Companies Bilked Vets Program of $100M
November 19, 2009
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- Companies fraudulently collected at least $100 million in federal contracts from a $4 billion government program designated for disabled military veterans who run small businesses, congressional investigators charge.
The Small Business Administration failed to check if companies were eligible for the no-bid contracts for veterans with service-related injuries, allowing, for example, a contracting employee at a military base in Tampa, Fla., to improperly funnel a $900,000 Air Force contract to his wife's firm.
Moreover, because there are few penalties for companies found ineligible, many were still being handed tens of millions of dollars in government work even after they were found to be flouting the rules, according to the report released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office.
In many cases, small business owners falsely claimed they had a service-related injury to get the federal work - such as a $7.5 million FEMA contract for Hurricane Katrina work - and were only caught when competitors protested. In other situations, the small veteran-owned businesses were legitimate but then improperly passed the work to large or foreign-based corporations.
"Fraud in this program means that honest veterans who own a small business lose out on projects to impostors who, in many cases, aren't small businesses or even veterans," said Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., chairwoman of the House Committee on Small Business, who requested the report.
read more here
Companies Bilked Vets Program of 100M
Thursday, November 19, 2009
PTSD is an invasion
PTSD is an invasion
by
Chaplain Kathie
Once we understand PTSD comes from an outside force, only comes after traumatic events and why it invades one person instead of others, then there will be absolutely no excuse to allow what has been preventing too many from seeking help.
If we use the term defective, it means there was something wrong the day they were born, but there is nothing "wrong" with them. As a matter of fact, it is what is right(eous) and good within them that opens the door. There is nothing "defective" within them. There is however a time in their lives when they have been "damaged."
When an object is damaged, it is cut, torn, cracked, broken, burned and if a damaged thing is not repaired, it is tossed out with the trash. It is no longer useful. If it is repaired, it is just as useful, but we tend to take greater care of it and cherish it more. When we are talking about someone we love and care about, it is easier for us to understand a thing being damaged than a person.
When I was in school one of our star athletes was hurt during a football game. He got up on the field, continued to play, but it was easy to see he was in a lot of pain. He was in class for the first few days after the injury. He assumed it was just something he would get over and recover from as he limped throughout the day. Then one day he was not in class. The following week, he returned to school with his leg in a cast. He had two broken bones. His injury was something no one could really see with their eyes aside from the fact he was clearly hurting when he limped. Everyone assumed the cause of the pain was something minor and he would simply recover on his own. An x-ray proved otherwise. Then we could see what was there beneath the skin. He was helped to heal when the damage was known. The days of him walking around with a serious wound left him wondering every time he was tackled after that if he would end up hurt again.
We tend to understand a broken bone more easily than we can understand PTSD, but as my classmate was wounded by the force of another football player, PTSD is a wound caused by the force invading from the outside. Traumatic events are not part of normal daily life. They are events no one is ever really prepared for. When the events are part of combat, they are more horrific, happen more often and no one really has a time when the senses are not on guard. They wonder when the next one will happen knowing every second that passes could bring the next bullet or bomb blast when their normal reality is once again shattered by violence.
We talk a lot about terrorists knowing they could look just like everyone else. Terrorism works not by the number of people killed, but by the numbers of witnesses because it puts the thought into our heads it could have been us and the next time we wouldn't see it coming either. While most will look over their own shoulder for a time, that feeling of impending doom wears off as time goes by. For others, that feeling lingers.
Imagine being in Iraq or Afghanistan, Kuwait, Vietnam, Korea or any of the other wars, never knowing when the next strike would come. Your sleep would never be deep. Every sound would wake you up. You would lay there in stillness on alert for the next sound as your body is preparing to spring into action. With the return of quite, you drift back off to sleep but your senses do not rest. This is a reaction brought back with you as you return to your neighborhood. Hypervigilance becomes "normal" because it was normal in the environment you left just as when you arrived in that hellish place, you had to adjust to the facts on the ground in the "normal" realities of war.
It all comes back with you. What you show others, knowingly or not, is much like the limp. They can see you have something going on inside of you, but it is easy to expect you will simply recover and get over it. You know there is something wounded inside of you, but you also expect that there will come a time when the pain eases and you recover back to "normal" never knowing that normal for you is the current reality. You have to be helped to transfer that new normal into something that lets you make peace inside yourself.
