'The Real World': Ryan Conklin talks about getting called back to Iraq"

'The Real World': Ryan Conklin talks about getting called back to Iraq
07:46 AM PT, Mar 18 2009
"The Real World: Brooklyn's" Ryan Conklin is only 23, but he's preparing to serve his second tour of duty in Iraq. He first enlisted after 9/11, when he was just 17, and several times since has narrowly escaped with his life. He also experienced the death of a close friend.
On tonight's episode, Conklin will get the call back into action, which he describes as devastating. (He's scheduled to go back on April 15.) Last week, he phoned in from Camp Shelby, Miss., where he's training with other military members of the Individual Ready Reserve, to explain how he's adjusted to the unexpected situation and why he feels lucky to have been selected to be on the umpteenth iteration of an MTV reality show.

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Our troops need more time between deployments

Our troops need more time between deployments

A Marine is reunited with his family at Twentynine Palms after a fifth tour of duty to Iraq. (Lance Iversen / The Chronicle)

Ellen Tauscher

Thursday, February 12, 2009
Having fought two wars on two fronts for more than seven years, our troops are tired and our military's equipment is worn out.

The demands of multiple deployments in quick succession have taken a toll on our troops, who suffer on a personal level, experiencing higher rates of suicide, divorce and post-traumatic stress disorder. This has hampered the military's ability to respond to another crisis somewhere else in the world to protect America's interests.

That's why Congress must pass legislation making sure the military services guarantee "dwell time," a period of time to rest and regroup, for our soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines.

Active-duty troops should have at least a month of rest for every month they were deployed in a combat zone. Reservists and National Guardsman should have at least three months of rest for each month of deployment.

The pace of deployments needed to sustain combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan has taken a toll on our servicemen and servicewomen, who silently endure emotional fatigue and distress. They have missed their children's births, their parents' funerals and learned of divorces on blogs and Web sites.
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Broken Military Marriages: Another Casualty of War

Broken Military Marriages: Another Casualty of War
By Stacy Bannerman, AlterNet. Posted January 23, 2009.



If politicians want to protect marriage, they should work to support veterans and military families.

More than 13,000 military marriages ended last year, and mine came dangerously close to becoming one of them, but it wasn’t because of some gays getting hitched. Military marriages are at increasingly high risk of failure, and combat is the cause.

Most of the boots on the ground in Iraq are worn by Marines, active duty Army, or Army National Guard. They have served the most and longest deployments, seen the most combat, and suffered the most injuries, both physical and psychological. In 2008, the active-duty Army and Marines also had a higher percentage of failed marriages than the Navy or Air Force, whose rates held steady or decreased slightly.

Divorce rates for women in the Army or Marines were nearly three times that of their male counterparts, which speaks volumes about the effect of war on women, as well as the gender roles, societal expectations, and resiliency of their husbands. The fact that the Veterans Administration has just a handful of gender-specific treatment programs for women, and there’s been scant attention, research, and support for women veterans speaks for itself.

A study published in Armed Forces & Society revealed that male combat veterans were 62 percent more likely than civilian males to have at least one failed marriage. In 2006, Kansas State University professor Walter Schumm surveyed 337 soldiers at Fort Riley who had recently returned from Iraq. 6.1 percent said they would probably divorce, and 12.2 percent indicated that they would be divorcing. By comparison, two to four percent of civilian marriages end in divorce each year.

Due to the unprecedented deployments of citizen soldiers and the unique challenges faced by the families they leave behind, divorce rates among Guard and Reservists may be even higher than active duty. The military doesn’t monitor the divorce rates of citizen soldiers, who are more likely than active duty troops to be married, and nearly twice as likely to have combat-related stress. According to SOFAR (Strategic Outreach to Families of All Reservists), "20 percent of returned married troops are planning a divorce, [and] problems in relationships in families are four times higher after … deployment."
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Military families turn to more resources to cope

As number of deployments rises, military families turn to more resources to cope

08:24 PM PST on Thursday, December 25, 2008

By MARK MUCKENFUSS
The Press-Enterprise

Reports in recent months on the state of the military family have not been encouraging.

Earlier this month, The Associated Press reported that military documents showed a 12percent increase in the divorce rate among Marines in the past year. Recent studies, including at least one conducted by the military, show an elevated risk of domestic violence among military personnel and veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder. Cases of post-traumatic stress are on the rise.

The strain placed on relationships by military deployments is never easy. But the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have brought an unprecedented number of repeated deployments that experts say put even more demands upon individual soldiers and their families.

NUMBERS INCREASE

But Marianne Espinoza knows that other couples struggle. She deals with them on a daily basis. So does Peter Morris, program manager for Family Advocacy at the Marine base in Twentynine Palms

"Of the people we're seeing, it seems that multiple deployments are complicating their lives," Morris said.

Although the number of Marines seeking counseling in his program hasn't risen significantly in the past year, he said, the percentage of those seeking help with anger management has nearly doubled. In fiscal year 2007, Morris said, his program saw 77 clients for anger management out of a total of 535. For 2008, the total number of clients rose slightly to 560, but anger management cases jumped to 144.

Morris attributes part of the increase to better promotion of his program's services and an increased effort to identify and treat Marines who may be having problems.

