Bundeswehr 03.02.2009
Afghanistan Increasing Number of Traumatized German Troops
Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Many soldiers have difficulty re-adjusting to civilian lifeA film recently aired by public broadcaster ARD is helping draw attention to a little-discussed problem: the increasing number of German soldiers returning from Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder.
The film, which aired on Monday, Feb. 2, is called "Wilkommen Zuhause" (Welcome Home). In it, director Andreas Senn tells the story of Ben, a Bundeswehr soldier who sets off for Afghanistan to participate in a humanitarian mission.
But when one of his colleagues is killed in a militant attack, Ben is no longer the same. Back home, he tries to convince his friends and family that he's fine, but even they notice the change. The sound of breaking glass is enough to send Ben hurtling to the floor in search of cover.
According to the daily Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the number of German soldiers returning from Afghanistan with post-traumatic stress disorder is on the rise. The paper reported on Tuesday that the number of known PTSD cases for Bundeswehr soldiers has risen from 55 in 2006 to 226 in 2008. Experts say that, in reality, the number of cases is likely much higher due to the cases that go unreported.
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Tuesday, February 3, 2009
AWOL Soldier Requested Treatment for PTSD and was Denied/Refused/Threatened
How many more stories do we have to read to understand the DOD still does not get it?
Press Release
AWOL Soldier Requested Treatment for PTSD and was Denied/Refused/Threatened
VETWOW
Enumclaw, Washington, February 3, 2009
Two OIF soldiers from different units at Ft. Lewis, Washington have gone AWOL multiple times after each had multiple requests for mental health care with regards to their "undiagnosed" PTSD. Panic attacks, hypervigilance and inability to sleep are just a few of the symptoms these soldiers are experiencing. Not being allowed to obtain treatment, leaves them without a Diagnosis, which traps them in a Catch-22 situation.
After calling Ft. Lewis Inspector General as well as their AWOL Apprehension Team, Susan Avila-Smith discovered that the only way Fort Lewis officials will "approach this" is to have the soldiers return to base, be taken into custody by Ft. Lewis Military Police, and release them to their prospective units, the very Commanders that would not listen to their plea for treatment in the first place.
"While I understand that there are military rules and regulations, there comes a point when the best interests of the Military, the Soldiers and taxpayers need to step up to the plate and give medical and mental health care to those who need it, and who know enough to ask for help. Throwing them into the stockade and having their Command punish them, and possibly kicking them out of service when they have a valid medical issue is no way to treat our American Soldiers who have fought for our Freedom."
We encourage people to contact Fort Lewis officials to make sure that any soldier have complete access to Mental Health care, and hold Command accountable for their actions, rather than the soldier for their illness.
Susan Avila-Smith,
Director,
VETWOW
DoD Confirms Role Combat Plays in Suicide Epidemic
DoD Confirms Role Combat Plays in Suicide Epidemic
Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
U.S. Department of Defense
Feb 02, 2009
January 29, 2009, Washington, DC - The Army is committed to finding out why more soldiers committed suicide in 2008 than ever recorded, Army officials told reporters during a media roundtable today at the Pentagon.
"[Suicide] is not just an Army problem," Army Secretary Pete Geren said. "It's a national problem - we're committed to doing everything we can to address [the issues] better [and] put programs in place."
In past years, the Army, which consists of 1.1 million active and reserve troops, has been just below or on par with the national suicide rate, Geren said.
But this year, with 128 confirmed and 15 pending, an estimated 20.2 suicides occurred per 100,000 soldiers, the highest since the Army began recording the figure in 1980. The figure is higher than the national suicide rate, which is less than 20 victims per 100,000 people.
Also, the number of Army suicides increased for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Army's 2008 Suicide Data report released today.
Army researchers admitted that at least 90 percent of pending suicide cases turns out to be actual suicides. But they explained that there's no one cause or consistent formula for suicide prevention.
Multiple factors make up the risks and no two reasons are the same, Geren said.
A high mission tempo clearly can place strain on a military, and with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 12 months or longer deployment rotations and 12 months or less downtime at home, the Army certainly has been busy, Army Vice Chief Of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli said.
"We all come to the table believing stress is a factor," Chiarelli told reporters. But he added that 2008 statistics show 30 percent of suicide victims this year were deployed, 35 percent had recently redeployed and 35 percent had no deployment experience at all.
"I think those statistics have to be looked at, and more questions have to be asked," he said. "But there's no doubt in my mind that stress is a factor in this trend we're seeing."
Chiarelli said it's important to take a step backward to evaluate what the Army and research facilities already know about suicide and prevention and review them.
Army researchers have come together with the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase the nation's awareness and understanding in suicide prevention, Dr. Philip S. Wang, director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health, said.