Much like a cast protects a broken bone, your mind protects your broken spirit. It builds all kinds of defenses around your emotions attempting to keep more painful invaders from getting in. Anger is allowed to come out but every other emotion must remain behind the wall. That wall gets thicker and thicker with each new attack against your emotions. Family and friends attack because of the way you are suddenly acting, unable to understand your detachment from them. Your anger and mood swings seen as coldness, masks the pain trapped behind the wall. Their reaction to you is another assault against your emotions and it feeds the negative forces. The limp in your soul becomes a prison to the person you always were. You expect "you" will never be seen again and others you are supposed to feel closets to begin to judge what you have become instead of trying to understand why you appear to be wounded.
When you know after trauma comes injury(wound)then it is no longer your fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it other than not being there in the first place. Like the football game and the broken leg bones would not have happened had he not been there, PTSD would not invade had you not been in place when a traumatic event came. While you cannot prevent PTSD, you can heal it with help and prevent what can come when you do not receive the facts to protect further injury like a cast, do not receive the understanding of the people close to you so they can support you, help you carry this load and let you lean on them. They do not have to become like the enemy attacking you all over again, but retain the care they had for you all along. When they know you are hurting, they will help but they cannot see what is broken needing healing unless you show them.
You do not have to get into details with them but you should with trained professionals. You can however help them to understand what is going on inside of you as an x-ray shows the break in bones, your words can help them see beneith the surface. They loved you before and cared about you before but they need help to understand why you changed. They need to know it came for you because you were in that place at that time. You were there with the same kind of compassion and courage. All you were is still there. You just need help to find it all again.
by
Chaplain Kathie
Once we understand PTSD comes from an outside force, only comes after traumatic events and why it invades one person instead of others, then there will be absolutely no excuse to allow what has been preventing too many from seeking help.
If we use the term defective, it means there was something wrong the day they were born, but there is nothing "wrong" with them. As a matter of fact, it is what is right(eous) and good within them that opens the door. There is nothing "defective" within them. There is however a time in their lives when they have been "damaged."
When an object is damaged, it is cut, torn, cracked, broken, burned and if a damaged thing is not repaired, it is tossed out with the trash. It is no longer useful. If it is repaired, it is just as useful, but we tend to take greater care of it and cherish it more. When we are talking about someone we love and care about, it is easier for us to understand a thing being damaged than a person.
When I was in school one of our star athletes was hurt during a football game. He got up on the field, continued to play, but it was easy to see he was in a lot of pain. He was in class for the first few days after the injury. He assumed it was just something he would get over and recover from as he limped throughout the day. Then one day he was not in class. The following week, he returned to school with his leg in a cast. He had two broken bones. His injury was something no one could really see with their eyes aside from the fact he was clearly hurting when he limped. Everyone assumed the cause of the pain was something minor and he would simply recover on his own. An x-ray proved otherwise. Then we could see what was there beneath the skin. He was helped to heal when the damage was known. The days of him walking around with a serious wound left him wondering every time he was tackled after that if he would end up hurt again.
We tend to understand a broken bone more easily than we can understand PTSD, but as my classmate was wounded by the force of another football player, PTSD is a wound caused by the force invading from the outside. Traumatic events are not part of normal daily life. They are events no one is ever really prepared for. When the events are part of combat, they are more horrific, happen more often and no one really has a time when the senses are not on guard. They wonder when the next one will happen knowing every second that passes could bring the next bullet or bomb blast when their normal reality is once again shattered by violence.
We talk a lot about terrorists knowing they could look just like everyone else. Terrorism works not by the number of people killed, but by the numbers of witnesses because it puts the thought into our heads it could have been us and the next time we wouldn't see it coming either. While most will look over their own shoulder for a time, that feeling of impending doom wears off as time goes by. For others, that feeling lingers.
