Veteran Gives Insight on Suicide Prevention

Veteran Gives Insight on Suicide Prevention
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Michael J. Carden
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, Jan. 12, 2010 – When retired Army Maj. Ed Pulido was medically evacuated from Iraq in August 2004, he knew tough challenges were ahead, as he’d have to learn to live without his left leg.


But as he sat in his hospital bed at Brooke Army Medical Center on Fort Sam Houston, Texas, he began to realize that recovering from his physical disability was only a small part of that challenge.

“When my leg was taken away … I sat in the hospital bed not knowing what was happening to me mentally,” said Pulido, who medically retired after a 19-year Army career. “I remember those three weeks at Brooke where I thought about the fact that as positive as I am, I hit that dark place, and those hidden wounds were the ones that would cripple me at times when I just didn’t understand.”

Post-traumatic stress had taken form, and depression and anxiety began to take their toll. Suddenly, suicidal thoughts began to surface, the Oklahoma native said.

Pulido shared the story of his struggles yesterday with an audience of more than 1,000 military and other government agency health-care workers and officials gathered here for the 2nd Annual Suicide Prevention Conference sponsored by the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments.

The weeklong conference began yesterday and goes through Jan. 14 to give department health-care professionals insight to each organization’s programs and best practices in suicide prevention. Nearly 100 veterans who’ve experienced suicidal thoughts, such as Pulido, are expected to share their stories of survival.
read more here
http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=57470

Plant City FL mourning a proud soldier

Mourning a proud soldier

By DAVE NICHOLSON

dnicholson@tampatrib.com

Published: January 13, 2010

PLANT CITY - The nation's war on terror once again has hit home.

Army Spc. David A. Croft Jr. became the eighth local serviceman to die in combat in Iraq or Afghanistan since 2004. A ninth Plant City area soldier was listed as a noncombat death in Kuwait.

Croft was killed Jan. 5, three days before his 23rd birthday. His death came a little more than two months after Army Spc. Eric N. Lembke of Plant City was killed in Afghanistan.

Croft, a Durant High School graduate on his second tour in Iraq, was scheduled to leave the war zone on Monday, Jan. 18.

He is survived by his mother, Vickie, three sisters and a brother.

His fiancee, Susie Clark of Brandon, said he was a brave, proud solider who liked serving his country. She said he seemed to blossom after joining the Army in 2005.
read more here
http://plantcity2.tbo.com/content/2010/jan/13/pc-mourning-a-proud-soldier/

American military-aged population that is being asked to do virtually nothing in these two conflicts

They used to draft soldiers. This meant everyone had to do their part. We saw this especially with WWII when wives were showing up to work in factories as their husbands were deployed. We saw this during Vietnam, but the result of this draft was protests, burning draft cards and general ambivalence when they came home.

The worst thing about all of this is not just that the burden is carried by a tiny percentage of the US population, it's that so few seem to care at all.


Icasualties.org
US forces killed in Iraq 4,373
US forces killed in Afghanistan 958

"It's quite unusual, the inequality," says Christopher Hamner, a military historian at George Mason University in Fairfax, Va. "You've got the vast majority of the American military-aged population that is being asked to do virtually nothing in these two conflicts. And then a very small percentage is being asked to shoulder enormous burdens."

Repeated deployments weigh heavily on U.S. troops
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WARDAK PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Army Staff Sgt. Bobby Martin Jr. has been fighting insurgents in Iraq or Afghanistan longer than the entire three years the Korean War lasted.

At age 34 and finishing a fourth combat tour, he has seen five of his men killed since 2003. Four died this year, including two on Martin's birthday in May. Thirty-eight cumulative months in combat have left him with bad knees, aching shins and recurring headaches from a roadside blast, ailments he hides from his soldiers.

Out of earshot of his troops, Martin concedes, "This is a lot of wear and tear."

American soldiers of the 21st century are quietly making history, serving in combat longer than almost any U.S. soldiers in the nation's past, military historians say.

