UK Kicking Out Servicemembers Too!

BETRAYAL OF OUR BOYS 
The Sun UK
EXCLUSIVE BY STEVE HAWKES, DEPUTY POLITICAL EDITOR 15th January 2017

“The toll on our troops does not end as they leave the battlefield.”

IMAGE: PA:PRESS ASSOCIATION Mental discharges have made up 14 per cent of troops who have left the services in the last five years 

Theresa May urged to tackle the spiralling PTSD timebomb as shock figures show soaring mental discharges A staggering 473 soldiers were discharged from the Army, Navy or RAF for “mental or behavioural” reasons in 2015-2016 – more than double the number in 2011-2012 

THERESA MAY was last night accused of “betraying” Our Boys after a staggering 150 per cent rise in troops quitting the Armed Forces over mental health issues.

The PM was urged to tackle the spiralling PTSD timebomb as shock figures revealed 473 soldiers were discharged from the Army, Navy or RAF for “mental or behavioural” reasons in 2015-2016. 

The total is more than double the number in 2011-2012.

And the Ministry of Defence stats show that of the 473, 189 were for cases of post-traumatic stress disorder – more than three times the 50 recorded in 2011-2012.

Lib Dem peer Paddy Ashdown said the figures laid bare the Government’s failings on mental health – and urged them to set up funding to tackle post-traumatic stress and depression in the Forces.
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Death of Fort Bliss Soldier in Kuwait Under Investigation

UPDATE
Services announced for Hemet soldier who died in Kuwait
Press Enterprise
By GAIL WESSON / STAFF WRITER
Published: Jan. 22, 2017

Funeral services have been scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 25, for an Army soldier from Hemet who died Jan. 12 in Kuwait. The Patriot Guard Riders will provide an escort for the hearse carrying John Phillips Rodriguez into Hemet on Monday, Jan. 23, ending at the Miller-Jones Mortuary in San Jacinto at 165 W. Seventh St., with arrival estimated at 3:30 p.m., according to a post on the Patriot Guard organization website. The escort will come into Hemet on Highway 74 and turn north on San Jacinto Street to the mortuary.
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SoCal Soldier Killed in Non-Combat Incident
NBC 4 News
By City News Service
January 14, 2017

A 23-year old Army soldier from Hemet was killed in a non-combat related incident in Kuwait, the Pentagon announced Saturday. Spc. John P. Rodriguez died while "supporting U.S. Army Central (Command)" as a combat engineer in Kuwait as part of Operation Inherent Resolve at the time of his death, according to Gil Telles, an Army spokesperson. The operation comprises of a U.S.-led campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

The circumstances surrounding his death were not disclosed due to an ongoing investigation. Rodriguez had been assigned to the 2nd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, of the 1st Armored Division headquartered in Ft. Bliss, Texas.
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Vietnam Veteran's Medal of Honor Ceremony On Hold

Vietnam veteran's Medal of Honor on hold during presidential transition
Army Times
By: Meghann Myers
January 15, 2017

Jim McCloughan is in line for the Medal of Honor, the nation's highest award for valor, for his actions as a medic during the Battle of Nui Yon Hill in Vietnam.
Photo Credit: Courtesy photo via the Detroit Free Press

When President Obama signed the National Defense Authorization Act two days before Christmas, he also signed off on a provision buried down in the weeds to allow a Michigan man to receive the Medal of Honor five decades after the actions for which he earned it.

After years of wait-and-see and a push from his local congressional representatives, former Spc. Jim McCloughan, 70, was authorized to receive the military's highest award for his actions as a medic in Vietnam -- but now that the executive branch is knee-deep in a transition from the Obama to Trump administrations, the award is again on hold.

In May 1969, McCloughan was a 23-year-old private first class medic with Company C, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment during the Battle of Nui Yon Hill, a gruesome two-day battle that left dozens killed, wounded or missing in action.

McCloughan survived with some grenade shrapnel and a bullet wound in his arm, but managed to save 10 people, he told the Detroit Free Press last year.

He also earned two Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars with V device, the Vietnam Service Medal with three battle stars, and the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with palms and one oak leaf, among others, according to a December release from the office of Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., who lead the charge to push through the award for McCloughan.
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The Power to Heal Combat PTSD is In You Too!

Power to Heal is Already Within You
Combat PTSD Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
January 15, 2017

Did you know you have the power to heal PTSD within you? How could you know that when the only outcome folks want to talk about is how many veterans they believe are committing suicide? Seems that raising awareness should have started with changing your life instead of leaving you as you were on your worst day.

The only way to have PTSD is surviving a traumatic event. Let's think about that for a second. It did not start within you but happened to you. You survived it. Any shame in that?

There are different levels as well as different causes. Civilians can get PTSD and the only way psychologists understood that was after combat veterans were studied. There is a difference between the type of PTSD veterans have, other occupational causes with law enforcement come close and so does the type firefighters get hit with.

A civilian can have their life changed with one event. For veterans it was a series of events topped off with the threat of more during each deployment. For law enforcement and firefighters the threat is on a daily basis for year after year. To choose any of these occupations requires many qualities. Courage, dedication and an abundance of love to be willing to sacrifice your own life for the sake of someone else. Any shame in that?

