Veteran-owned businesses face problems with VA
By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Nov 30, 2011 15:38:26 EST
Lawmakers grilled Veterans Affairs Department officials Wednesday about why veteran-owned businesses ranked eighth in priority for government contracts despite laws and regulations that are supposed to put veterans first.
The answers provided at House Veterans’ Affairs Committee hearing were murky.
Thomas Leney, executive director of VA’s office of small and disadvantaged business utilization, said veteran-owned businesses “have priority in open market purchases.”
When asked what that meant, he said he was not an expert on government contracting and couldn’t really explain it. “I am not the person to answer that question directly,” he said as he appeared before a joint hearing of the veterans’ affairs committee’s economic opportunity panel and oversight and investigations panel.
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Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Police say Bliss soldier shot, killed superior
Police say Bliss soldier shot, killed superior
The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Nov 30, 2011 15:07:15 EST
EL PASO, Texas — Police now say the woman a Fort Bliss soldier shot and killed earlier this week was his supervisor.
An El Paso police statement released Wednesday said Fort Bliss soldier James Steadman killed Lykisha Gooding on Monday. Before shooting her, Steadman also shot and wounded Gooding’s husband, Kelvin Gooding, who answered the front door at their home.
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The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Nov 30, 2011 15:07:15 EST
EL PASO, Texas — Police now say the woman a Fort Bliss soldier shot and killed earlier this week was his supervisor.
An El Paso police statement released Wednesday said Fort Bliss soldier James Steadman killed Lykisha Gooding on Monday. Before shooting her, Steadman also shot and wounded Gooding’s husband, Kelvin Gooding, who answered the front door at their home.
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40K troops to leave Afghanistan by end of 2012
40K troops to leave Afghanistan by end of 2012
By Deb Riechmann and Slobodan Lekic - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 29, 2011 9:29:54 EST
KABUL, Afghanistan — Drawdown plans announced by the U.S. and more than a dozen other nations will shrink the foreign military footprint in Afghanistan by 40,000 troops at the close of next year, leaving Afghan forces increasingly on the frontlines of the decade-long war.
The United States is pulling out the most — 33,000 by the end of 2012. That's one-third of 101,000 American troops who were in Afghanistan in June, the peak of U.S. military presence in the war, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.
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By Deb Riechmann and Slobodan Lekic - The Associated Press
Posted : Tuesday Nov 29, 2011 9:29:54 EST
KABUL, Afghanistan — Drawdown plans announced by the U.S. and more than a dozen other nations will shrink the foreign military footprint in Afghanistan by 40,000 troops at the close of next year, leaving Afghan forces increasingly on the frontlines of the decade-long war.
The United States is pulling out the most — 33,000 by the end of 2012. That's one-third of 101,000 American troops who were in Afghanistan in June, the peak of U.S. military presence in the war, according to figures provided by the Pentagon.
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Iraq Veteran Charged In Shooting Of Officers In Two States
Veteran Charged In Shooting Of Officers In Two States
Nov 29, 2011
by Tim Wetzel
LINCOLN COUNTY, Tenn. – The man accused of trying to kill two law enforcement officers on the Tennessee -Alabama border was an Iraq war veteran.
The Army said 23-year-old Joseph Shriver was in the Army for 3 years and based at Fort Bliss in Texas.
Shriver served in Iraq for more than a year, and was discharged from the Military last April.
It all started in Madison County, Alabama around 11:30 p.m. Monday when Shriver allegedly robbed the Super Stop on Moores Mill Road.
A deputy spotted his vehicle shortly after, and stopped him. That's when he allegedly opened fire.
"The offender in the Toyota exited his vehicle and fired multiple rounds from an assault rifle, striking the vehicle and the deputy multiple times," said Brent Patterson with the Madison County, Alabama Sheriff's Office.
Deputy Brent Beavers was critically injured after being shot in the face. Grainy cell phone video showed the scene as paramedics rushed him to a Huntsville hospital. His fellow deputies followed behind.