The five-year partnership is the largest research initiative on suicide ever conducted in the civilian and military sectors, Wang added.
"The National Institute of Mental Health is honored and committed to working with the Army to understand the urgency, to identify risks and prevention factors, to develop new and better intervention," he said. "The knowledge will not only extend to soldiers and their families, but to the civilian population as well."
Army leaders and researchers agree that reducing the number of suicide victims is a long-term goal, but in the near term, they've initiated an Armywide "stand-down" to take place on a day between Feb. 15 and March 15, Col. Thomas Languirand, Army deputy chief of staff for personnel, said.
The stand-down day will offer an opportunity for individual units and soldiers to address problems head on, and will include the latest training videos, materials and methods to identify symptoms and prevent suicide, Languirand explained.
The stand-down will be followed by another 120 days of a "chain-teaching" program, which is intended to be leader-led suicide prevention training, cascaded across the entire Army, he said. The stand-down period and chain-teaching program are mandated training in addition to quarterly and other suicide awareness and prevention training that may occur at the unit level already.
"The Army is concerned regarding where we are with our numbers," he said. "Any loss of life, especially by suicide, is a tragedy. That tragedy impacts the unit, it impacts morale on that unit - and it impacts the families. It's extremely important that we get out in front of this - nobody in the Army is satisfied as to where we are with our [past] programs."
The Army will conduct its next suicide update in April.
Army Staff Sgt. Michael J. Carden
U.S. Department of Defense
Feb 02, 2009
January 29, 2009, Washington, DC - The Army is committed to finding out why more soldiers committed suicide in 2008 than ever recorded, Army officials told reporters during a media roundtable today at the Pentagon.
"[Suicide] is not just an Army problem," Army Secretary Pete Geren said. "It's a national problem - we're committed to doing everything we can to address [the issues] better [and] put programs in place."
In past years, the Army, which consists of 1.1 million active and reserve troops, has been just below or on par with the national suicide rate, Geren said.
But this year, with 128 confirmed and 15 pending, an estimated 20.2 suicides occurred per 100,000 soldiers, the highest since the Army began recording the figure in 1980. The figure is higher than the national suicide rate, which is less than 20 victims per 100,000 people.
Also, the number of Army suicides increased for the fourth consecutive year, according to the Army's 2008 Suicide Data report released today.
Army researchers admitted that at least 90 percent of pending suicide cases turns out to be actual suicides. But they explained that there's no one cause or consistent formula for suicide prevention.
Multiple factors make up the risks and no two reasons are the same, Geren said.
A high mission tempo clearly can place strain on a military, and with wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, 12 months or longer deployment rotations and 12 months or less downtime at home, the Army certainly has been busy, Army Vice Chief Of Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli said.
"We all come to the table believing stress is a factor," Chiarelli told reporters. But he added that 2008 statistics show 30 percent of suicide victims this year were deployed, 35 percent had recently redeployed and 35 percent had no deployment experience at all.
"I think those statistics have to be looked at, and more questions have to be asked," he said. "But there's no doubt in my mind that stress is a factor in this trend we're seeing."
Chiarelli said it's important to take a step backward to evaluate what the Army and research facilities already know about suicide and prevention and review them.
Army researchers have come together with the National Institute of Mental Health and the Department of Veterans Affairs to increase the nation's awareness and understanding in suicide prevention, Dr. Philip S. Wang, director of the Division of Services and Intervention Research at the National Institute of Mental Health, said.
The five-year partnership is the largest research initiative on suicide ever conducted in the civilian and military sectors, Wang added.
"The National Institute of Mental Health is honored and committed to working with the Army to understand the urgency, to identify risks and prevention factors, to develop new and better intervention," he said. "The knowledge will not only extend to soldiers and their families, but to the civilian population as well."
Army leaders and researchers agree that reducing the number of suicide victims is a long-term goal, but in the near term, they've initiated an Armywide "stand-down" to take place on a day between Feb. 15 and March 15, Col. Thomas Languirand, Army deputy chief of staff for personnel, said.
The stand-down day will offer an opportunity for individual units and soldiers to address problems head on, and will include the latest training videos, materials and methods to identify symptoms and prevent suicide, Languirand explained.
The stand-down will be followed by another 120 days of a "chain-teaching" program, which is intended to be leader-led suicide prevention training, cascaded across the entire Army, he said. The stand-down period and chain-teaching program are mandated training in addition to quarterly and other suicide awareness and prevention training that may occur at the unit level already.
"The Army is concerned regarding where we are with our numbers," he said. "Any loss of life, especially by suicide, is a tragedy. That tragedy impacts the unit, it impacts morale on that unit - and it impacts the families. It's extremely important that we get out in front of this - nobody in the Army is satisfied as to where we are with our [past] programs."
