and narcotics for his injuries, which can cause a false positive, so he asked to be re-tested. Instead, WTU commanders told him they were kicking him out of the Army for what they called a pattern of misconduct.
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Illness Claims Life of Fort Hood Soldier from Florida

Fort Hood soldier with terminal illness dies 
Killeen Daily Herald
October 30, 2013

Fort Hood officials on Tuesday released the name of a soldier who died Friday from a terminal illness in Copperas Cove.

Staff Sgt. Jason Allan Hicks, 40, of North Miami, Fla., entered active duty service in January 1994 as an infantryman. He was assigned to Fort Hood’s Warrior Transition Brigade since March 2012.

Hicks’s deployments include four tours to Iraq between 2003 and 2011; Kosovo operations from February 1999 to September 1999; and Operation Joint Endeavor to support efforts in Bosnia from December 1995 to December 1996.
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Wounded Soldiers ride 167 miles in two-day cycling trip

Wounded warrior bike trek ends with no one left behind
Soldiers ride 167 miles in two-day cycling trip
Leaf-Chronicle
Written by Philip Grey
Sep. 26, 2013

FORT CAMPBELL, KY. — The first Bluegrass Rendezvous – a two-day 167-mile bike ride from Fort Knox to Fort Campbell – came to a successful conclusion on Wednesday afternoon as a group of 40 cyclists hit the finish line at Fort Campbell with everyone who started the ride at Fort Knox.

Following a half-hour rest stop in Guthrie, Ky., the cyclists completed the last 17-mile leg strong and fast, actually getting back to Fort Campbell and the finish line at the Warrior Transition Battalion well ahead of schedule.

It would have been an amazing performance and a proud moment for anyone, but for the wounded, ill and injured soldiers of the Fort Knox and Fort Campbell Warrior Transition Units, who comprised over half of the group, it was a statement that they were far from out of the game of life, and actually more fit than many who have never endured the kind of adversity some of these warriors have faced.
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Oregon sees its own surge in military suicides: Four so far in 2013

Oregon sees its own surge in military suicides: Four so far in 2013
The Oregonian
By Mike Francis
September 08, 2013

At the funeral service for Brady Hammer in Klamath Falls this summer, Travis Nelson, a cousin of Hammer's delivers the salute to Marie Hammer, Brady's mother, who holds the folded flag in her lap. Brady Hammer's sister, Lacee Valentine of Grants Pass, wearing a pink flannel shirt, sits to her mother's right, and his other sister, Kayla King of Oregon City, in the green shirt, sits to her left.
(Courtesy of Lacee Valentine)

Brady Hammer, an Oregon National Guard soldier who died in Texas on July 28 from what El Paso police say was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, was a "happy-go-lucky person," according to his sister.

But the 24-year-old's moods were affected by a confusing cocktail of medications prescribed by his doctors at the Warrior Transition Unit at Fort Bliss, where he had been treated for post-traumatic stress disorder, said his sister, Lacee Valentine of Grants Pass and his mother, Marie Hammer of Klamath Falls.
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Fort Carson Wounded Transitioned to Betrayed

Left Behind No break for the wounded
The Gazette
By Dave Philipps
May 13, 2013

Jerrald Jensen holds a rocket-propelled grenade launcher at his outpost in Afghanistan in 2009. He deployed to Afghanistan after being Injured in Iraq.

A roadside bomb hit Sgt. Jerrald Jensen's Humvee in Iraq, punching through heavy armor and shooting a chunk of hot metal into his head at several times the speed of sound, shattering his face and putting him in a coma. "I wasn't supposed to live," the veteran lisped with half a tongue through numb lips.

"No one knows why I did. It's shocking." Even more shocking is what Jensen did next. After 16 surgeries, the sergeant volunteered to go back to combat in one of the most savage corners of Afghanistan, where he was injured again. Perhaps most shocking, though, is what happened when he got home.

Jensen returned to recover in a battalion at Fort Carson designed to care for wounded soldiers called the Warrior Transition Unit. In the WTU, the soldier with a heroic record said he encountered a hostile environment where commanders, some of whom had never deployed, harassed and punished the wounded for the slightest misstep while making them wait many weeks for critical medical care and sometimes canceling care altogether.

In 2011, a year after joining the WTU, just days after coming out of a surgery, Jensen tested positive for the drug amphetamine. The then-41-year-old asked to be retested, suggesting his many Army prescriptions might be to blame. His commander refused and instead gave Jensen the maximum punishment, cutting his rank to private, docking his pay and canceling surgery to fix his face so he could spend weeks mopping floors, picking weeds and scrubbing toilets.

Then, Jensen said, WTU leaders said he should be discharged for misconduct — the equivalent of getting fired — with an other-than-honorable rating that could bar him from medical benefits for life.

"To call guys who sacrificed so much dishonorable and kick them out with nothing?" said Jensen, who is now out of the Army, living in a small apartment with blankets covering the windows because his injuries make him sensitive to light. "Christ sake, man, it is a disgrace." read more here
Also
Other than honorable way to treat combat wounded, Army kicks them out

FOX Sports visits Warrior Transition Unit

FOX Sports Video
Mar 25, 2013
The Warrior Transition Unit is a place where soldiers who are returning from battle go to rehabilitate physically and mentally.