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Nov 29, 2011
by Tim Wetzel
LINCOLN COUNTY, Tenn. – The man accused of trying to kill two law enforcement officers on the Tennessee -Alabama border was an Iraq war veteran.
The Army said 23-year-old Joseph Shriver was in the Army for 3 years and based at Fort Bliss in Texas.
Shriver served in Iraq for more than a year, and was discharged from the Military last April.
It all started in Madison County, Alabama around 11:30 p.m. Monday when Shriver allegedly robbed the Super Stop on Moores Mill Road.
A deputy spotted his vehicle shortly after, and stopped him. That's when he allegedly opened fire.
"The offender in the Toyota exited his vehicle and fired multiple rounds from an assault rifle, striking the vehicle and the deputy multiple times," said Brent Patterson with the Madison County, Alabama Sheriff's Office.
Deputy Brent Beavers was critically injured after being shot in the face. Grainy cell phone video showed the scene as paramedics rushed him to a Huntsville hospital. His fellow deputies followed behind.
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The VA missed serious warning signs that presaged local vet’s violent breakdown
Walking Wounded: The VA missed serious warning signs that presaged local vet’s violent breakdown
By Michael Barajas
PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 30, 2011
Castaneda’s arrest that night marked the unsettling finale of a breakdown that began with his return from the Iraq War more than two years earlier, says his mother, Maria Anna Esparza. Discharged days after Christmas in 2008, Castaneda had become increasingly depressed, paranoid, and delusional, Esparza says. He’d begun to hear voices, violent voices.
By Michael Barajas
PUBLISHED: NOVEMBER 30, 2011
COURTESY PHOTOSEarly in the morning of May 27, 2011, Adan Castaneda grabbed his .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol and called a taxi to drive him from his San Antonio apartment to his mother’s Spring Branch home, roughly 30 miles north of the city. Standing at the end of the dark driveway, Castaneda raised the pistol and peppered the house with gunfire as his mother and stepfather slept inside. He fired 23 rounds into the one-story country home, bullets buzzing through curtains, shattering windows and digging into walls, door posts, and framed family photos. Police found him wandering the streets four blocks away.
Adan Castaneda in 2005 after joining the Marine Corps.
Castaneda’s arrest that night marked the unsettling finale of a breakdown that began with his return from the Iraq War more than two years earlier, says his mother, Maria Anna Esparza. Discharged days after Christmas in 2008, Castaneda had become increasingly depressed, paranoid, and delusional, Esparza says. He’d begun to hear voices, violent voices.
Now after nearly six months in solitary confinement in the Comal County Jail without mental health treatment, a judge declared Castaneda incompetent to stand trial on November 10, the day the Marine Corps celebrates its founding. When he completes a 120-day state hospital stint in the hopes of restoring his competency, Castaneda will likely go back to court to face charges that, if not dropped or reduced, could put him behind bars for over a decade.read more here
Military wife talks about husband's rage after combat
Caregiver Confronts Husband’s Combat-related Rage
By Elaine Sanchez
American Forces Press Service
SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 30, 2011 – When her soldier husband was injured in Iraq, Catrina Tomsich gave up everything to be with him. She shut down her business, left a support network of friends and uprooted their 5-year-old son, Brayden, to move here to help him recover.
Army Sgt. John Tomsich and his wife, Catrina, play with their son, Brayden, at the Warrior and Family Support Center in San Antonio, Nov. 10, 2011. Tomsich came to Brooke Army Medical Center for treatment for a spinal injury. Catrina Tomsich put her business on hold to join him. DOD photo by Linda Hosek
She did so without hesitation, but not without fear.
Her concerns didn’t center on her husband’s recovery -- his injuries weren’t life threatening -- or their uncertain future, but on her own safety and that of her son’s.
Catrina’s husband, Army Sgt. John Tomsich, had been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder since 2005. The noncommissioned officer maintained a stoic front for his troops, but barely could contain his rage at home.