The Army will conduct its next suicide update in April.
Suicide Rate Reflects Toll of Army Life
Feb 2, Rachel Martin
Consequences of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: Suicide Rate Reflects Toll of Army Life
ABC News
Feb 02, 2009
January 31, 2009 - Three months into his first deployment to Iraq, in November 2003, Army Specialist TJ Sweet was having a hard time -- working intense 18-hour shifts, battling sandstorms and bouts of anxiety.
On Thanksgiving Day, Sweet exchanged some harsh words with his commanding officer. As punishment he was told to do five push-ups and he was dropped from the promotions list.
Not long after that, his fellow soldiers heard gunshots and found Sweet's body under the stairway of the barracks. He had shot himself in the head.
The news devastated his mother, Liz Sweet. She had never wanted her son to join the military because of his health problems: a heart condition and Attention Deficit Syndrome.
She had thought the Army would turn down his application to enlist, but when she told the recruiter about her son's conditions, she said the recruiter told her they could get waivers that would still allow him to serve.
Now her son is gone and she blames the Army, in part, for failing to recognize the signs of his despair and for accepting him in the first place.
"It could have been different," she said.
TJ Sweet is just one of the hundreds of soldiers who have committed suicide since the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
click link for more
Consequences of Iraq and Afghanistan Wars: Suicide Rate Reflects Toll of Army Life
ABC News
Feb 02, 2009
January 31, 2009 - Three months into his first deployment to Iraq, in November 2003, Army Specialist TJ Sweet was having a hard time -- working intense 18-hour shifts, battling sandstorms and bouts of anxiety.
On Thanksgiving Day, Sweet exchanged some harsh words with his commanding officer. As punishment he was told to do five push-ups and he was dropped from the promotions list.
Not long after that, his fellow soldiers heard gunshots and found Sweet's body under the stairway of the barracks. He had shot himself in the head.
The news devastated his mother, Liz Sweet. She had never wanted her son to join the military because of his health problems: a heart condition and Attention Deficit Syndrome.
She had thought the Army would turn down his application to enlist, but when she told the recruiter about her son's conditions, she said the recruiter told her they could get waivers that would still allow him to serve.
Now her son is gone and she blames the Army, in part, for failing to recognize the signs of his despair and for accepting him in the first place.
"It could have been different," she said.
TJ Sweet is just one of the hundreds of soldiers who have committed suicide since the U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
click link for more
Soap Operas and PTSD
Soap Operas and PTSD
by Chaplain Kathie
Women across the nation watch their soap operas everyday. When they can't watch them, they tape them. They end up being so enthralled with the characters, they know everything about them as if they were friends. These are made up people with made up problems! The shows are filed with issues, sex, marriages in trouble, love gone bad and tragedy. What soap opera fans do not understand is that there are real life stories of real people happening all over the country on a daily basis and they can be even more tragic, heart tugging, tear evoking and infuriating than any script a writer could ever dream up. What makes these stories even more compelling is the fact they are occurring in right in the same neighborhoods as the soap opera fans live in but they don't even know these people exist in real life, real time so they don't have to wait for the next days episode or to find out what happened when they get home from work.
All My Children? Well I have to tell you that if every Mom across the country felt as if all the men and women serving in the military, National Guards and Reserves were their children, the DOD and the VA wouldn't be anywhere near the mess they are in right now. We talk a great deal about how freedom is not free, but we ignore the people doing the serving, the people we depend on as if they weren't even there.
Take a look at this
Days of Our Life? I bet they would love the complications of living with PTSD in the house and all that comes with it. PTSD veterans households have these twists and turns:
Sexual problems, cheating spouses, unrequited passion
Drugs and alcohol problems because they are self-medicating
Tension because of financial problems, emotional problems, kids under stress, wives under stress, anger, forgiveness and anger again.
We also have nightmares and flashbacks that can compete with any horror movie.
We have love stories and revenge stories
We even have deep dark secrets we try to keep as we find excuses for why our spouse is not at the party or didn't go to work or why we have a black eye because we decided to wake them up from a nightmare while in striking distance. We hold back when others talk about a wild sex night because we can't remember when the last time was we even slept in the same bed.
Oh and then there are also the stories about them being tortured by the VA when claims are denied when they should have been approved had it not been for the fact they didn't think to take down names and phone numbers of the people they served with in case they needed it later.