Imagine being in Iraq or Afghanistan, Kuwait, Vietnam, Korea or any of the other wars, never knowing when the next strike would come. Your sleep would never be deep. Every sound would wake you up. You would lay there in stillness on alert for the next sound as your body is preparing to spring into action. With the return of quite, you drift back off to sleep but your senses do not rest. This is a reaction brought back with you as you return to your neighborhood. Hypervigilance becomes "normal" because it was normal in the environment you left just as when you arrived in that hellish place, you had to adjust to the facts on the ground in the "normal" realities of war.
It all comes back with you. What you show others, knowingly or not, is much like the limp. They can see you have something going on inside of you, but it is easy to expect you will simply recover and get over it. You know there is something wounded inside of you, but you also expect that there will come a time when the pain eases and you recover back to "normal" never knowing that normal for you is the current reality. You have to be helped to transfer that new normal into something that lets you make peace inside yourself.
Much like a cast protects a broken bone, your mind protects your broken spirit. It builds all kinds of defenses around your emotions attempting to keep more painful invaders from getting in. Anger is allowed to come out but every other emotion must remain behind the wall. That wall gets thicker and thicker with each new attack against your emotions. Family and friends attack because of the way you are suddenly acting, unable to understand your detachment from them. Your anger and mood swings seen as coldness, masks the pain trapped behind the wall. Their reaction to you is another assault against your emotions and it feeds the negative forces. The limp in your soul becomes a prison to the person you always were. You expect "you" will never be seen again and others you are supposed to feel closets to begin to judge what you have become instead of trying to understand why you appear to be wounded.
When you know after trauma comes injury(wound)then it is no longer your fault. There was nothing you could have done to prevent it other than not being there in the first place. Like the football game and the broken leg bones would not have happened had he not been there, PTSD would not invade had you not been in place when a traumatic event came. While you cannot prevent PTSD, you can heal it with help and prevent what can come when you do not receive the facts to protect further injury like a cast, do not receive the understanding of the people close to you so they can support you, help you carry this load and let you lean on them. They do not have to become like the enemy attacking you all over again, but retain the care they had for you all along. When they know you are hurting, they will help but they cannot see what is broken needing healing unless you show them.
You do not have to get into details with them but you should with trained professionals. You can however help them to understand what is going on inside of you as an x-ray shows the break in bones, your words can help them see beneith the surface. They loved you before and cared about you before but they need help to understand why you changed. They need to know it came for you because you were in that place at that time. You were there with the same kind of compassion and courage. All you were is still there. You just need help to find it all again.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Man accused of attacking Greek Orthodox priest talks to Bubba the Love Sponge
Is this part of a bigger problem? Is he telling the truth? Was this Marine always nasty? Is there more to this story than we already know? People do not suddenly turn around and do something like this all of a sudden when they showed no actions like this before. Did he change?
also
Man accused of attacking Greek Orthodox priest talks to Bubba the Love Sponge
By Alexandra Zayas, Times Staff Writer
In Print: Friday, November 13, 2009
TAMPA — Jasen Bruce, the Marine reservist who has remained silent since police accused him of hitting a Greek Orthodox priest with a tire iron Monday, spoke publicly for the first time Thursday — with Bubba the Love Sponge Clem.
Bruce, 28, talked with the shock jock on his syndicated morning show. He repeated his lawyer's account that the priest sexually attacked him, spoke of initially being heralded as a "hero" by police and declared his heterosexuality in the face of online pictures that show him flexing his muscles while wearing little clothing.
Tampa Police Department spokeswoman Laura McElroy said police are still investigating and don't want to give a blow-by-blow response to Bruce's account. But "his credibility is in question as part of our investigation," she said.
Police say the bearded, robed priest got incorrect directions from his global positioning device, left Interstate 275 and found himself driving around the Channel District. He followed a row of cars into the Seaport Channelside condominiums and approached Bruce, who was bent over the trunk of his car. He tapped on his shoulder before uttering, in broken English, the words "help" and "please."
read more here
Man accused of attacking Greek Orthodox priest
also
Tampa tow truck driver also accused Marine reservist of rampage
By Alexandra Zayas and Demorris A. Lee, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Thursday, November 12, 2009
TAMPA — Two years before police said he hit a Greek Orthodox priest over the head with a tire iron, Jasen Bruce had a run-in with another stranger, a tow truck driver who said the Marine left him hurting for months.