“For five years I heard, ‘I hate you; I don’t love you anymore’ every day,” she told American Forces Press Service. “That can definitely take an emotional toll on someone.”
Catrina first noticed a change in her husband after his 2005 deployment in Kosovo, his first since he joined the Army in 1998. He was there during a period of political tension, he recalled, and was out shopping one day with several of his leaders when hostilities broke out around them. Weapons were fired, he said, but no one was seriously injured. They wound up cornered in a hotel, uncertain of what would occur overnight.
“That’s where the anger started,” Tomsich said, “but I didn’t talk about it to anyone.”
Noncommissioned officers couldn’t discuss their problems with anger or depression, he believed at the time, or the troops under them would question the integrity of their leadership. Instead, he said, “You try and fight it and not tell anyone you have problems.”
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Spokane veterans have to wait up to 87 days for mental health help?
Senators tell VA to speed up care for mentally ill vets
BY ROB HOTAKAINEN
11-30-11
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- Senators gave a public scolding Wednesday to the director of mental health operations for the nation's veterans, saying the federal government must speed up services for those with post-traumatic stress disorder and other afflictions.
Faced with a 34 percent increase in the number of veterans who have sought mental health services since 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs has not kept pace, said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.
As a result, too many veterans are waiting far too long to get help, which is leading to a rash of suicides, increased drug abuse and other problems, said Murray, who heads the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Offering an example from her home state of Washington, Murray said veterans seeking psychiatric help in Spokane have had to wait an average of 21 days for an appointment, with a maximum wait time of up to 87 days.
"We need to fix this now," Murray said at a committee hearing that she called to examine the topic.
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BY ROB HOTAKAINEN
11-30-11
MCCLATCHY NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- Senators gave a public scolding Wednesday to the director of mental health operations for the nation's veterans, saying the federal government must speed up services for those with post-traumatic stress disorder and other afflictions.
Faced with a 34 percent increase in the number of veterans who have sought mental health services since 2006, the Department of Veterans Affairs has not kept pace, said Democratic Sen. Patty Murray.
As a result, too many veterans are waiting far too long to get help, which is leading to a rash of suicides, increased drug abuse and other problems, said Murray, who heads the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee.
Offering an example from her home state of Washington, Murray said veterans seeking psychiatric help in Spokane have had to wait an average of 21 days for an appointment, with a maximum wait time of up to 87 days.
"We need to fix this now," Murray said at a committee hearing that she called to examine the topic.
read more here
Marine survives bullet wound to neck while serving in Afghanistan
Local Marine survives bullet wound to neck while serving in Afghanistan
by Phil Anaya / KENS 5
Posted on November 29, 2011
Norma Szekely is the proud mother of Tony Szekely, 21, who is a Marine fighting for this country in Afghanistan. However, she will now forever remember what it was like to not know if her son would return alive.
It was Sunday when Norma received a call from a surgeon in Afghanistan notifying her that Tony had been shot in the neck. For several hours Norma and her husband were left wondering if Tony might be paralyzed, or even survive at all.
“We got a call from the surgeon at 10:36 a.m., we didn’t get a call from Quantico until 2 p.m. and that was to tell us our son was listed in serious critical condition,” said Norma.
Finally, after hours of suspense Norma and her husband received another call from the surgeon and made it clear how a miracle had happened to Tony.
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by Phil Anaya / KENS 5
Posted on November 29, 2011
Norma Szekely is the proud mother of Tony Szekely, 21, who is a Marine fighting for this country in Afghanistan. However, she will now forever remember what it was like to not know if her son would return alive.
It was Sunday when Norma received a call from a surgeon in Afghanistan notifying her that Tony had been shot in the neck. For several hours Norma and her husband were left wondering if Tony might be paralyzed, or even survive at all.
“We got a call from the surgeon at 10:36 a.m., we didn’t get a call from Quantico until 2 p.m. and that was to tell us our son was listed in serious critical condition,” said Norma.