Millions of people watch the soap operas but they don't pay attention to sites like this or news reports coming out of their own communities. There was a time when I would wonder why anyone would want to read a blog like this unless they were living with it and then it dawned on me one day when I was having my car serviced and I saw daytime TV. All the talk shows and soap operas can't compete with what we have going on. Salacious? Yep, we got that too. Crimes and innocent people being charged with crimes? Got that too. Heck, we even have stories of faith and redemption. As a matter of fact, households across the nation have all these TV dramas topped!
Bold and Beautiful? Ever see the young men and women in the military after they've been trained and every muscle in their body has been conditioned to carry the loads they have to in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Young and Restless? Got that too!
What really gets me is that if people would read this type of blog, they could not only end up helping veterans and the troops, they could very well save their own marriages and their kids lives since millions of households across the country live with this all everyday but even more don't know they are. They know something is wrong with their family but they don't have a clue what it is. As a matter of fact, two thirds of the American public don't have the slightest clue what PTSD is. It's not just military families and veterans' families living with this. Oh no. We also have police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and survivors of other traumatic events. Not only do we have the issues of the soap operas topped, we have the demographics to wipe them into the dust. I'd like to see advertisers trying to capture this un-served audience!
by Chaplain Kathie
Women across the nation watch their soap operas everyday. When they can't watch them, they tape them. They end up being so enthralled with the characters, they know everything about them as if they were friends. These are made up people with made up problems! The shows are filed with issues, sex, marriages in trouble, love gone bad and tragedy. What soap opera fans do not understand is that there are real life stories of real people happening all over the country on a daily basis and they can be even more tragic, heart tugging, tear evoking and infuriating than any script a writer could ever dream up. What makes these stories even more compelling is the fact they are occurring in right in the same neighborhoods as the soap opera fans live in but they don't even know these people exist in real life, real time so they don't have to wait for the next days episode or to find out what happened when they get home from work.
All My Children? Well I have to tell you that if every Mom across the country felt as if all the men and women serving in the military, National Guards and Reserves were their children, the DOD and the VA wouldn't be anywhere near the mess they are in right now. We talk a great deal about how freedom is not free, but we ignore the people doing the serving, the people we depend on as if they weren't even there.
Take a look at this
What remains the strory of the year is how low CBS' "Guiding Light" can fall as it fights to survive and retain its title as broadcasting's longest running program. With numbers so low (a 1.4 HH rating on Thursday), it would make "Port Charles" look like a ratings winner. Sadly, "Port Charles" was cancelled in 2003 with higher ratings than this despite airing in the wee-hours of the night. While NBC's "Days of our Lives" loses 40% of its budget in the upcoming year and a loss of its two stars (Deidre Hall and Drake Hogestyn), three out of its five weekly episodes (Friday, Tuesday, and Monday) outranked every episode of ABC's "All My Children" and "One Life to Live." The highest episode was its Friday broadcast with 2.9 million viewers. For the week, "DAYS" averaged 2.7 million viewers. "DAYS" is also the only soap to increase viewers year-over-year, gaining 120,000 viewers from the same point last year. "The Young and the Restless" and "The Bold and the Beautiful" remain daytime's most watched programs as they hold the 1-5 and 6-10 positions. "Restless," however has lost the most audience year-over-year with a decline of 630,000 viewers. It's Women 18-49 ranking, however, remains on par with its year-ago and up a point week-to-week.
http://soapoperanetwork.com/news/ratings/586-daytimes-40-most-popular-shows.html
Days of Our Life? I bet they would love the complications of living with PTSD in the house and all that comes with it. PTSD veterans households have these twists and turns:
Sexual problems, cheating spouses, unrequited passion
Drugs and alcohol problems because they are self-medicating
Tension because of financial problems, emotional problems, kids under stress, wives under stress, anger, forgiveness and anger again.
We also have nightmares and flashbacks that can compete with any horror movie.
We have love stories and revenge stories
We even have deep dark secrets we try to keep as we find excuses for why our spouse is not at the party or didn't go to work or why we have a black eye because we decided to wake them up from a nightmare while in striking distance. We hold back when others talk about a wild sex night because we can't remember when the last time was we even slept in the same bed.
Oh and then there are also the stories about them being tortured by the VA when claims are denied when they should have been approved had it not been for the fact they didn't think to take down names and phone numbers of the people they served with in case they needed it later.
Millions of people watch the soap operas but they don't pay attention to sites like this or news reports coming out of their own communities. There was a time when I would wonder why anyone would want to read a blog like this unless they were living with it and then it dawned on me one day when I was having my car serviced and I saw daytime TV. All the talk shows and soap operas can't compete with what we have going on. Salacious? Yep, we got that too. Crimes and innocent people being charged with crimes? Got that too. Heck, we even have stories of faith and redemption. As a matter of fact, households across the nation have all these TV dramas topped!