Steven Ray Allen, now 59, remembers a time when he towed cars outside the Calta's Fitness Club on Gandy Boulevard. And he remembers the incident that made him stop.
It was Halloween afternoon, 2007. Someone had parked a silver Jaguar in a tow-away zone. As Allen backed his tow truck bed up to the Jag, he says seven or eight large men came out of the gym and surrounded him.
"They puffed their chests out like they were He-Man," Allen said, "like they were trying to intimidate me."
Bruce came out, and they got into an argument.
read more here
Tampa tow truck driver also accused Marine reservist of rampage
Team effort saves basketball player Drake Williams
Team effort saves basketball player
In three minutes Saturday, Drake Williams went through a whole lifetime's worth of luck — both good and bad. The bad: having a rare heart condition that causes "sudden cardiac death." The good: After he collapsed at basketball practice, everyone around him knew what to do, and two Tampa Fire Rescue paramedics happened to be right outside.
In three minutes Saturday, Drake Williams went through a whole lifetime's worth of luck — both good and bad. The bad: having a rare heart condition that causes "sudden cardiac death." The good: After he collapsed at basketball practice, everyone around him knew what to do, and two Tampa Fire Rescue paramedics happened to be right outside.
Coburn lifts hold on vet benefits bill
Coburn lifts hold on vet benefits bill
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 18, 2009 9:48:11 EST
One senator’s hold delaying consideration of a veterans caregiver and health benefits bill has been lifted.
A new agreement will allow a final vote on S 1963 after senators consider an amendment that would pay for stipends, health care, counseling and other benefits for people taking care of severely disabled veterans by cutting the U.S. contribution to the United Nations.
As a result of the agreement, the Senate is now expected to take up and pass the bill this week, allowing House and Senate negotiators to begin work on a compromise measure that could become law this year The U.N. amendment will be offered by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., the person who since Memorial Day has prevented the Senate from taking up veterans legislation because he thinks it is wrong to pass new benefits without paying for them.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_coburn_veteransbill_111809w/
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 18, 2009 9:48:11 EST
One senator’s hold delaying consideration of a veterans caregiver and health benefits bill has been lifted.
A new agreement will allow a final vote on S 1963 after senators consider an amendment that would pay for stipends, health care, counseling and other benefits for people taking care of severely disabled veterans by cutting the U.S. contribution to the United Nations.
As a result of the agreement, the Senate is now expected to take up and pass the bill this week, allowing House and Senate negotiators to begin work on a compromise measure that could become law this year The U.N. amendment will be offered by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., the person who since Memorial Day has prevented the Senate from taking up veterans legislation because he thinks it is wrong to pass new benefits without paying for them.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/military_coburn_veteransbill_111809w/
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Army suicides set another yearly record
The screaming fact is that while the numbers they report has gone up, they are not reporting all of them. Consider when a soldier is no longer active. The DOD will not track what happens to him or her. They may not be in the VA system, which reports 18 veteran suicides a day and another 10,000 a year attempting suicide. Still there are many more not bring tracked by the VA either. That's the thing we always need to remember. The numbers being reported are just the ones they are sure about. The rest, well, they just vanish from all records but not from the minds and hearts of the people who loved them.
Army suicides set another yearly record
By Mike Mount, CNN Senior Pentagon Producer
November 17, 2009 7:57 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Officials say recent trend downward could mean Army is making headway in prevention
As of Tuesday, 211 active duty soldiers and reservists have killed themselves the year
In 2008, total was 197 suicides among active duty soldiers and reservists
Fort Campbell, Fort Stewart and Schofield Barracks singled out for special concern
Washington (CNN) -- Suicides among soldiers this year have topped last year's record-breaking numbers, but Army officials maintain a recent trend downward could mean the service is making headway on its programs designed to reduce the problem, Army officials said Tuesday.
Since January, 140 active-duty soldiers have killed themselves while another 71 Army Reserve and National Guard soldiers killed themselves in the same time period, totaling 211 as of Tuesday, Gen. Peter Chiarelli, U.S. Army vice chief of staff, told reporters at a briefing Tuesday. But he said the monthly numbers are starting to slow down as the year nears its end.
"This is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way," Chiarelli said.