But, he said, "I think the doubling may also reflect that for some individuals the stress is telling."

This part is wrong. Too bad the reporter did not know the facts. The 300,000 is the number the RAND Corp. released in a study on PTSD. They also used another 350,000 for their TBI figures. There have been over 1.8 million deployed between Iraq and Afghanistan, just to clear the record up on this report.

TRAUMA TRANSFERS

Helga West is president and CEO of Witness Justice, a Maryland-based organization that advocates for victims of violent crime and, more recently, military personnel. A voluntary Web-based survey conducted by Witness Justice showed the trauma of the battlefield being transferred to the home front.

West admits that the 248 survey participants are "not very representative" of the military as a whole. More than 300,000 have served in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. Nonetheless, she believes the results should raise concerns. She points to the fact that 60 percent of the respondents said their family relationships had changed after deployment. Fifty-five percent said that family life was challenging after their return.
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http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_S_vets26.3879dbc.html

Town fights fears as guardsmen deploy again

Town fights fears as guardsmen deploy again


By Kevin Maurer and Mitch Weiss - The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Dec 21, 2008 15:36:36 EST

HAMLET, N.C. — Christian Tyler knew exactly how to get ready for her first day of school: She slipped into her uniform, poured a bowl of Apple Jacks and plopped down on the living room couch to watch cartoons and wait for her dad.

The 9-year-old knew nothing about what was to come next.

Because her dad is a part-time soldier in the National Guard, the house, the school and the town — they were new.

All of it came together in the past few weeks as Christian’s father, Jobel Barbosa, prepared to leave home this month to train for a yearlong deployment to Iraq. She wound up with her grandmother with plans to spend her days at Ashley Chapel Elementary, where she starts with no friends and wonders during class whether her father will be safe.

“I’m scared,” she said softly. “I don’t want him to go.”

It has been nearly six years since the United States invaded Iraq, and while the war is not forgotten, the singular sacrifices of America’s all-volunteer military and their families sometimes slip the minds of civilians focused on their own pain amid the deepening economic crisis.

There are roughly 100,000 members of the National Guard and Reserve on active duty, weekend warriors who leave home to fight on battlefields half a world away. In 2009, they will include the 76 soldiers of E Company, 120th Combined Arms Battalion, 30th Heavy Brigade Combat Team, North Carolina National Guard.

Each deployment shrouds the soldiers, their loved ones — and especially in places such as Hamlet, their communities — in uncertainty.

Christian, a nervous honor student with long black hair facing days without dad, joins suddenly single mothers struggling to take care of the kids, rookie soldiers with nervous dreams of battle and newlyweds with nightmares their spouses won’t return.

“When you pull all of them out of here, it’s not like this community will become a ghost town. But it has a ripple effect in a small town,” said longtime Hamlet Police Chief John Haywood, who grew up with many of the company’s men. “Every soldier has family and friends. And this will be on their minds until their loved ones come home.”
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Senator Jim Webb wants to put dwell-time rule into law

Webb wants to put dwell-time rule into law
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Dec 1, 2008 16:34:32 EST

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., is not giving up on his so-far unsuccessful bid to guarantee in law that troops will get as much time at home as they spend deployed.


Although the services generally have a 1:1 ratio of time deployed to time at home since U.S. ground forces in Iraq have returned to pre-surge levels, Webb sees benefits to putting the so-called “dwell time” plan into law. “While current policy has taken it down to 1:1, the only way to ensure that is to codify it,” said Webb spokeswoman Kimberly Hunter.

Webb plans to reintroduce legislation early next year, Hunter said, but has not decided when to press for a vote on what could be a key test of whether Democrats will have the support of at least a handful of moderate Republicans to push through legislation that was blocked earlier this year.

With two Senate races yet to be decided, Democrats have 58 votes if they get the support of the Senate’s two independents, just two short of the 60 votes needed to stop a filibuster and push legislation forward.

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Give you one guess on which party has been against doing this.

General Carter Ham would have 24 months between deployments

Just one more thing McCain got wrong when he voted against giving more dwell time between deployments. General Ham, well he has the best interests of the troops in mind.

Training soldiers for battle not only priority
By Nancy Montgomery, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Sunday, September 28, 2008



HEIDELBERG, Germany — Tough, thorough and relevant training for soldiers before they deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan is Gen. Carter Ham’s top priority. But it’s not the only one.

Ham has been assessing U.S. Army Europe policies and programs since his arrival as commander at the beginning of the month. He sees room for improvement.

On family support, he said, "I think we’re doing OK."

"First, they want their soldiers home," Ham said. "Next they want predictability. That’s a big rock in my rucksack."

Letting people know how often they’ll deploy and how much time they’ll have between deployments is difficult as the U.S. continues to call on its soldiers to fight two wars now in their fifth and seventh years and transform all at the same time — and with a new administration taking over in four months.

During a trip to Iraq last week, Ham and commanders there discussed the difficulty of repeatedly getting troops and equipment ready to deploy again after one year’s "dwell time," and spoke of how superior 24 months between deployments would be.