Finally, after hours of suspense Norma and her husband received another call from the surgeon and made it clear how a miracle had happened to Tony.
read more here
The Stuff of Dreams: How Sleep Eases Emotional Trauma
The Stuff of Dreams: How Sleep Eases Emotional Trauma
COLUMN by LEE DYE
"Our dreams help us heal" unless they are bad dreams that make going to sleep something to fear. For combat veterans with PTSD, sleep is not something to look forward to. Many of them have terrible dreams and medications are often unable to stop the broken sleep pattern.
COLUMN by LEE DYE
"Our dreams help us heal" unless they are bad dreams that make going to sleep something to fear. For combat veterans with PTSD, sleep is not something to look forward to. Many of them have terrible dreams and medications are often unable to stop the broken sleep pattern.
Nov, 30, 2011
Scientists have unlocked one of the great mysteries of the human experience, how we deal with traumatizing experiences that could leave us emotionally crippled. It happens during an "elegant ballet of biology" that softens painful memories, according to psychologist and neurologist Matthew Walker of the University of California, Berkeley, who led the research team.
And here's the amazing part: It all happens while we sleep. Our dreams help us heal.
"When you snooze you win," Walker said during a telephone interview.
Walker's team produced strong evidence that supports an assumption among scientists that a specific phase of sleep, called rapid eye movement, or REM, plays a key role in helping us deal with troubling emotions. Until now, there has been "little to no" evidence that's true, and there was even less understanding of how it works.
But the Berkeley team found that during REM, which is also the time we dream, stress chemicals are suppressed in the "emotional hub" of the brain called the amygdala. The research shows that after a good night's sleep, even potentially traumatizing experiences are softened.read more here
Journalist Greg Jaffe On The Divide Between Soldiers And Civilians
Journalist Greg Jaffe On The Divide Between Soldiers And Civilians
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
We spoke to Washington Post military reporter Greg Jaffe today about the fertilizer being used to make improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan. The ammonium nitrate fertilizer is made at two plants in Pakistan and slips easily across the border into Afghanistan, where at a cost of only $40, it’s turned into a deadly weapon.
Jaffe has been covering the military for the last 12 years and besides focusing on the actual fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has also written about the divide between the military and the rest of society, because such a small percentage of Americans have any connection to the military.
Jaffe has been to Fort Hood in Texas, and this week he’ll be visiting Ft. Campbell in Kentucky to work on another story about that gap.
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Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Members of the 101st Airborne Division march in Fort Campbell, Ky. (AP)By: Alex Ashlock
We spoke to Washington Post military reporter Greg Jaffe today about the fertilizer being used to make improvised explosive devices in Afghanistan. The ammonium nitrate fertilizer is made at two plants in Pakistan and slips easily across the border into Afghanistan, where at a cost of only $40, it’s turned into a deadly weapon.
Jaffe has been covering the military for the last 12 years and besides focusing on the actual fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, he has also written about the divide between the military and the rest of society, because such a small percentage of Americans have any connection to the military.
Jaffe has been to Fort Hood in Texas, and this week he’ll be visiting Ft. Campbell in Kentucky to work on another story about that gap.
read more here
War Vet Arrested in Ala., Tenn. Officer Shootings
War Vet Arrested in Ala., Tenn. Officer Shootings
November 30, 2011
Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. -- An Iraq war veteran shot an Alabama deputy sheriff in the face during a police stop minutes after a convenience store robbery late Monday, and then led police on a chase into Tennessee, where an officer was wounded during a shootout with the suspect, authorities said Tuesday.
Joseph Scott Shriver, 23, who gave a Lincoln County, Tenn., address but also had a Texas driver's license, was charged in Tennessee with two counts of attempted murder, evading arrest and possession of a firearm. He has a total bond of $1.6 million.
Madison County, Ala., District Attorney Rob Broussard said Shriver is likely to face attempted murder and assault charges there, according to The Huntsville Times.
Shriver served in the Army from 2008 until last April and was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, according to the U.S. Army. The former infantryman deployed to Iraq from November 2009 to August 2010. An Army human resources spokesman declined to disclose details of his separation from the service.