For all of 2008, the Army said 140 active-duty soldiers killed themselves while 57 Guard and Reserve soldiers committed suicide, totaling 197, according to Army statistics.
The Army is still trying to tackle why soldiers are killing themselves.
read more here
http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/11/17/army.suicides/index.html
This Emotional Life PBS looks at PTSD
PBS’s new documentary This Emotional Life and Blue Star Families sponsored an event at George Washington University to honor the 1.8 million men and women who have been deployed in America's Armed Services and their families. First Lady Michelle Obama and Dr. Jill Biden spoke at the event, where dozens of volunteers from civilian and military organizations helped to prepare 500 care packages for military families
Bob, an Iraq War Veteran suffering from PTSD, five years after returning home,continues to be troubled by his combat experiences. Bob talks about his symptoms and the impact they are having on his life and the lives of his family. Bob’s wife, Lori also describes some of Bob’s challenges.
Northrop Grumman supporting those who serve with jobs
This is posted with pleasure. I hardly ever get to do a positive post on a defense contractor but this time, what they are doing to accommodate PTSD combat veterans is nothing less than remarkable. These veterans are not "brain dead" suddenly and unable to use their talent or put their training to use. Put it this way. These are men and women who were willing to lay down their lives for this country, spent their years putting others first, mission focused and dedicated. Can you ask for a better employee than that? Ok, so yes they have some problems but at least unemployment won't add to the stress at the same time they are learning to heal. When they find jobs, it does them a lot of good to know they are still "useful" and someone values them. They also need to know that someone gives a damn.
The employer sets the tone of what will or will not be tolerated by other co-workers and this helps the veteran readjust in an atmosphere of a continuation of the "brotherhood" they just left when everyone is working together for a common goal. I think this is fabulous!
The employer sets the tone of what will or will not be tolerated by other co-workers and this helps the veteran readjust in an atmosphere of a continuation of the "brotherhood" they just left when everyone is working together for a common goal. I think this is fabulous!
Army helps vets with `invisible wounds' find jobs
By MICHELLE ROBERTS (AP) – 4 hours ago
SAN ANTONIO — Richard Martin keeps a rearview mirror on his desk to prevent co-workers from startling him in his cubicle. The walls are papered with sticky notes to help him remember things, and he wears noise-canceling headphones to keep his easily distracted mind focused.
Martin, an Army veteran who was nearly blown up on three occasions in Iraq, once feared that post-traumatic stress disorder and a brain injury would keep him from holding down a civilian job, despite years of corporate experience and an MBA.
"Here I am with this background and I'm having problems with my memory," said Martin, a 48-year-old engineer and former National Guard major who now works for Northrop Grumman, helping to devise ways to thwart remote-detonated bombs.
The defense contractor recruited him through its hiring program for severely wounded veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan. The company consulted occupational nurses on how to help him do his job without becoming overly nervous when someone, say, drops a heavy object. Martin figured out other tricks, like the headphones, on his own.
But Martin is one of the lucky ones.
Army officials say many new veterans suffering from PTSD and brain injuries struggle to find and keep a civilian job. Advocates say many employers don't know how to accommodate veterans with these "invisible wounds" and worry that they cannot do the job and might even "go postal" someday.
go here for more
Army helps vets with invisible wounds find jobs
Purple Hearts proposed for Fort Hood victims
Glad someone thinks they should get medals too! Not so sure I agree with what else he said, but glad he wants to give them the medals and benefits they should receive. It's not like this was something like an accident.
Purple Hearts proposed for Fort Hood victims
November 17, 2009 2:34 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Texas congressman to introduce bill to grant Purple Hearts for Fort Hood victims
Troops wounded in combat eligible for Purple Hearts
Washington (CNN) -- Military victims of the Fort Hood massacre will be eligible to receive the Purple Heart if Congress passes a bill introduced Tuesday.
Non-military victims could receive the Secretary of Defense Medal of Freedom -- the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart. Both military and civilian personnel killed or wounded in the November 5 attack would be granted the same legal status as combatant casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The bill was introduced by Texas GOP Rep. John Carter, who represents Fort Hood in the House of Representatives.