Bold and Beautiful? Ever see the young men and women in the military after they've been trained and every muscle in their body has been conditioned to carry the loads they have to in Iraq and Afghanistan?
Young and Restless? Got that too!
What really gets me is that if people would read this type of blog, they could not only end up helping veterans and the troops, they could very well save their own marriages and their kids lives since millions of households across the country live with this all everyday but even more don't know they are. They know something is wrong with their family but they don't have a clue what it is. As a matter of fact, two thirds of the American public don't have the slightest clue what PTSD is. It's not just military families and veterans' families living with this. Oh no. We also have police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and survivors of other traumatic events. Not only do we have the issues of the soap operas topped, we have the demographics to wipe them into the dust. I'd like to see advertisers trying to capture this un-served audience!
West Point, 2 suicides, 2 attempts in just 2 months
West Point reacting to 2 suicides in as many months
Times Herald-Record - Middletown,NY,USA
By Alexa James
February 02, 2009
WEST POINT — As the Army reels from record-high suicide rates, officials at the U.S. Military Academy are responding to tragedies of their own.
Two West Point cadets killed themselves and at least two others made suicide “attempts or gestures,” in the past two months, prompting Academy officials to summon an Army surgeon general’s suicide team to campus last week.
The team’s investigation left West Point feeling confident that its mental health programs are robust and active, but Brig. Gen. Michael Linnington, the Commandant of Cadets, said there is still room for improvement.
“We have to remove all the stigma that’s attached with going to seek help,” he said.
Hundreds of suicide prevention posters and wallet-sized help cards were doled out across campus last month, and Army brass met with every class to remind them about the confidential mental health resources at their disposal.
West Point’s 4,400 cadets have access to counselors and doctors around the clock, Linnington said, both through an on-site office called the Center for Professional Development (CPD) and also a manned telephone help-line.
“The numbers of cadets that have gone to seek help at the CPD are triple what they were just five years ago,” he said. “Some people would say ‘Oh my God, that’s bad. That means cadets are stressed,’” but Linnington takes it as a good sign, saying the programs are popular because cadets aren’t ashamed to use them anymore.
More than 200 cadets sought help last year, including the two who committed suicide: A junior from Tennessee suffocated on helium gas in a hotel room in Highland Falls on Dec. 8, and a freshman shot and killed himself Jan. 2 while on leave in North Carolina. He was home to get mental help.
click link for more
Times Herald-Record - Middletown,NY,USA
By Alexa James
February 02, 2009
WEST POINT — As the Army reels from record-high suicide rates, officials at the U.S. Military Academy are responding to tragedies of their own.
Two West Point cadets killed themselves and at least two others made suicide “attempts or gestures,” in the past two months, prompting Academy officials to summon an Army surgeon general’s suicide team to campus last week.
The team’s investigation left West Point feeling confident that its mental health programs are robust and active, but Brig. Gen. Michael Linnington, the Commandant of Cadets, said there is still room for improvement.
“We have to remove all the stigma that’s attached with going to seek help,” he said.
Hundreds of suicide prevention posters and wallet-sized help cards were doled out across campus last month, and Army brass met with every class to remind them about the confidential mental health resources at their disposal.
West Point’s 4,400 cadets have access to counselors and doctors around the clock, Linnington said, both through an on-site office called the Center for Professional Development (CPD) and also a manned telephone help-line.
“The numbers of cadets that have gone to seek help at the CPD are triple what they were just five years ago,” he said. “Some people would say ‘Oh my God, that’s bad. That means cadets are stressed,’” but Linnington takes it as a good sign, saying the programs are popular because cadets aren’t ashamed to use them anymore.
More than 200 cadets sought help last year, including the two who committed suicide: A junior from Tennessee suffocated on helium gas in a hotel room in Highland Falls on Dec. 8, and a freshman shot and killed himself Jan. 2 while on leave in North Carolina. He was home to get mental help.
click link for more
Is this anyway to treat a soldier? One of the worst stories I've read
If this were made into a movie, no one would believe it, but it's not a movie. It's the story of a soldier's life and how he was treated because someone does not know what the hell they are doing and too many others don't care. At the age of 20, Dominic Meyer had seen the horrors of war, the death of his father, injured by a hit and run and then labeled AWOL because of it. Then topping off all of this was being pulled over as the newspaper reported AWOL soldier nabbed with weapons leading to his arrest and pending trial. Why? Because he was hit by someone that didn't care and then no one in the chain of command at Fort Hood bothered to notice why he wasn't back on base from his leave.
Meyer did his duty. He went where he was sent, risked his life and had his life at risk in Iraq.