WTU ‘Lifeliners’ getting back into the fight

WTU ‘Lifeliners’ getting back into the fight
December 6, 2012
by Staff Sgt. Peter Sinclair
101st Sustainment Brigade

Soldiers at Fort Campbell continuously train hard for the wartime mission but sometimes stepping back from the fight to get help is necessary. Making tough decisions is a common occurrence in the business of soldiering. A negative stigma associated with seeking help is a challenge for even the toughest Soldiers of all ranks. Some may even feel that addressing mental or physical issues may shows signs of weakness.

The Army has gone through great lengths to address this stigma. The Warrior Transition Unit is just one the Army’s tools that aid Soldiers in their recovery process. The WTU is a unit that gives guidance, mentorship and extra time to those who need it in order to get back to duty or in some cases back into the civilian workforce.

Colonel Charles Hamilton, commander of the 101st Sustainment Brigade “LifeLiners,” 101st Airborne Division, sat down with wounded warriors from his brigade at the “LifeLiner” dining facility, Nov. 29, to ensure that his Soldiers know that they are still part of his team even though they are assigned to the WTU.
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Operation Warfighter helps prep Soldiers for next step at Fort Hood

Operation War Fighter helps prep Soldiers for next step
By Heather Graham-Ashley
Fort Hood Sentinel News Editor
DECEMBER 6, 2012

With his exit from military service looming, Sgt. Eric Hegre is preparing for the next step, his civilian career.

The Warrior Transition Brigade Soldier visited a job fair Nov. 28 on post, then a transition assistance workshop hosted by Operation Impact at the Education Center, and continued his career networking at the Operation Warfighter Job Fair on Nov. 30, all part of Warrior Care Month activities.

Operation Warfighter, a federal internship program for wounded, ill and injured service members, helps pair WTB Soldiers with employers to help augment resumes and give Soldiers valuable work experience and skills to assist with their careers after the military.

“This is a great opportunity for these guys,” Erasmo Valles, regional coordinator, Operation Warfighter, said. “Something like this gives service members an opportunity to see they can still move forward and be successful, regardless of their issues.”

At the Operation Warfighter Job Fair, WTB Soldiers met with representatives from federal agencies that are seeking service members for unpaid internship programs, as well as personnel from colleges and services available to assist wounded warriors as they transition from the service. Any wounded, ill or injured Soldier is eligible for the Operation Warfighter program.
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Wife protests treatment of PTSD husband at Fort Bragg

Wife says Army skimping on treating soldiers with PTSD
FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.

An Army wife staged a personal protest along a busy Fayetteville thoroughfare on Monday, trying to draw attention to what she says is inadequate care by the Army of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

"The Army is not listening," said Krystal Reilly, as she sat at the edge of a Target parking lot along Skibo Road.

Reilly's husband, Staff Sgt. Charles Reilly, is a Special Forces soldier who has been deployed six times in the past decade. She said psychiatrists have diagnosed him with PTSD, and he's assigned to Fort Bragg's Warrior Transition Battalion, where soldiers recover from physical and mental wounds.

"Every day is a challenge. He has anxiety attacks. He has panic attacks," the 32-year-old mother of two said.

Krystal Reilly said her husband's superior officers have downplayed his threats to himself and his family. She said she believes that the Army doesn't want to pay the cost of caring for PTSD patients.
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Reporter fights for change at Fort Sam Houston

Hybrid versus Handicap
Reported by: Mireya Villarreal
It's reserved - But is it deserved?

A video posted on Youtube.com shows hybrid vehicles being allowed to park closer than wounded service members living at the Warrior Transition Unit (WTU).

It’s a hybrid versus handicapped battle brought forward by a solider staying at the Joint Base San Antonio Fort Sam Houston facility.

Kent Ployhar lives at the Warrior Transition Unit after being injured by a grenade attack overseas. Eventually, he'll walk again. But not everyone living at the WTU is that lucky. So, after just a week of living at the complex, Kent posted a Youtube video.
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Fort Bragg WTU needs to give better care

Report: Bragg WTU needs to give better care
By Joe Gould -
Staff writer
Posted : Sunday Apr 29, 2012

An investigation into claims of maltreatment of soldiers at the Fort Bragg, N.C., warrior transition battalion found the post needs to improve the way it selects and trains its staff, and that the staff needs to communicate better with the troops in their care.

“From our position, the perception of that soldier and his wife is reality,” said Brig. Gen. Michael X. Garrett, the departing 18th Airborne Corps chief of staff, referring to publicized complaints about the WTU. “And so we’re trying to figure out, how do we better connect with him? How do we better keep him informed? How do we better prepare leaders for what I would argue is one of the most difficult tasks in our Army?”

Lt. Gen. Frank G. Helmick, the commanding general of 18th Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg, ordered the investigation after an advocacy group told him in February that soldiers in the battalion were being overmedicated, poorly treated and unfairly discharged.

The inspector general’s report was not released, but Garrett summarized the inspector general’s findings in a news conference on the post April 17. He told reporters they can request the report from the Inspector General’s Office at Army headquarters under the Freedom of Information Act. Army Times has made that request but had not received the report by press time.
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