What you were willing to do was based on love and faith that you had it within you to endure whatever came with the job. Still, being resilient enough to do your job, did not make you impervious to the pain you would carry within you. None of it was just about you in the moments you were risking your life. The pain you carried away from it was yours but it was also the pain caused to others. Any shame in that?

That ability to love others do deeply also came with the strength to grieve just as deeply. When you were last on the list of people to take care of, to help live, it turned into much more than moments. You became unworthy to yourself to help yourself. That's how much you loved. Any shame in that?

Maybe it is time to think about things differently. Everything you needed within you to do all that was required of you came with everything you need to recover from all of it. What you have convinced yourself is weakness within you, is actually what is strength and all you have to do is channel into that power.

There are many leaders trying to get you to understand that. Military Officers, current as well as retired, have a message for you. They have PTSD too and are unashamed to admit it. You matter more to them than they pride does. They know what you are going through and have come to terms with how to defeat it and win the battle for the brothers and sisters they led. It is what they did for love.

Maj. General David Blackledge

"It's part of our profession...nobody wants to admit that they've got a weakness in this area." He went on to say, "I have dealt with it. I'm dealing with it now...We need to be able to talk about it."

Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo and Command Sgt. Maj. Jesse Andrews

Fort Stewart, Georgia - War changes a person. It's a truth Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo knows all too well from his 29 years of service - and counting - in the U.S. Army.And it's a truth he tries to share with each new man and woman arriving at Fort Stewart to serve in the 3rd Infantry Division he guides."Command Sgt. Maj. Jesse Andrews and I try to speak to each newcomers' group," said the commanding general of the 3rd ID. "We get all ranks - from private to colonel - and in part, we try to impress upon them ... it is a point of moral courage to step forward and say you need help."

General Carter Ham

So he sought screening for post-traumatic stress and got counseling from a chaplain. That helped him "get realigned," he says."You need somebody to assure you that it's not abnormal," Ham says. "It's not abnormal to have difficulty sleeping. It's not abnormal to be jumpy at loud sounds. It's not abnormal to find yourself with mood swings at seemingly trivial matters. More than anything else, just to be able to say that out loud." 

“Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” That is what Jesus said to the Centurion after he humbled himself in front of his men to a member of the people they held contempt for. Remember, this was during a time when Roman soldiers were treating the people of region as if they should be wiped off the face of the earth. For a Centurion to seek out Jesus and then ask him for this tremendous favor took an abundance of courage fueled by love.

The Faith of the Centurion
5 When Jesus had entered Capernaum, a centurion came to him, asking for help. 6 “Lord,” he said, “my servant lies at home paralyzed, suffering terribly.”

7 Jesus said to him, “Shall I come and heal him?”

8 The centurion replied, “Lord, I do not deserve to have you come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed. 9 For I myself am a man under authority, with soldiers under me. I tell this one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and that one, ‘Come,’ and he comes. I say to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.”

10 When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

13 Then Jesus said to the centurion, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would.” And his servant was healed at that moment.
Matthew 8:5-13

Saving the life was so important that he pushed his pride aside for the sake of someone else. There is a lot of that going on in this country right now. Medal of Honor heroes talking about their own pain while wearing the highest honor around their necks because they care about others.

The number of officers coming forward, pushing aside their own pride for your sake, it simply astonishing. All they want to do is let you know you have nothing to be ashamed of and follow their example by healing to live a better life after combat.

Adm. William McRaven (Ret.), former commander of the U.S. Special Operations Command and longtime Navy SEAL

But in its telling, McRaven was forced to stop in his tracks and take a long pause before he could complete his story. For 10 seconds, the audience sat in silence as he struggled through his own emotions to find his voice. It drove home yet another lesson: No one – not the top warrior nor the highest star admiral - is immune to war’s toll.

Isn't it time for you to use that power within you and around you to heal? You learned how to be a soldier and now it is time to learn how to be a healing veteran.

Combat PTSD Veteran Wins Battle For All Others With Service Dogs

St. Augustine veteran wins battle with major airline; immediate changes ordered
Florida Times Union
Julia Jenae
January 12, 2017

Veteran Sgt. Kevin Crowell and Bella are pictured. (First Coast News)

A St. Augustine combat veteran’s fight with an airline that forced him off a plane due to his service dog is bringing about change across the country, according to Times-Union news partner First Coast News.

The U.S. Department of Transportation released a consent order Monday, finding American Airlines violated the Aircraft Carrier Access Act by failing to properly train employees on disabled passengers with service animals. The order requires American Airlines to implement new training for all gate agents and reservation agents within 30 days.

Sgt. Kevin Crowell, a disabled combat veteran, filed his formal complaint against the carrier in 2014. Crowell was traveling to Key West with his wife along with his service dog, Bella.

According to the complaint, a flight attendant told him pets were not allowed in the bulkhead (front of plane), referring to his registered service animal. Despite having reserved an airline ticket online as a passenger with a service animal, an error in proper coding created a dispute on the flight. Crowell was asked to deboard the plane, an action his complaint said aggravated his post-traumatic stress disorder.
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