Just think about that the next time you read a story and ask yourself what if it happened to you or someone you love? How can he not feel as if he was betrayed for his loyalty to the country? How could he not feel as if this is one bad nightmare followed by more?
Meyer did his duty. He went where he was sent, risked his life and had his life at risk in Iraq.
Two months ago, before he was released from jail, a court-appointed psychologist interviewed Dominic to do a risk assessment.
"The (inmate) does appear to have some reactions to his combat experience in Iraq," the psychologist wrote. He doesn't spell it out as PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder) but that's clearly what he's talking about.
Just think about that the next time you read a story and ask yourself what if it happened to you or someone you love? How can he not feel as if he was betrayed for his loyalty to the country? How could he not feel as if this is one bad nightmare followed by more?
Soldier's wartime furlough offers no respite from trouble
Asbury Park Press - Asbury Park,NJ,USA
February 1, 2009
EATONTOWN — Last winter his father died. Two weeks later Dominic Meyer was on his way to Iraq. Soon he would be pulling another soldier out of a burning Humvee. The man was returned to his family a triple-amputee, blind and deaf.
Four times in the space of four months, the unit was jarred by the sound and the fury of a roadside bomb. Jangled nerves are evidently part of the bargain. Sometimes adrenaline is your only friend in Iraq.
Meyer was shot three times while he was there. His flak jacket may have saved his life. His buddy wasn't so lucky. He was killed by sniper fire.
There is no emotion in Meyer's voice. There's something in the way he looks at you, though. His eyes tell you they have seen far too much. "He has an old soul," says his mother, Dana Spencer.
Dominic Meyer is 20.
The Army sent him home in July, 18-day leave. On the 17th day of his furlough he was hit by a car in Sayreville, late at night. The driver didn't stop. Six months later his knee still bothers him. He walks with a cane.
After the hit-and-run accident, there was some mix-up. "In the confusion of having him formally transferred back to Fort Hood (Texas) for treatment, he was designated AWOL," his mother wrote in a letter to the Press. It's complicated. The doctor at Fort Monmouth has to talk to the commanding officer at Fort Hood who has to talk to the commanding officer in Iraq. Lot of paperwork, maybe a letter doesn't get stamped somewhere along the line, who knows.
By Sept. 29, Meyer was ready to report for duty. He was anxious to rejoin his unit in Iraq. He packed up his gear and loaded it into his 2003 Ford F-150. He would drive through the night, less traffic.
But before he got on the road, he was pulled over by the police, around 11:15 p.m. Someone called complaining about a pickup truck and a motorcycle racing up and down the street.
Meyer's registration was expired and he had no insurance. Then the officer saw the butt of a bayonet sticking out of the defroster vent.
The next day there was a story in the local paper: "Man AWOL from Army found in Sayreville with cache of weapons." In addition to the bayonet, the story went on to say that police had found two handguns, several magazines of ammunition, several knives, a hatchet and an unspent hollow-point bullet.
Meyer spent the next 57 days in the Middlesex County Jail. His bail originally was set at $100,000, with no 10 percent option. Under New Jersey's tough new gun law, enacted last year as a means to combat gang violence, Meyer could be facing mandatory prison time.
click link for more
Tammy Duckworth Tapped for VA Assistant Secretary
This will make a lot of people as happy as I am.
Recent VA News Releases
Duckworth Tapped for VA Assistant Secretary
WASHINGTON (Feb. 3, 2009) - President Barack Obama has announced his
intent to nominate L. Tammy Duckworth, director of the Illinois
Department of Veterans Affairs, to be the Assistant Secretary of Public
and Intergovernmental Affairs for the Department of Veterans Affairs
(VA).
"Effective communications with Veterans and VA's stakeholders is key to
improving our services and ensuring Veterans receive the benefits they
deserve," said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. "Tammy
Duckworth brings significant talent, leadership and personal experience
to this important work."
As assistant secretary, Duckworth will direct VA's public affairs,
internal communications and intergovernmental relations. She also will
oversee programs for homeless Veterans, consumer affairs and special
rehabilitative events.
Duckworth was appointed director of the state Veterans office in
Illinois in 2006. In previous testimony before Congress, she expressed
her commitment to Veterans and the need for transformation of the
Department. "The VA system faces new challenges as a result of the wars
in Iraq and Afghanistan." She also noted "the patient profile is
changing. More wounded soldiers are surviving very serious injuries."
She is serving as a major in the Illinois National Guard and was
previously deployed to Operation Iraqi Freedom where, as a captain, she
was assistant operations officer for a 500-soldier aviation task force.
She also served as a logistics officer and company commander. As a
helicopter pilot flying combat missions in 2004, she suffered grave
injuries when her helicopter was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade,
losing both legs and partial use of one arm.
