Gloucester Sheriff Recruit 5 Year Old Afghanistan Veteran

K-9 recruit joins Gloucester County Sheriff's Office 
Daily Press
Frances Hubbard
February 5, 2015

The newest recruit to join the Gloucester County Sheriff's Office has four legs and a nose for crime.

Rexi, a seemingly curious and fun-loving 5-year-old sable German shepherd with an intimidating presence when needed, recently joined the ranks alongside Sgt. Brad Simmons thanks to a grant from K9s4Cops, a program run by a Texas-based nonprofit organization.

Gloucester Sheriff Darrell Warren said Rexi is the first police dog the sheriff's office has had since the mid-'90s. Rexi previously spent three years with the military in Afghanistan.
The grant process took about 22 months, Warren said.

"He's originally from Holland and after he was trained at the age of two he went to Afghanistan for three years supporting the military in both patrol and narcotics work. He came back as a surplus dog and rather than be retired, he got donated to law enforcement," Simmons said. "He had to go back through certification training to be certified under the North American Police Working Dog Association as a police utility dog, which means he can do tracking, he can do evidence recovery, he can do area searches and bite work, along with narcotics. He was trained in four different narcotics — cocaine, heroin, marijuana and methamphetamines."
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Prosecutor Says Veteran Attempted Suicide By Cop

Retired Army Veteran Charged With Threatening Shooting at U.S. Capitol
NBC Washington
Feb 5, 2015

Bogoslavski, of Cheverly, Maryland, served in the U.S. Army for nine years and retired in March 2013, authorities said. He completed two tours in Iraq and a tour in Afghanistan.

A retired Army veteran allegedly threatened to shoot his wife and other people at the U.S. Capitol, where his wife works, and said he wanted "to die [by] suicide by cop," federal prosecutors said Thursday.

On Monday, Michael Bogoslavski, 33, texted threats to his wife, a Senate staffer, telling her that he planned to bring guns to her workplace and shoot her and others who got in his way, authorities said.

"Gun in each hand ... someone is going to be greaving [sic] for their family members today, including my family," the text messages read. "I'm going to come up there and shoot everyone in my [expletive] way]."

The employee later called Capitol Police. While the employee was speaking to them, Bogoslavski allegedly called the employee's cellphone and made more threats to shoot people and "to die [by] suicide by cop," federal prosecutors said.

Capitol Police alerted local law enforcement, and the Cheverly Police Department found Bogoslavski at his home. He was taken to a hospital, released the next day and then arrested.
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Homeless Veterans on LA’s Skid Row Not Forgotten

Searching for Homeless Veterans on LA’s Skid Row 
VAntage Point
Dispatches from the US Department of Veterans Affairs
by Reynaldo Leal
February 4, 2015

VA Deputy Secretary Sloan Gibson participated in this year’s PIT count in Baltimore, Maryland. VA photo by Robert Turtil.

Secretary Bob McDonald walked the streets of LA’s Skid Row with local volunteers and VA employees last week, and tallied the homeless during the city’s annual point-in-time, or PIT count. 

As they made their way through alleyways and backstreets lined with tents and makeshift shelters, they stopped to talk and ask, “Are you a Veteran?”

PIT counts are conducted across the country during the last 10 days of January. The data gathered from the interactions with the homeless is used to verify the effectiveness of outreach programs and to see where resources and services are needed.

For a city like LA, where there are more homeless Veterans than anywhere else in the country, the numbers are vital.

“One of the things you learn in the Army is you never leave a buddy behind,” McDonald said to more than 100 volunteers at the LA Mission. “Unfortunately, we’ve left some people behind, and they’re our homeless Veterans. But I’m here to tell you that we at VA … are totally committed to achieve the goal of ending Veteran homelessness by the end of the year.”

The information collected is part of the overall effort to end homelessness among Veterans. Earlier in the week, McDonald signed a historic agreement dedicating the West Los Angeles VA Medical center to helping Veterans in need.
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Feb 4, 2015 Secretary Bob McDonald walked the streets of LA’s Skid Row with local volunteers and VA employees last week, and tallied the homeless during the city’s annual point-in-time, or PIT count.

As they made their way through alleyways and backstreets lined with tents and makeshift shelters, they stopped to talk and ask, “Are you a Veteran?”

Another Suicide Prevention Bill Preventing Prevention?

Clay Hunt Suicide Prevention Act still has the bubble wrap on it and the Jacob Sexton Act was signed in with the Defense Budget but already, here comes antoher prevention bill. This time it is Joe Waltz.