"A year sounds like a long time. But there’s block leave, returning equipment, schools …," Ham said. "You want to deploy them as well-trained as you can but you don’t want to deploy them tired. We want to give them as much time as we can at home."
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http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=57739

Florida National Guard:Families must deal with another wave of deployments

Families must deal with another wave of deployments
By By Jan Wesner, Times Staff Writer
In print: Monday, September 8, 2008

CLEARWATER — Look around. Your neighbors are likely firefighters, teachers, doctors, lawyers, parents and grandmas and grandpas. Look closer. Hundreds of people from the Tampa Bay area are also soldiers, sailors, airmen, Marines and members of the Coast Guard serving in the Florida National Guard or Reserves. About 3,100 Guard and Reserve troops from Florida are deployed to places like Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay. At least 300 are from units based locally. That number is set to go way up next year, when 3,500 members of the 53rd Brigade Combat Team in Tampa will head to Afghanistan.

"We've got another wave ahead of us," said Jon Myatt, spokesman for the Florida Department of Military Affairs.

That's no surprise to Lynda Lipke, whose husband, Chief Petty Officer Chris Lipke, is a reservist assigned to the Coast Guard Port Security Unit 307 in Clearwater.

He returned in April from a six-month deployment to Iraq, only to head out again in June for six months at Guantanamo Bay.
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http://www.tampabay.com/news/military/war/article800939.ece

Wounded body, mind and medicated

the battle within
Soldiering on in pain
Troops who return from war with battered bodies and minds are increasingly turning to prescription medication to ease their injuries.
By David Olinger and Erin Emery
The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 08/25/2008 11:21:18 PM MDT

Strain of duty surfaces

Military officials say there is no way to track how much pain and behavioral medication is being consumed by soldiers at war in Iraq and Afghanistan, in part because soldiers and military doctors often bring medication from home when they're sent overseas.

Annual surveys by a military mental- health advisory team, however, have asked soldiers whether they have taken medicine for mental health, combat stress or sleep problems. The number who said yes jumped from 8 percent in 2004 to 14 percent in 2005, then dipped to 12 percent in 2006. Last year, one in eight soldiers surveyed in Iraq and one in seven in Afghanistan said they had taken sleeping pills or antidepressants.

If those surveys are accurate, nearly 20,000 soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan took mental-health or sleep medication last year. According to Ritchie, about half of those soldiers took antidepressants.

By comparison, roughly one in 20 American men and one in 10 American women reported taking an antidepressant in the most recent survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

For three straight years, the mental- health advisory team has reported that multiple deployments are affecting the Army's mental health. This year it reported that 27 percent of noncommissioned officers with three or more deployments had mental-health problems, compared with 12 percent on their first tour.

Alcohol use increased with second deployments, and soldiers deploying for the third or fourth time were "significantly more likely" to report they had stress or emotional problems that worried their supervisors and limited their ability to do their jobs.

The mental-health surveys do not ask how many soldiers go to war with physical pain or are regularly taking narcotics.
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http://www.denverpost.com/previous2/home/ci_10302929

Five deployments, a bad omen

Report: 57% of troops sent on combat tours

By Tom Vanden Brook - USA Today
Posted : Monday Aug 11, 2008 9:12:30 EDT

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon has pushed an increasing percentage of its troops to combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in the past two years, seeking to spread the burden on forces strained by multiple deployments, records show.

Through June, 57 percent of active-duty soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen have served in or near Iraq and Afghanistan. That’s up from 50 percent in August 2006.

The Army, which shoulders most of the combat, has shifted many soldiers to specialties needed for the fight. They include infantry, military police and intelligence. In 2006, 58 percent of active-duty soldiers had served combat tours. That compares with 68 percent in 2008. About 10 percent more are in initial training and soon will be eligible for a combat deployment, said Lt. Col. Anne Edgecomb, an Army spokeswoman. Soldiers who haven’t served in Iraq or Afghanistan may have medical problems, or they have specialties such as foreign language skills useful in other parts of the world, she said.

The percentage of soldiers who have served multiple deployments has jumped, as well. Today, 31 percent of soldiers have been to war zones more than once. That compares with 20 percent in 2006. The number of soldiers with more than five tours has increased to 2,358 in 2008, compared with 961 in 2006.
Martin said commanders should carefully monitor soldiers and Marines who face the most stressful combat assignments, calling them “canaries in the coal mine.”
“Those who are most exposed and in the most challenging spots are at greater risk for post-traumatic stress,” he said.

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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/08/gns_deployments_081108/

I post this last year on this blog. The report came out in December 2006

Repeat Iraq Tours Raise Risk of PTSD, Army Finds

By Ann Scott Tyson

Washington Post Staff Writer

Wednesday, December 20, 2006; Page A19

U.S. soldiers serving repeated Iraq deployments are 50 percent more likely than those with one tour to suffer from acute combat stress, raising their risk of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Army's first survey exploring how today's multiple war-zone rotations affect soldiers' mental health
http://woundedtimes.blogspot.com/2007/08/ignoring-increased-risk-of-ptsd-in.html

So why is it no one took this seriously? Why didn't anyone do anything about the Army and National Guards and Reservists carrying the weight of the two occupations on their shoulders? The results are devastating. Increased suicides. Increased attempted suicides. Increased PTSD wounded and there is no end to the redeployments. Yet they wonder why there are so many.