Her previous managerial experience includes coordinating the Center for
Nursing Research at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, and working
for Rotary International's Asia-Pacific region from 2002 to 2004.
Duckworth earned a bachelor's degree from the University of Hawaii and a
master's degree from George Washington University in Washington, D.C.
Born in Thailand, she is the daughter of a U.S. Marine who fought in
Vietnam. She is married to Iraq war Veteran and National Guard officer,
Major Bryan Bowlsbey.
Monday, February 2, 2009
National Guard Soldiers laid to rest
Rockland bids a soldier farewell
Boston Globe - United States
February 2, 2009
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff
ROCKLAND -- A bagpipe player led a winding procession today past several thousand mourners standing on Union Street, his tune echoing off storefronts, city offices, and homes.
They cried as the white, horse-drawn caisson carrying the casket of Massachusetts National Guard Specialist Matthew Pollini passed. Members of the military stood at attention, and veterans offered a salute. Schoolchildren waved small US flags through the air.
The caisson stopped in front of the Holy Family Church, where six servicemen and women carried the flag-draped coffin into the half-filled church. Within moments, 800 of the mourners who had waited outside for the procession filled the church.
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Wading River soldier remembered
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
A Wading River soldier who died nine months after he was wounded in a firefight in Afghanistan was remembered at his hometown church Monday before being laid to rest at Calverton National Cemetery.
Spc. Jonathan Keller, 29, an Army National Guardsman, was shot in the arm and shoulder during a firefight near the Pakistan border in April.
He died Jan. 24 in Fort Bragg, N.C. His death is under investigation and the circumstances remained unclear on Monday.
During his funeral at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, packed with more than 400 friends and family, the Rev. James Pereda recalled Keller's "infectious smile" and said he had "a boyish and youthful enthusiasm for everything in life."
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Boston Globe - United States
February 2, 2009
By Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff
ROCKLAND -- A bagpipe player led a winding procession today past several thousand mourners standing on Union Street, his tune echoing off storefronts, city offices, and homes.
They cried as the white, horse-drawn caisson carrying the casket of Massachusetts National Guard Specialist Matthew Pollini passed. Members of the military stood at attention, and veterans offered a salute. Schoolchildren waved small US flags through the air.
The caisson stopped in front of the Holy Family Church, where six servicemen and women carried the flag-draped coffin into the half-filled church. Within moments, 800 of the mourners who had waited outside for the procession filled the church.
click link for more
Wading River soldier remembered
Newsday - Long Island,NY,USA
Sgt. Jonathan Keller, Army National Guardsman, front left, of Wading River is seen here training at Fort Bragg, NC in 2008 prior to deploying to Afghanistan. (Photo by Charles Eckert)
A Wading River soldier who died nine months after he was wounded in a firefight in Afghanistan was remembered at his hometown church Monday before being laid to rest at Calverton National Cemetery.
Spc. Jonathan Keller, 29, an Army National Guardsman, was shot in the arm and shoulder during a firefight near the Pakistan border in April.
He died Jan. 24 in Fort Bragg, N.C. His death is under investigation and the circumstances remained unclear on Monday.
During his funeral at St. John the Baptist Roman Catholic Church, packed with more than 400 friends and family, the Rev. James Pereda recalled Keller's "infectious smile" and said he had "a boyish and youthful enthusiasm for everything in life."
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Soldier on 1st skydive leads dying instructor down
Soldier on 1st skydive leads dying instructor down
By JEFFREY COLLINS
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Strapped to his dying instructor a few thousand feet from the ground on his first skydive, Daniel Pharr found himself floating toward a house and some trees.
The military taught the 25-year-old soldier not to panic. And TV taught him to pull the toggles on the already-deployed parachute to steer.
So Pharr grabbed the right handle and pulled to avoid the house and tugged again to miss the trees, landing safely in a field about a third of a mile from their intended landing spot.
Pharr said he wrestled out of the harness binding him to his instructor, George "Chip" Steele, and started CPR trying to save him from an apparent heart attack.
Steele was later pronounced dead, but the tragedy could have been worse: Other instructors at the skydiving school told Pharr if he had pulled the toggle too hard, the chute would have spun out of control, and he could be dead, too.
"They told me afterward that it was amazing that I knew to do that. This is my survival instinct at that point. I just kind of did what I had to do," said Pharr, taking a break Monday from his job at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Ga.
The jump was a Christmas gift from Pharr's girlfriend. The two went to Skydive Carolina in Chester on Saturday to jump from 13,500 feet in the air while attached to instructors.
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By JEFFREY COLLINS
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Strapped to his dying instructor a few thousand feet from the ground on his first skydive, Daniel Pharr found himself floating toward a house and some trees.