CNN Headline on this one is "22 veterans kill themselves every day" but they just don't seem all too interested in the fact that when congress started to prevent suicides, they were actually preventing prevention.

"One of the things that we do know is that veterans who seek care often get better." Tarantino told CNN. The problem, he says, is "the care they receive often doesn't give them what they need."

The Suicide Prevention for America's Veterans Act is a joint effort between Walsh and the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America group. Founded in 2004, the 270,000 member organization is the first and largest organization for new veterans and their families.

"These men and women... are willing to sacrifice their lives for our country," Walsh said.

One group that appears to be the most vulnerable to suicides are veterans 50 years and older. According to the VA, 69 percent of veteran suicides come from that age group.

With 2012 having hit the historical rate of military suicides I tried to take what Wounded Times had put together since 2007. Hell, at the time there were over 20,000 posts to pull from. I figured "how hard could it be" since I had almost everything. At least that was how it started out and I ended up discovering just how far congress had spun out of control with all the hearings, speeches and bills. By the time The Warrior Saw, Suicides After War was finished, I felt pretty hopeless. I wondered why reporters hadn't told anyone about this massive abuse spread out. After all, when congress writes a bill, someone makes money and there were billions a year being paid out for the result of more suicides.

If you didn't read the book don't feel bad, not many did. It got into how Vietnam veterans pushed for all the research and funding going back 40 years on PTSD and suicides among veterans. There has never been a time in our history when more has been done on all of this and never a time in our history when results didn't matter.

Even I didn't figure it all out before I finally decided to end the research. Right now as I read about yet one more bill being pushed by more politicians I'm envisioning putting in a call to Criminal Minds.

This would take the computer skills of Penelope Garcia to figure out who did what when and Spencer Reid to be able to get through all the bills congress has written just since 2007. David Rossi would be up to his goatee in veterans' cases. Derek Morgan would have to be held back by Aaron Hotchner from punching out congressmen and as for JJ, she'd have to get back on the emergency broadcast system to let the whole county know exactly what's been going on so that people will get off their asses and start doing some demanding of their own about doing the right things instead of just "something" that is supposed to be "better than nothing" because veterans are dying in bulk.

The whole team goes after a serial killer after 3 bodies have been found and their "wheels are up in 30" so more than 22 a day wouldn't take them 30 to get started since they are already in the neighborhood.

More than 22 a day? Yes. States are reporting the rate of veterans committing suicide are double the civilian population and older veterans are the majority of them. However, the key here is the other percentage no one seems to want to talk about either. Younger veterans, the ones who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, the ones who had all the "prevention" training since 2007, are triple their peer rates. But hey, another member of congress will get his name on yet another bill and another group of veterans gets some press time for supporting the prevention of suicide prevention that actually should be working.

Army revokes Silver Star award for Green Beret

Army revokes Silver Star award for Green Beret officer, citing investigation
Washington Post
By Dan Lamothe
February 4, 2015

"The investigation closed last year without Golsteyn’s being charged with a crime, but Army Secretary John M. McHugh decided not only to deny Golsteyn the Distinguished Service Cross, but also to revoke his Silver Star."

Capt. Mathew L. Golsteyn was leading a Special Forces team in Afghanistan in 2010 when an 80-man mission he assembled to hunt insurgent snipers went awry. One of the unit’s five vehicles sank in mud, a gunshot incapacitated an Afghan soldier fighting alongside the Americans, and insurgents maneuvered on them to rake the soggy fields with machine-gun fire.

Golsteyn, already a decorated Green Beret officer, responded with calm resolve and braved enemy fire repeatedly that day, according to an Army summary of his actions. He received the Silver Star for valor for his actions during a 2011 ceremony at Fort Bragg, N.C. Top Army officials later approved him for an upgrade to the prestigious Distinguished Service Cross, second only to the Medal of Honor in recognizing combat heroism by U.S. soldiers.

In a rare reversal, however, Golsteyn, now a major, no longer has either award. The Special Forces officer and graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y., was later investigated for an undisclosed violation of the military’s rules of engagement in combat for killing a known enemy fighter and bomb maker, according to officials familiar with the case. The investigation closed last year without Golsteyn’s being charged with a crime, but Army Secretary John M. McHugh decided not only to deny Golsteyn the Distinguished Service Cross, but also to revoke his Silver Star.
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