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November 30, 2011
Associated Press
FAYETTEVILLE, Tenn. -- An Iraq war veteran shot an Alabama deputy sheriff in the face during a police stop minutes after a convenience store robbery late Monday, and then led police on a chase into Tennessee, where an officer was wounded during a shootout with the suspect, authorities said Tuesday.
Joseph Scott Shriver, 23, who gave a Lincoln County, Tenn., address but also had a Texas driver's license, was charged in Tennessee with two counts of attempted murder, evading arrest and possession of a firearm. He has a total bond of $1.6 million.
Madison County, Ala., District Attorney Rob Broussard said Shriver is likely to face attempted murder and assault charges there, according to The Huntsville Times.
Shriver served in the Army from 2008 until last April and was stationed at Fort Bliss, Texas, according to the U.S. Army. The former infantryman deployed to Iraq from November 2009 to August 2010. An Army human resources spokesman declined to disclose details of his separation from the service.
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Removal of Cross From Army Chapel in Afghanistan Stirs Controversy
When I wrote about another cross, Keep the Cross at Camp Pendleton it was obvious I had a strong opinion. On this one, I am torn.
Removal of Cross From Army Chapel in Afghanistan Stirs Controversy
By Michael Gryboski
Christian Post Reporter
The U.S. Army has removed a cross that was prominently placed on the front of a chapel located at the remote base of Camp Marmal in Northern Afghanistan.
Although soldiers at the Central Asian base considered the cross to be an inspiring symbol, officials said that having a permanent sectarian image on the chapel violated army regulations.
As Army Regulation 165-1, 12-3k reads in part, “The chapel environment will be religiously neutral when the facility is not being used for scheduled worship. Portable religious symbols, icons, or statues may be used within a chapel during times of religious worship.”
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Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Improves TBI and PTSD in Veterans
Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Improves TBI and PTSD in Veterans
by Sheela Philomena on November 30, 2011
Treatment with hyperbaric oxygen benefits veterans with traumatic brain injury (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), say researchers. The findings are available online now in the Journal of Neurotrauma.
Sixteen US veterans injured in Iraq who had been diagnosed with mild-moderate traumatic brain injury/post-concussion syndrome (TBI/PCS) or traumatic brain injury/post-concussion syndrome/post-traumatic distress disorder (TBI/PCS/PTSD) were enrolled in the pilot study. They completed a history and physical exam as well as a clinical interview by a neuropsychologist, psychometric testing, symptom and quality of life questionnaires, and baseline SPECT (Single-photon emission computed tomography) brain blood flow imaging prior to treatment. The veterans then underwent 40 treatments of low-dose hyperbaric oxygen therapy during 60-minute sessions over a 30-day period. They were retested within a week after treatment.
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From 2010
Hyperbaric chamber may treat TBI
By Amy McCullough - Staff writer
Posted : Tuesday Mar 30, 2010 17:17:40 EDT
The Defense Department hopes to find a better treatment for the 100,000 troops who have been diagnosed with mild Traumatic Brain Injury since 2003, and it’s looking at hyperbaric chambers — often used in cases of carbon monoxide poisoning — for the answer.
Although there have been studies looking at the impact these pressurized oxygen chambers have on TBI patients, none have been able to definitively answer whether hyperbaric oxygen can reduce or eliminate chronic symptoms of TBI such as headaches, memory loss and mood swings. A new clinical trial, which is expected to begin in January 2011, is designed to do just that.
The study, conducted by the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, in Virginia, and the Army Research and Materiel Command, in Maryland, is expected to run for at least 18 months. It will include about 300 participants, mostly soldiers and Marines, and will build upon other ongoing studies on TBI treatment, said Col. Richard Ricciardi, director of the research evaluation and quality assurance and surveillance directorate at DCoE.
Five sites will participate in the study: Fort Carson, Colo.; Camp Pendleton, Calif.; Camp Lejeune, N.C.; Brooks City-Base, Texas; and possibly Fort Hood, Texas, although negotiations are still ongoing there, Ricciardi said.