"As far as I'm concerned, this was an attack by an enemy upon American troops on American soil," Carter said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill news conference.
The bill "is about giving soldiers the benefits that other soldiers get when they are unfortunate enough to be killed or wounded in a combat zone."
read more here
Purple Hearts proposed for Fort Hood victims
Thursday, November 12, 2009
13 premeditated murder charges for Hasan
What about charges for all the wounded? Don't they count? As for the wounded, will they get disability from the military for their wounds and have them treated as if they happened in war? This was an attack against them. What about medals? Do they get medals for being wounded like the Purple Heart or do they get medals for bravery when they cared more about their brothers and sisters even after they were wounded themselves? Will the families of the dead get the insurance money as if they died in war? What will happen to the families who lived on base and now their soldier is gone and they have to move off base, then get on with their lives? What happens to them? The kids? What happens to the kids when their parent was killed? Do these families get treated the same way a soldier's family is treated when they die in Iraq or Afghanistan?
Purple Hearts proposed for Fort Hood victims
November 17, 2009 2:34 p.m. EST
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Texas congressman to introduce bill to grant Purple Hearts for Fort Hood victims
Troops wounded in combat eligible for Purple Hearts
Washington (CNN) -- Military victims of the Fort Hood massacre will be eligible to receive the Purple Heart if Congress passes a bill introduced Tuesday.
Non-military victims could receive the Secretary of Defense Medal of Freedom -- the civilian equivalent of the Purple Heart. Both military and civilian personnel killed or wounded in the November 5 attack would be granted the same legal status as combatant casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq.
The bill was introduced by Texas GOP Rep. John Carter, who represents Fort Hood in the House of Representatives.
"As far as I'm concerned, this was an attack by an enemy upon American troops on American soil," Carter said Tuesday at a Capitol Hill news conference.
The bill "is about giving soldiers the benefits that other soldiers get when they are unfortunate enough to be killed or wounded in a combat zone."
read more here
Purple Hearts proposed for Fort Hood victims
Suicides to top 2008, but progress reported
Suicides to top 2008, but progress reported
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 17, 2009 14:59:07 EST
WASHINGTON — Soldier suicides this year are almost sure to top last year’s grim totals, but a recent decline in the pace of such incidents could mean the Army is starting to make progress in stemming them, officials said Tuesday.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said that as of Monday, 140 active duty soldiers were believed to have died of self-inflicted wounds so far in 2009. That’s the same as were confirmed for all of 2008.
“We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year ... this is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way,” he said.
But Chiarelli said there has been a tapering off in recent months from large surges in suspected suicides in January and February.
“Our goal since the beginning has been to reduce the overall incidence of suicide and I do believe we are finally beginning to see progress being made,” Chiarelli told a Pentagon press conference.
He attributed those hints of a turning to some unprecedented efforts the Army has made since February to educate soldiers and leaders about the issue.
Officials are still stumped about what is driving the historically high rates across the military force. When asked whether the rates reflect unprecedented high stress from long and repeated deployments to provide manpower for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chiarelli said he didn’t know.
read more here
Suicides to top 2008, but progress reported
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 17, 2009 14:59:07 EST
WASHINGTON — Soldier suicides this year are almost sure to top last year’s grim totals, but a recent decline in the pace of such incidents could mean the Army is starting to make progress in stemming them, officials said Tuesday.
Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said that as of Monday, 140 active duty soldiers were believed to have died of self-inflicted wounds so far in 2009. That’s the same as were confirmed for all of 2008.
“We are almost certainly going to end the year higher than last year ... this is horrible, and I do not want to downplay the significance of these numbers in any way,” he said.
But Chiarelli said there has been a tapering off in recent months from large surges in suspected suicides in January and February.
“Our goal since the beginning has been to reduce the overall incidence of suicide and I do believe we are finally beginning to see progress being made,” Chiarelli told a Pentagon press conference.
He attributed those hints of a turning to some unprecedented efforts the Army has made since February to educate soldiers and leaders about the issue.
Officials are still stumped about what is driving the historically high rates across the military force. When asked whether the rates reflect unprecedented high stress from long and repeated deployments to provide manpower for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Chiarelli said he didn’t know.
read more here
Suicides to top 2008, but progress reported
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