The time between deployments is not good either.

Statement of Colonel Charles W. Hoge, M.D., USA
Director, Division of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
Walter Reed Army Institute of Research
Department of the Army, U.S. Department of Defense

Soldiers encounter a variety of traumatic experiences and stresses as part of their professional duties. The majority cope extraordinarily well and transition home successfully. However, surveys in the post-deployment period have shown that rates of mental health problems, particularly PTSD, remain elevated and even increase during the first 12 months after return home, indicating that 12 months is insufficient time to reset the mental health of Soldiers after a year-plus combat tour. Many of the reactions that we label as “symptoms” of PTSD when Soldiers come home are, in fact, adaptive skills necessary in combat that Soldiers must turn on again when they return for their next deployment.

http://veterans.house.gov/hearings/Testimony.aspx?TID=16657&Newsid=188&Name=%20Colonel%20Charles%20W.%20Hoge,%20M.D.,%20USA

This testimony has different figures on the redeployment risk and also credits BatttleMind with some seeking help in 30 days. This is very troublesome. It is also troublesome that the report also said that there are less than half seeking treatment.

How many reports do we need to read before the DOD takes any of the seriously? The Army and citizen soldiers have the longest deployments, not enough time between them and not enough understanding of what PTSD is so they can and do get help as soon as possible.

There are far too many coming home, waiting to "get over it" and when they understand they cannot get over it on their own, they are redeployed instead of treated. They go back into battle mode already wounded, cycle back into life back home only they are more wounded than they were the first time home. Now think of 5 deployments "five tours has increased to 2,358 in 2008" and all of this is a bad omen of what we will be facing when we are unable to keep up with any of these wounded now.

When it comes to doing outreach work, the DOD and the VA have gotten better at it but we need to ask what good the outreach work is doing when there are still not enough mental health professionals now. The outreach work I do on the education end will do no good at all unless there are people there who can diagnose and treat our veterans. We need as many as we can get taking care of them. Time to stop taking baby steps and start to treat PTSD as if it was the most dangerous enemy this nation could ever face because it is. When we lose more after combat than we do during it, there is no stronger enemy on earth than the enemy who penetrates do deeply it attacks the soldiers as well as their families. Do we listed to the omen finally after it has been screaming for years?

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos

Namguardianangel@aol.com

www.Namguardianangel.org

www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

As wars lengthen, toll on military families mounts

As wars lengthen, toll on military families mounts
WRAL.com - Raleigh,NC,USA
Posted: Today at 1:01 p.m.
EDITOR'S NOTE - With troops fighting on foreign soil since late 2001, the United States is learning about the long-term toll of modern war on the home front. In the first of a three-part package of stories, The Associated Press examines some of the consequences for military families.

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. (AP) - Far from the combat zones, the strains and separations of no-end-in-sight wars are taking an ever-growing toll on military families despite the armed services' earnest efforts to help.

Divorce lawyers see it in the breakup of youthful marriages as long, multiple deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan fuel alienation and mistrust. Domestic violence experts see it in the scuffles that often precede a soldier's departure or sour a briefly joyous homecoming.

Teresa Moss, a counselor at Fort Campbell's Lincoln Elementary School, hears it in the voices of deployed soldiers' children as they meet in groups to share accounts of nightmares, bedwetting and heartache.

"They listen to each other. They hear that they aren't the only ones not able to sleep, having their teachers yell at them," Moss said.

Even for Army spouses with solid marriages, the repeated separations are an ordeal.
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Hood CSM: Army tired, undermanned but resolute

When I post about what is going on in Iraq, this is part of what I have a huge problem with. The soldiers are still willing to do their duty no matter how they are treated. They are still willing to lay down their lives no matter what happens at the top of the food chain.

Hood CSM: Army tired, undermanned but resolute

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 2, 2008 5:59:56 EDT

KILLEEN, Texas — A three-decade Army veteran called a “steel spine” by the defense secretary says he and most other soldiers would prefer never to deploy and fight again because they are tired, undermanned and under-equipped.

“We, the Army, have been rode hard and put up wet,” said Command Sgt. Maj. Neil L. Ciotola, Fort Hood’s senior noncommissioned officer. “We’re catching ourselves coming and going. ... In all honesty, ladies and gentlemen, I and the majority of us in uniform, and those that repeatedly support us are tired.”

Ciotola spoke at the Central Texas-Fort Hood Chapter of the Association of the United States Army where he was given an award for leadership Monday night.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/07/ap_hood_csm_070108/

When it was clear they were sent into Iraq, into the "quagmire" as predicted by Dick Cheney in the 90's when he played the role of Secretary of Defense, they were willing to go and give the administration a chance to prove themselves. They failed and the troops were left to fend for themselves. Given no grandiose plans to accomplish the mission they were sent on, given no back up with diplomatic warfare to engage the Iraqi people to participate, they still did their duty.

When it was clear the claims that Iraq was not a threat to us, they switched mode from fighting against into fighting for the Iraqi people. The Iraqi people however decided they wanted to fight against the troops. Fracture by sectarian inclinations instead of nationalism, old hatred and hunger for revenge, they then turned on each other while trying to kill the troops in their spare time.

