Army Kicking Out Soldiers Early Slated For Deployment

Policy will force-out enlisted slated to deploy
Army Times
By Jim Tice, Staff Writer
January 23, 2015

The Army plans to inactivate six brigade combat teams this year as part of a sweeping reorganization and drawdown for reaching an active component end strength of 490,000 soldiers by Sept. 30. The manning goal is about 10,000 fewer troops than are in the force now.

Soldiers scheduled deploy with an ETS date of up to 12 months

away may be involuntarily separated, under Army policy.

(Photo: Sgt. Michael Crawford, U.S. Army Europe)

Involuntary separations of up to 12 months ahead of a soldier's ETS have been authorized for certain Regular Army enlisted soldiers who are assigned to units scheduled for deployment or deactivation, and who decline to re-enlist or extend as the Army draws down.

The special policy, called the Enlisted Involuntary Early Separation Program, mirrors a similar policy in effect during 2014. The program applies to three categories of active component (Regular Army) soldiers:

Units Scheduled for Contingency Deployment: Soldiers assigned to units that are deploying in support of a named contingency, such as Resolute Support in Afghanistan, and who will have six months or less of service remaining when their unit arrives in theater will be involuntarily separated up to 12 months in advance of their contracted ETS if they do not re-enlist or extend to stay with the unit through the deployment.

Units Scheduled for Inactivation: Soldiers assigned to inactivating units with ETS between the inactivation date and inactivation plus 365 days, and who elect not to re-enlist or extend, will be involuntarily separated up to 12 months before their ETS.

Units Scheduled for Korea Rotation: Soldiers who do not re-enlist or extend to meet the service remaining requirement for a Korea rotation plus 90 days, and who cannot be effectively used by other units at the same installation, will be subject to involuntary early separation.
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UK Researchers Have Found Signs of PTSD 3,000 Years Ago

Aside from the fact all the signs of what war does are in the Bible, especially in the Psalms of David, this shows PTSD is not new. It just has a newer name.

Did ancient warriors suffer PTSD too?
Texts reveal that battles 3,000 years ago left soldiers traumatised by what they saw
UK researchers have found signs of PTSD up to 3,000 years ago
They say soldiers experiencing horrors of the battlefield is not just a phenomenon of modern warfare
The earliest reference had been from the Battle of Marathon in 490BC
But scientists traced mention of 'shell shock' back to 1,300 BC
Daily Mail UK
By JONATHAN O'CALLAGHAN FOR MAILONLINE
23 January 2015

UK researchers have found signs of PTSD up to 3,000 years ago. They say soldiers experiencing horrors of the battlefield (stock image shown) is not just a phenomenon of modern warfare. The earliest reference had been from the Battle of Marathon, 490BC. Pictured is a Mycenaean Vase decorated with Bronze Age warriors

Ancient warriors armed with swords and spears from 3,000 years ago suffered from shell shock just like modern soldiers, according to a study.

Soldiers who experienced the horrors of the battlefield and were left with post traumatic stress disorder is not a phenomenon of modern warfare, say the researchers. An analysis of ancient texts shows PTSD became common considerably earlier than previously believed, although the symptoms were explained away as 'the spirits of those enemies whom the patient had killed.'

The earliest reference had been from the Battle of Marathon 490BC but scientists traced mention of 'shell shock' back to 1,300 BC in ancient Mesopotamia.

The study, published in Early Science and Medicine, said that while modern technology has increased the effectiveness and types of weaponry, 'ancient soldiers facing the risk of injury and death must have been just as terrified of hardened and sharpened swords, showers of sling-stones or iron-hardened tips of arrows and fire arrows.'
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Vietnam Veteran Fatal Motorcycle Accident Hours After Helping Others

Motorcycle crash victim was Vietnam veteran devoted to community service
Ocala Star Banner
By Austin L. Miller Staff writer
Published: Thursday, January 22, 2015

Hours before the accident, Whittier said, they talked about the next fundraiser for Veterans Helping Veterans. Harrison served on the organization's board of directors and helped with children's programs. In 2014, Harrison helped raise roughly $130,000 through a golf tournament.

Donald M. Harrison Jr., the motorcyclist killed Wednesday in a crash on North U.S. 441, was a decorated U.S. Marine Corps veteran involved in local charities.

Donald Harrison

Photo courtesy of Mike Sizemore

Harrison's friends described the 64-year-old retiree as a generous man who helped raise money for the nonprofit Veterans Helping Veterans and other causes.

Harrison died after the 2011 Harley-Davidson he was riding was hit by a 2002 Ford Escape as the SUV was attempting to cross U.S. 441, according to the Ocala Police Department. The other driver, Charles E. Griffin, stopped nearby at the intersection of U.S. 441 and Northwest 22nd Street.