The military taught the 25-year-old soldier not to panic. And TV taught him to pull the toggles on the already-deployed parachute to steer.
So Pharr grabbed the right handle and pulled to avoid the house and tugged again to miss the trees, landing safely in a field about a third of a mile from their intended landing spot.
Pharr said he wrestled out of the harness binding him to his instructor, George "Chip" Steele, and started CPR trying to save him from an apparent heart attack.
Steele was later pronounced dead, but the tragedy could have been worse: Other instructors at the skydiving school told Pharr if he had pulled the toggle too hard, the chute would have spun out of control, and he could be dead, too.
"They told me afterward that it was amazing that I knew to do that. This is my survival instinct at that point. I just kind of did what I had to do," said Pharr, taking a break Monday from his job at Fort Gordon near Augusta, Ga.
The jump was a Christmas gift from Pharr's girlfriend. The two went to Skydive Carolina in Chester on Saturday to jump from 13,500 feet in the air while attached to instructors.
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Memorial service set for Fort Wainwright soldier
Memorial service set for Fort Wainwright soldier
February 02, 2009 19:01 EST
FORT WAINWRIGHT, Alaska (AP) -- A memorial service for an Alaskan-based Tennessee soldier is set for Thursday afternoon.
The Army says Spc. Cody Lamb was found dead at his family's home while he was on a mid-tour leave.
Unicoi County Sheriff Kent Harris said last week foul play is not suspected and suicide has been ruled out.
Lamb was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 8th Field Artillery Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks.
Officials say the brigade was deployed to Iraq in September.
The artilleryman entered the Army in November 2006 and was assigned to Fort Wainwright four months later.
Alabama National Guard selects 1st female general
Ala. Guard selects 1st female general
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 20:21:47 EST
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Sheryl Gordon, a member of the Alabama National Guard for nearly 30 years, has been selected for promotion to become its first female general.
Gordon, who retired recently as an assistant principal at Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City, took command Sunday of the 62nd Troop Command in Montgomery, where she started her Guard career.
The unit at Fort Taylor Hardin is the state’s largest with about 5,000 troops.
In taking command, the paperwork process began for her to officially rise to the rank of one-star general.
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The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 20:21:47 EST
MONTGOMERY, Ala. — Sheryl Gordon, a member of the Alabama National Guard for nearly 30 years, has been selected for promotion to become its first female general.
Gordon, who retired recently as an assistant principal at Benjamin Russell High School in Alexander City, took command Sunday of the 62nd Troop Command in Montgomery, where she started her Guard career.
The unit at Fort Taylor Hardin is the state’s largest with about 5,000 troops.
In taking command, the paperwork process began for her to officially rise to the rank of one-star general.
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Judge sets date for soldiers’ suit vs. KBR
Judge sets date for soldiers’ suit vs. KBR
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 20:21:47 EST
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A federal judge has set a trial date for a lawsuit by 16 Indiana National Guard soldiers who claim they were exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq.
Judge Richard L. Young on Monday set 10 days for the trial beginning May 3, 2010, in U.S. District Court in Evansville. He also scheduled a settlement conference for Aug. 17.
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry, filed a federal lawsuit in December against defense contractor KBR Inc., saying its employees knowingly allowed them to be exposed to sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, while guarding a water plant in Iraq in 2003.
KBR has said it notified the Army Corps of Engineers after finding the chemical at the site and the Corps concluded the company’s efforts to remediate the situation were effective.
The Associated Press
Posted : Monday Feb 2, 2009 20:21:47 EST
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A federal judge has set a trial date for a lawsuit by 16 Indiana National Guard soldiers who claim they were exposed to a toxic chemical in Iraq.
Judge Richard L. Young on Monday set 10 days for the trial beginning May 3, 2010, in U.S. District Court in Evansville. He also scheduled a settlement conference for Aug. 17.
Soldiers from the 1st Battalion, 152nd Infantry, filed a federal lawsuit in December against defense contractor KBR Inc., saying its employees knowingly allowed them to be exposed to sodium dichromate, a known carcinogen, while guarding a water plant in Iraq in 2003.
KBR has said it notified the Army Corps of Engineers after finding the chemical at the site and the Corps concluded the company’s efforts to remediate the situation were effective.
DOD releases another non-combat death in Afghanistan
DoD Identifies Army Casualty
The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
CW4 Milton E. Suggs, 51, of Lockport, La., died Jan. 30 at Camp Lemonier, Djibouti, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident. He was assigned to the 38th Operational Support Airlift Detachment, Hammond, La.
The circumstances surrounding the incident are under investigation.
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