When commanders decided that they would pay the people to stop fighting the troops, it seemed to work but no one knows what will happen when soon the money stops flowing from the US and the Iraqi government has not decided they will pay these militias instead.

When pressure was put on the administration to change the plans, yet excuses and demands to continue staying the course, prevented any kind of resolution of the occupation. Yet the troops still were willing to do their duty.

When they came home wounded and were neglected by the system never addressed to take care of their wounds, they were still willing to serve. When no one in Washington was paying attention to their suffering, they were still willing to serve. When the Army study on redeployments proved the fact they would increase the risk of PTSD by 50%, yet they did them anyway, the troops were still willing to do their duty.

Throughout all of these years, these men and women, no matter what was done to them and not done for them, they were still willing to serve. Yet instead of this nation stepping up to force the administration to pay attention to these men and women, they either decided that they would support the administration no matter what, or just ignore it entirely.

We cannot stop the occupation of Iraq anymore than we can accomplish the mission in Afghanistan, the forgotten occupation that should have been the top report since 2001, but what we can do today is make sure they are taken care of. We can make sure they get the rest between deployments that is necessary. We can make sure the National Guard and Reservists do not suffer financially for their lost incomes. We can make sure that when they come home wounded, they are treated with the dignity and respect they have all earned.

The Secretaries of the VA have regarded them as if they do not matter for far too long. James Peake will indicate that the administration has been moving mountains to address PTSD one day and the next he's dismissing the suffering as if they really don't matter. We can make sure that we do not ignore what they claim they are doing and demand proof of it.

While Battlemind, the program they are claiming is all so important, the facts prove the program does not work. If it worked there would not be an increase in the suicides and attempted suicides. Is anyone demanding proof to show how Battlemind is really performing? The media has been reporting on the claims of accomplishments as well as the devastating consequences but none of them have managed to put the two together. Are they paying attention enough? It's doubtful when we pick up a newspaper one day about more suicides one day and the next the administration is being patted on the back for something they claim is happening. We can make sure the media does their job reporting facts instead of just what they are told by people without proof.

There are things we can do for the sake of the troops even if we cannot bring them home. We can bring them home to a nation that actually lives up to being grateful for their willingness to serve no matter what the administration is putting them through. We cannot go on ignoring them. We all want them home as soon as possible but what are we doing to them between now and then and what are we expecting them to come home to?

Senior Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

UK:More than 10,000 troops unfit for frontline: report

More than 10,000 troops unfit for frontline: report

Mon Jun 23, 3:24 AM ET



LONDON (AFP) - More than 10,000 British soldiers are unfit for frontline duty as the pressure of supplying troops for years of conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan takes its toll on the army, the Sunday Telegraph reported.


The newspaper said the Ministry of Defence admits that 8,500 soldiers from the 59,000-strong "Field Army" -- units such as tank, artillery and infantry regiments --- are classified as unfit to serve at the front.

When other soldiers classified as unfit from the overall 101,800-strong army are taken into account, the total figure is likely to exceed 10,000, said the newspaper, which is traditionally close to the armed forces.

The figure of one in 10 soldiers classified as unfit for operations is the highest since the start of the Iraq war in 2003. Britain has been Washington's staunchest ally in Iraq and about 4,000 British troops are currently based there.
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080623/wl_uk_afp/britainmilitaryafghanistaniraq

Ranger on 7th tour killed in Afghanistan

Army Ranger Killed in Afghanistan -- On 7th Tour in War Zone

By Greg Mitchell

Published: May 01, 2008 3:40 PM ET

NEW YORK An Army Ranger from Ramona, Ca., was killed in Afghanistan on Tuesday—on his seventh tour of duty in that country or in Iraq.

Sgt. 1st Class David L. McDowell, 30, died Tuesday in Bastion, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered in a firefight when enemy forces attacked using small arms fires, according to the Pentagon.

His father was also an Army ranger.

McDowell had been deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq seven times and was a recipient of two Bronze stars and a Purple Heart. His most recent tour in Afghanistan began on March 29.

He is survived by his wife, his high school sweetheart, Joleen; son, Joshua, 11; daughter, Erin, 3; his parents; and two sisters.

http://www.editorandpublisher.com/eandp/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003797539

7th tour? Next time you believe they say there are not that many tours, remind them of this soldier. Two Bronze Stars and a Purple Heart.

Delicate Balance Between Troop Levels, Readiness

Apr-11-2008 14:25
Chairman: Delicate Balance Between Troop Levels, Readiness
Salem-News.com
All military leaders are concerned about the stress on the force, especially the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said shortening the Army’s deployment length from 15 months to 12 months, which President Bush announced yesterday, is a significant step forward in reducing stress on the force.

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) - As the United States continues its mission in Iraq and Afghanistan and also works to reduce deployment lengths for servicemembers, leaders must maintain a balance to ensure vital missions are carried out while maintaining the health of the force, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said today.

“There’s a very delicate balance right now between the needs, and our top mission right now is to deploy troops to Iraq and improve security there,” Navy Adm. Mike Mullen said on CNN’s “American Morning.” “After that, we need to focus on both providing troops and capability to Afghanistan, and the third piece of this is the health of the force.”