The impact sent both Harrison and his motorcycle into a ditch. Richard Donahue, a U.S. Navy corpsman driving by, stopped and, with an Ocala police officer, performed CPR on Harrison until emergency medical personnel arrived.
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Nellis Air Force Base Chaplain Said PTSD Was God's Plan?

I had a massive headache and just wanted to get through my emails before I go lay down. It just got worse when I read this.

Former Nellis AFB Drone Operator On First Kill, PTSD, Being Shunned By Fellow Airmen 
KNPR News
Nevada Public Radio
Adam Burke and Joe Schoenmann
January 23, 2015

"I went to go see a chaplain," Bryant said. "And the chaplain told me that it was God's plan for all this to happen and that I should accept that."

In the new movie Good Kill, Ethan Hawke plays an airman who remotely operates Predator drones from the safety of a cubicle at Creech Air Force Base, 50 miles north of Las Vegas.

But in the film we learn that the cubicle is not such a safe place. Ethan Hawke’s character suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder on the job.

Former drone operator Brandon Bryant, who was stationed at Nellis for four years, consulted with the writer/director of Good Kill​, Andrew Niccol.

Bryant was the co-pilot in a two-man drone team, and it was his job to locate targets and pull trigger on missiles.

When he ended his four-year stint, Bryant received a certificate honoring him for having aided in the deaths of some 1,600 people.

Post-Traumatic Stress
The more that he shut himself away, the more isolated he felt. He started drinking heavily, playing video games when he wasn't working, and working out.

"I stopped sleeping because I was dreaming in infrared," he said. "White hot, black hot, the same type of filters I would see at work. It was like I couldn't escape myself."

Bryant told KNPR that at the time, airmen were discouraged from seeking psychological help at Nellis.

"When I told them I wasn't doing so well, they told me that if I sought help then they would revoke my clearance," he said. "So that kind of kept me in line."

Then Bryant's commander ordered him to go see with a chaplain.

"I went to go see a chaplain," Bryant said. "And the chaplain told me that it was God's plan for all this to happen and that I should accept that."
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Ok, so far we've been made aware of the fact that Warrior Transition Units have been still telling PTSD soldiers to suck it up and get over it when they were supposed to be helped. We've read about the rise in suicides among veterans out of the military where the original damage was done. We've also read about all the bullshit about how this bill and that bill needs the public's support but never once told why we should. We've read about this group and that group with their hands out looking for money but never telling us what they've done with the money they all collected over the years while it is getting worse for veterans and families.

The list goes on but now we discover a Chaplain told an Airman looking for help that it was God's will.

The Joint Chiefs of Staff already told Congress to go to hell when they admitted they were not following the law on post deployment screenings and the DOD heads have all made stupid statements about intestinal fortitude after they pushed the "program" that made them all think it was their own fault. Just when you think you've heard everything, it gets to the point where you wonder when they hell congress will actually hear anything.

No Longer Silent Snipers Speak Out

Snipers cowards? Local sniper and Marines take offense to Michael Moore
KHOU 11 News
Kevin Reece
January 20, 2015

CYPRESS, Texas - In tours of Iraq and Afghanistan Marine Gunnery Sgt. Jeff Crenshaw never had to worry about anyone calling him a coward – doesn't have to worry about it now for that matter. But when movie-maker Michael Moore tweeted the "cowards" comment, Crenshaw – a former sniper - and a chorus of supporters of the movie "American Sniper" responded.

"Anybody who says that is an idiot," said Crenshaw now retired from the military and employed as an insurance agent in Houston. The former sniper had to make the same difficult choices and brought home some of the same demons as sniper Chris Kyle, the man's whose life is portrayed in the movie.

"The person I was before I went to Iraq, I absolutely never was when I came home. I mean it just changes you."

"It shows the true nature of war," said Crenshaw who saw the movie last week. "How awful it is and the toll it takes on a human being. Because taking a life is not a natural act."
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Jan 21, 2015
Jeff Crenshaw is a retired Marine Corps sniper, who says "American Sniper" is the most realistic thing he's seen since the battlefield. He also critiques the notion of snipers as cowards.





Sgt. William Rollins, Silver Star, lost more than 20 to combat and 20 more to suicide.

Package about the heroic actions of Sgt. William Rollins. His valor in Afghanistan earned him the Silver Star. The Nation's 3rd highest award for gallantry in combat was presented to him during a ceremony at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center, Twentynine Palms, California, Dec. 17, 2010.
American Sniper has done more than show a very rare glimpse of a sniper. It went beyond telling the stories of them back home. The movie got them talking and opening up. In the process, hearing the struggles of the elite, the rest of the veterans may begin to finally see that PTSD has nothing to do with lack of training, lack of courage or anything else they are lacking. It has more to do with what they have an abundance of, and that begins with their strength and courage while still being just human.