For many, the fighting seems without end, a fatalism increasingly shared by most Americans. A USA TODAY/Gallup Poll conducted late last week found that 67% believe the U.S. will constantly have combat troops fighting somewhere in the world for at least the next 20 years.

read more here

Repeated deployments weigh heavily on U.S. troops

Shortage of Majors behind Hasan's promotion?

Who can forget the images of that day as news reports came out that there was mass murder at Fort Hood? Can we forget the images of the days following it? Can we forget the shock felt when it was discovered a Major, a psychiatrists sworn to help soldiers, was the one found to be pulling the trigger?

As we were left speechless, reports came out about how Major Hasan was not a good student and was under performing leaving his superiors actions called into question. How could they let this man do what he did before the shootings? We may finally have the answer. There were just not enough Majors to go around.

Hasan was promoted from captain to major in May, military records show. Because of a shortage of majors in the medical corps, the promotion board was given the authority to promote captains who otherwise would not have been considered for a promotion, according to a U.S. military official who asked not to be identified in connection with discussing personnel matters possibly related to the Hasan investigation.

We make a lot of assumptions when it comes to the military. We assume the leadership roles are filled by the best and the brightest considering they have the lives of the lower ranks in their hands. Bad training leads to bad decisions and those bad decisions can produce a lot of dead soldiers. In the case of Hasan it looks like they just needed an increase in the numbers enough so that someone like Hasan was promoted up the food chain no matter what he was doing, what he was saying or how he felt about the soldiers he was supposed to be serving with.

All of this was not bad enough. In a time when suicides and PTSD rates increased, they wanted someone like Hasan acting as a psychiatrist? The report claims Hasan did not see many patients. What about the patients he did see? What was he telling them? Did he give them medications so they could heal or did he give them medications to make their condition worse? What does this say about the fact the troops find it very hard to trust anyone at all when they are dealing with PTSD and want to stay in the military but end up being sent to someone like Hasan? How many others are like Hasan out there unqualified, under-performing and possibly doing more damage than healing? If they did this with Hasan, we need to be asking how many others they promoted to fill the need no matter if they were worthy of it or not.

This was not bad enough. Hasan was also spouting off about his radical religious views at the same time the troops were risking their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan acting as if the people trying to kill the troops were doing the right thing.

Hassan was also disciplined for inappropriate conversations with patients about religion.

What Hasan did was worse than any action from any enemy because this enemy came from within.

Military review: Troubling signals from Fort Hood suspect missed
By Mike Mount, CNN
January 13, 2010 1:29 a.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Defense Department review to be released Thursday; official gives details to CNN
Review: Maj. Nidal Hasan promoted despite his extremist views on Islam, odd behavior
Hasan also had long record of lackluster performance on the job
Review will suggest military focus on looking internally for potential threats

Washington (CNN) -- An upcoming military review of the Fort Hood, Texas, shootings finds that the alleged shooter, Maj. Nidal Hasan, was promoted despite supervisors' concerns about his extremist views on Islam and odd behavior.

The review also says that a lack of communication between the U.S. military and a terrorism task force did not allow the sharing of information to determine whether he was a terrorist threat months before the shooting.

CNN was told details of the Pentagon review by a U.S. official with direct knowledge of the report. The official did not want to be identified because the report, requested by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, will not be officially released until Thursday.

read more here

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/01/12/fort.hood.suspect/

Virginia Wounded Warrior Program reaches out to veterans who need help

State program reaches out to veterans who need help
By Michael Martz
Published: January 7, 2010

Since terrorists struck the United States on Sept. 11, 2001, more than 230,000 troops have been deployed to wars in Afghanistan and Iraq from Virginia military bases.

Now, a state program is trying to help those coming back to find help for problems they might not even want to discuss.

The Virginia Wounded Warrior Program is using a tiny budget to reach a big problem -- veterans with behavioral-health problems, ranging from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder to traumatic brain injuries.

More than 813,000 military veterans live in Virginia, including more than 38,000 veterans of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars. And that doesn't include the families of service members who have been deployed.

"This is just the tip of the iceberg as far as we're concerned," said Mary Ann Bergeron, executive director of the Virginia Association of Community Services Boards. "When they come back, families expect the same person. Well, they're not getting the same person."
read more here
State program reaches out to veterans who need help