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from 2009
How serious is this? This is a video from 2009.
PBS NOW - Fighting the Army Part 3
Uploaded by LawyersServing on Apr 8, 2009
PBS Now investigates the thousands of soldiers who are scarred by war, and then thrown out of the military under personality disorders or for mis-conduct, and not getting treated for their service-connected injuries. Iraq veteran Jonathan Norell was among the 40,000 troops thrown out of the military for mis-conduct since 2001, even though a military doctor recommended the battle-scarred medic be medically retired due to his severe PTSD. NVLSP investigator and OIF veteran Andrew Pogany is interviewed and discusses the more than 200 wrongful discharge cases he has worked on with the advocacy organization. Military spouse and advocate Carissa Picard, with Military Spouses for Change, talks about Norell's case and the need to care for our military. Discusses a military policy changes requiring service members discharged for a personality disorder to be screened for PTSD and TBI. US Army Sgt. Chuck Luther and his family are interviewed about the impact of his struggle with the military and PTSD. US Army Col. Elspeth Ritchie is interviewed. The story aired June 13, 2008.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Two tour Iraq Veteran, in coma after road rage attack in Oregon
Iraq War vet in coma after apparent road rage assault at Pendleton, Ore., rail crossing
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 29, 2011
PENDLETON, Ore. — A 24-year-old Iraq War veteran is reportedly in a coma following an assault at a Pendleton, Ore., railroad crossing that so traumatized a witness he has trouble recalling it.
A Kadlec Regional Medical Center spokesman in Richland, Wash., said Monday that Kenneth Pittman was in serious condition in intensive care.
Pittman's ex-wife, Rhiannon Smith of Pendleton, tells the East Oregonian that Pittman escaped injury during two Iraq tours with the Oregon National Guard.
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THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
November 29, 2011
PENDLETON, Ore. — A 24-year-old Iraq War veteran is reportedly in a coma following an assault at a Pendleton, Ore., railroad crossing that so traumatized a witness he has trouble recalling it.
A Kadlec Regional Medical Center spokesman in Richland, Wash., said Monday that Kenneth Pittman was in serious condition in intensive care.
Pittman's ex-wife, Rhiannon Smith of Pendleton, tells the East Oregonian that Pittman escaped injury during two Iraq tours with the Oregon National Guard.
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Rise in PTSD cases from two wars strains military resources
They were warned. They were warned when 9-11 came and experts sounded the alarm bells across the country that Vietnam veterans would be flooding the VA with emergency calls for help. They knew the secondary stressor of this country being hit would send even mild cases of PTSD into overdrive. They were warned when the troops were sent to Afghanistan that there were not enough mental health and claims processors standing by to take care of all the wounded, by body and mind. They were warned again when they decided to send troops into Iraq. Nothing was done until it was too late. What made all of this worse was the fact that the Internet was starting to reach more and more veterans so they understood if they needed help, it was there for them. People like me were getting them to go for help after years of trying. What we didn't tell them was that they would have to get into a very, very long line to get the help they needed.
Now, behind on the flow already waiting, more and more will seek the help they need to heal from the wars we sent them to fight. Pretty appalling all the way around.
Rise in PTSD cases from two wars strains military resources
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY Updated 2h 48m ago
Ten thousand combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder flooded into VA hospitals every three months this year, pushing the number of patients ill from the disorder above 200,000 and straining resources, Department of Veterans Affairs data to be released today show.
The increase is more than 5% per quarter, according to data obtained by USA TODAY, and it occurs as the VA struggles to move veterans quickly into therapy. New mental health patients at about a third of VA hospitals wait longer than the department's goal of 14 days or less, according to a USA TODAY analysis published this month.
"Demand for mental health care is only going to continue to grow as thousands more troops return home," says Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., head of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. "The VA still has work to do to decrease wait times … reduce the stigma around seeking care and to provide access to care in rural areas."
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