Mullen said shortening the Army’s deployment length from 15 months to 12 months, which President Bush announced yesterday, is a significant step forward in reducing stress on the force.

“Our forces, in particular our ground forces, are under tremendous pressure and tremendous stress,” Mullen said. “That said, they are also doing exceptionally well. They love what they’re doing, they’re resilient, and they’re making a difference where they’re employed.”

All military leaders are concerned about the stress on the force, especially the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder, Mullen said. About 10 to 15 percent of the Army has been on three or four deployments, he said, and leaders are working to recognize and treat PTSD and other combat-related illnesses.

The United States has had tremendous success in Iraq with the troop surge, Mullen emphasized. Security has improved dramatically, which has allowed U.S. officials to start thinking about future troop withdrawals after the last of the surge brigades leaves Iraq in July, he said. Yesterday, Bush endorsed the recommendation of Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, commander of Multinational Force Iraq, to take a 45-day period of evaluation after the last surge brigades leave Iraq in July to determine future troop levels.

The goal for Iraq is still a country that can govern itself, secure itself and provide for its people, Mullen said. Progress has been made toward that end, he said, and the United States is continuing to work with Iraqi security forces to sustain success.

“The security right now is fragile, and it’s not irreversible yet; we need to get it to the point where it is,” he said.

Story by: Army Sgt. Sara Moore
Courtesy: American Forces Press Service

http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april112008/iraq_ptsd_041108.php

Whatever you think about the occupation of Iraq, however much you dismiss the occupation of Afghanistan the way most politicians do, there is one thing that you cannot dismiss. The troops. The men and women serving in both occupations, risking their lives on a daily basis, leaving their family and friends behind year after year and especially the National Guard Forces and Reservists, need our undivided attention.

When it comes to them, ending the occupation of Iraq and "brining them home" is something for the future. It is clear that nothing will be done until there is a new president in command and making the decisions. That is unless the person happens to be John McCain. We already know what he will do and he sees nothing wrong with anything going on. While it is necessary to find a way out of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as crushing Al-Qaeda in Afghanistan/Pakistan, we cannot solve those problems today. We can, however and we must solve the unending burden on the men and women serving today and the veterans of yesterday.

We hear the claims on a daily basis that reenlistment goals have been reached but we only occasionally hear how this has been accomplished. The requirements for education have been dropped and staggering numbers have had to receive moral wavers because of past arrests. Gang members have been allowed to join as well. We no longer have a military made up of the best and brightest only but one of a blend of the best and the worst society has to offer as long as there is a body to fill the slot. Reenlistment challenges have also been met by huge pay off bonuses and promises they have yet to keep.

Added into all of this is the fact the military has seen fit to redeploy men and women already diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder packing prescription medicine to calm them down, help them sleep and try to fend off the ravages of PTSD psychological challenges they should be in treatment for instead of reintroduced back into the same kind of traumatic surroundings of combat that caused PTSD in the first place.

None of this begins to approach the stress this adds to the families they leave behind. It does not address the National Guards and Reservists who leave behind their incomes from their jobs and their businesses along with the debts the rest of us have to deal with in this economy.

People can rant all they want about the need to do this to the men and women serving. They can ignore what experts have said for years about the fact for every year deployed into combat, they need two years to rest. They can ignore the fact that this was not even allowed during Vietnam. Most were deployed once for 12 months and that was it. Some served more willingly. It was up to them. They were not forced to do more. Today, we see the stop-loss policy keeping them in no matter if they want to go or not. They are forced into staying in the military longer than they had agreed to.

If the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan is so vital to our security then we need to start to ask some very serious questions. The first one is, why hasn't there been a draft to make sure there was the manpower in both occupations? Why has there never been one single time when the funding for both occupations was included in the regular budget instead of requested in supplemental war funding requests? Why has there been absolutely no accountability from the White House down to the military brass for the failures to "accomplish the missions" in both occupations? Why has no one even addressed the fact NATO has taken over the lead role in Afghanistan? Why has no one been held accountable for the fact contractors of equal number of the military in Iraq and many more in Afghanistan been allowed the freedom to do as they please without restraints and without accounting for the shortcomings of the contracts they are supposed to be honoring?

There are so many unanswered questions thinking people are holding onto their heads waiting for them to spin off!

The most pressing issue before us is the wounded who are still not being taken care of. Read this blog on any day and you'll find several reports supplying the stories that prove very little has been done by the government for the wounded at the same time there have been hundreds of people stepping up to try to fill in the gaps the government should have been doing if they were honorable people but they have gotten away with it for so long that the people trying to make a difference and correct the damages being done to the wounded, that it will take many years before they even come close to taking care of all of them, at the same time each new day adds more of them.

The troops and their families expected on thing from us and that was that we would be a grateful nation. As a grateful nation, this requires every citizen in this nation to take to the streets and protest the way they have been treated. Again and again the fact that both sides of the debate claim to support the troops so let them prove it once and for all. The men and women serving today demand this of all of us if we are to be honest and honorable people. Today we can make a difference for all of them. Put the debate aside for their sake for now. There should be no debate on taking care of them with both sides claim to be fighting for all of them.

Chaplain Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
http://www.namguardianangel.org/
http://www.namguardianangel.blogspot.com/
http://www.woundedtimes.blogspot.com/
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Counselors hope to help troops cope with combat stress

“There's such a tremendous need out there,” said David Fenell, a counselor and retired Army colonel who taught a seminar on how to help military families. “These multiple deployments are taking place. The stresses on the family continue to build.”

Counselors hope to help troops cope with combat stress

By Audrey McAvoy
ASSOCIATED PRESS

1:39 p.m. April 7, 2008

HONOLULU – Living on a base that's shelled every day. Risking a roadside bomb explosion each time you patrol the neighborhood. Watching children die.

Troops deploying to Iraq and Afghanistan consistently have experiences that may lead to combat stress and trauma. Now, as the number of U.S. military personnel deployed to both places since 2001 tops 1.5 million, the nation's largest counseling association is calling on its members to help the returning troops.


“We're engaged in a massive military mobilization with the war on terror,” said Dr. Brian Canfield, president of the American Counseling Association. “We are going to have to deal with the repercussions of this for years, if not decades, to come.”

The 45,000-member association made counseling military personnel a key topic at its annual convention this year for the first time. The meeting, attended by some 3,000 counselors in Hawaii last month, offered nine seminars on issues like identifying and treating post-traumatic stress disorder and helping returning troops readjust to life back home.

Experts say the current conflict presents particular mental health challenges.

Soldiers and Marines are constantly on the front lines, countering an enemy they can't always see. Commanders can't withdraw units to the rear and give troops a rest as they did in World War II.

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US veterans have mental health problems

US veterans have mental health problems: study
Posted 9 hours 4 minutes ago

US military leaders are reported to be concerned by a survey which shows that soldiers who have been sent to Iraq three or four times suffer from mental health problems such as anxiety, depression or acute stress.

The survey was conducted by the surgeon general's mental health advisory team and was based on more than 2,000 anonymous surveys and interviews from front-line troops.

The effects of long and multiple deployments are a major concern for military leaders in Washington as senior commander in Iraq General David Petraeus prepares to tell Congress this week he wants no major reduction in troops for the next few months.

Three US service personnel have been killed and 31 wounded by rocket attacks on the Green Zone and a base elsewhere in Baghdad, the US military has said.

The rocket attack at 1530 (1230 GMT) on the Green Zone, which houses government offices and foreign embassies, killed two personnel and wounded at least 17.

- BBC
Latest Coalition Fatality: Apr 07, 2008

04/07/08 MNF: MND-B Soldier attacked by small-arms fire
A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed as the result of small-arms fire after the vehicle he was traveling in was struck by an improvised explosive device while on patrol in eastern Baghdad April 7.

04/07/08 MNF: Update - Coalition Force Soldiers attacked in Diyala
A second Multi-National Division – North Soldier has died from wounds sustained in an IED attack in Diyala Province during convoy operations April 6. One Soldier was killed as previously reported and four others were wounded in the attack.

04/07/08 MNF: MND-B Soldier attacked by IED
A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed by an improvised-explosive device during a route-clearing patrol in eastern Baghdad April 6.

04/06/08 MNF: MND-C Soldier dies of Non-combat related injuries
A Multi-National Division – Center Soldier died from non-combat-related injuries April 6. The name of the deceased is being withheld pending notification of the next of kin and release by the Department of Defense.

04/06/08 MNF: MND-B Soldier attacked by rockets
A Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldier was killed from injuries sustained in an indirect fire attack at approximately 3:00 p.m. in eastern Baghdad April 6.

04/06/08 MNF: Coalition forces Soldier attacked by IED
A Coalition forces Soldier was killed as a result of injuries sustained from an improvised explosive device in Diyala Province, April 6.

4,021 US killed
http://icasualties.org/oif/

Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq

Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned of the toll the Iraq war could take on the military.

Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq

By THOM SHANKER
Published: April 6, 2008
WASHINGTON — Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond.
Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.

The stress of long and multiple deployments to Iraq is just one of the concerns being voiced by senior military officers in Washington as Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior Iraq commander, prepares to tell Congress this week that he is not ready to endorse any drawdowns beyond those already scheduled through July.

President Bush has signaled that he will endorse General Petraeus’s recommendation, a decision that will leave close to 140,000 American troops in Iraq at least through the summer. But in a meeting with Mr. Bush late last month in advance of General Petraeus’s testimony, the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed deep concern about stress on the force, senior Defense Department and military officials said.
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Linked from ICasualties.org

Again redeployments increase the risk of PTSD by 50%.

For Iraq Vets and Their Families, Trauma Can Be Contagious

For Iraq Vets and Their Families, Trauma Can Be Contagious
By Stacy Bannerman, Foreign Policy in Focus.
Posted March 25, 2008.
Depression and suicidal thoughts aren't limited to vets with PTSD; family members may experience it as well.
This is an excerpt from testimony before a House Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on Health hearing held February 28, 2008, regarding the Iraq War's mental health impacts of Iraq War on the families of Guard/Reserve veterans.
I am the author of When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind. I am currently separated from my husband, a National Guard soldier who served one year in Iraq in 2004-05. Just as we are beginning to find our way back together, we are starting the countdown for a possible second deployment. Two of my cousins by marriage have also served in Iraq, one with the MN Guard, a deployment that lasted 22 months, longer than any other ground combat unit. My other cousin, active duty, was killed in action.
My family members have spent more time fighting one war -- the war in Iraq -- than my grandfather and uncles did in WWII and Korea, combined. When the home front costs and burdens fall repeatedly on the same shoulders, the anticipatory grief and trauma -- secondary, intergenerational and betrayal -- is exponential and increasingly acute. Nowhere is that more obvious than in Guard and Reserve households.

Same Duties, Less Training
Our Guardsmen and Reservists perform the same duties as regular active troops when they are in theatre, but they do it with abbreviated training and, all-too-often, insufficient protection and aging equipment. It was a National Guardsman who asked then-Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld what he and the Army were doing "to address shortages and antiquated equipment" National Guard soldiers heading to Iraq were struggling with.
Guard families experience the same stressors as active duty families before, during, and after deployment, although we do not have anywhere near the same level of support, nor do our loved ones when they come home. Many Guard members and their families report being shunned by the active duty mental health system. Army National Guard Specialist and Iraq War veteran Brandon Jones said that when he and his wife sought post-deployment counseling, they were "made to feel we were taking up a resource meant for active duty soldiers from the base." One Guardsman's wife was told that "active duty families were given preference" when seeking services for herself and her daughters while her husband was in Iraq.
The nearly 3 million immediate family members directly impacted by Guard/Reserve deployments struggle with issues that active duty families do not. The Guard is a unique branch of the Armed Services that straddles the civilian and military sectors, serves both the community and the country. The Guard has never before been deployed in such numbers for so long. Most never expected to go to war. During Vietnam, some people actually joined the Guard in order to dodge the draft and avoid combat. Today's National Guard and Reservists are serving with honor and bravery, each and every time they're called. But when the Governor of Puerto Rico called for a U.S. withdrawal from Iraq at the annual National Guard conference, more than 4,000 National Guardsmen gave him a standing ovation.
These factors are crucial to understanding the mental health impacts of the war in Iraq on the families of Guard/Reserve veterans, and tailoring programs and services to support them.
Several weeks after my husband got the call he was mobilized. There was very little time to transition from a civilian lifestyle and employment to full-time active duty. The Guard didn't have regular family group meetings, and I couldn't go next door to talk to another wife who was going through the same things I was, or who had already been there, done that. Most Guard/Reservists live miles away from a base or Armory, many are in rural communities. We are isolated and alone.
At least 20 percent of us experience a significant drop in household income when our loved one is mobilized. This financial pressure is an added stressor. The majority of citizen soldiers work for small businesses or are self-employed. Some have lost their jobs or livelihoods as a direct result of deployment. The possibility of a second or third tour makes it difficult to secure another one. Guard members have reported being put on probation or having their hours cut within a few days of being put on alert status for deployment. Some of us have to re-locate. Some of us go to food shelves. Where we once had shared parenting responsibilities, the spouse left behind is now the sole caregiver, without the benefit of an on-base child care center.

Secondary Traumatic Stress DisorderDuring deployment, we withdraw and do the best we can to survive. Anxious, depressed, and alone, we attempt to cope by drinking more, eating less, taking Xanax or Prozac to make it through. We close the curtains so we can't see the black sedan with government plates pulling into our drive. We cautiously circle the block when we come home, our personal perimeter check to make sure there are no Casualty Notification Officers around. Every time the phone rings, our hearts skip a beat. Our kids may act out or withdraw, get into fights, detach or deteriorate, socially, emotionally, and academically. There are no organic mental health services for the children of National Guard and Reservists, even though they are more likely to be married with children than active duty troops.
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Stacy Bannerman, M.S., is a Foreign Policy In Focus contributor and author of "When the War Came Home: The Inside Story of Reservists and the Families They Leave Behind." (2006) She's also the wife of a National Guard soldier/Iraq War veteran, Bronze Star and Combat Infantry Badge recipient.

Mom sends two sons back to Iraq again, and again

Iowa brothers called for multiple deployments

The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Mar 31, 2008 11:39:17 EDT

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Pat Chambers is proud of her sons, but a bit frustrated as well.

Later this year she will watch her two sons deploy to Iraq for a combined sixth time — a painful process that hasn’t gotten any easier with repetition.

“I want it all to end,” Chambers said. “I want them all to come home. Enough is enough.”

So far, the Navy has deployed 25-year-old Josh Chambers to Iraq three times. He’s headed back there April 5 for what’s expected to be a seven- to nine-month stint. His older brother Jonathan, an Army sergeant, is scheduled to leave in October for his second deployment.

“I was hoping not to go back, but your commanding officer, they see you do a good job,” said Josh Chambers, a 2001 graduate of Cedar Rapids Washington High School.

Josh Chambers is a Navy hospital corpsman, the equivalent of a battlefield medic, charged with caring for the approximately 50 troops in his platoon. He said his mother was an emergency room nurse, “and she always gave me her stories.”
go here for the rest
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/03/ap_brothersdeploy_033008/

I don't know how the families are able to keep doing this over and over again. How many times can they say good-bye, welcome them home and then have to send them back again?