Black Hawk crew honored for 3 heroic days
By John Ryan - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 23, 2012
An Army dust-off crew that flew 11 rescue hoists during 60 hours of combat deep in Afghanistan’s high mountains last June was honored for its heroics at the 2012 Army Aviation Association of America’s annual forum this month.
The Goodrich Corp., an AAAA sponsor, held the reception in Nashville, Tenn., to recognize the four-soldier Black Hawk crew of Dust Off 73 — pilot Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kenneth Brodhead, pilot Chief Warrant Officer 2 Erik Sabiston, flight medic Sgt. Julia Bringloe and crew chief Spc. David Capps — who spent nearly 12 hours in the air, extracting 14 wounded and one soldier killed in action and flying three critical resupply missions during a three-day operation.
Earlier this year, the crew received the AAAA/Goodrich Corp. 2011 Air and Sea Rescue of the Year award at Fort Rucker, Ala. Each soldier has been nominated for a Distinguished Flying Cross, the highest aviation award for valor.
“We didn’t expect to receive an award for our actions,” Sabiston said in an Army release. “It is a great honor, but anyone in this unit would have done the same.”
On June 25-27, 2011, DO-73 supported Operation Hammer Down, an effort to find Taliban training grounds and fighters in Watahpur district of Kunar province. Soldiers from the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 25th Infantry Division, ran missions at elevations as high as 10,000 feet and faced heavy enemy contact.
read more here
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Who am I today?
UPDATE
Here's an example of what I was talking about
You can read more of what Casey had to say here.
Veteran's mission continues even after his return from combat
“It was being idle and not doing anything,” Casey said, “I was going through a major loss in my life. I was losing an identification of self because for almost a decade I had identified with being a combat soldier.”
You can read more of what Casey had to say here.
Veteran's mission continues even after his return from combat
Who am I today?
by Chaplain Kathie
April 24, 2012
Two years ago I became a student at Valencia College. My finals were yesterday. I woke up today no longer a student. I asked myself "Who am I now?"
The Digital Media field is not something a woman in her 50's goes into normally. It was a lot easier than I thought fitting in with other students my daughter's age but trying to keep up with them was hard. After a while, I knew what the professors expected out of me and got close to several other students. Most days I was in the Digital Media lab when I wasn't in classes. Usually Tuesday mornings I'd check the emails, do some posts and head off to Valencia. Today I had nowhere to go.
For two years there was a normal routine, knowing who I'd see and what I would have to do but today it's all up for grabs and I'm sitting here feeling differently about my life. Sure, I will still do the rest of the things I did in my life, but a part of it is now over. I gave some hugs to some of the people I got close to, said goodbye to the professors after they did all they could to help me learn my trade and drove off campus for the last time.
When you think about life changing events in your own lives, it may be easier to have a better understanding of what it is like for the men and women coming out of the military.
They trained to learn what they had to, then did it. They knew who their commanders were and the members of their units became like family to them. One day they are wearing combat boots, dodging bullets and fearing an IED is hidden in the road they have to drive over. The next day they are waking up and wondering what comes next for them.
They have to rediscover who they are all over again, find where they belong, establish a new routine at the same time they have to adapt back to civilian life without the people they were with. Keep in mind each of them were ready to die for the others. All I had to do was be willing to help another student when I knew something they didn't and be ready to ask for help when I needed it. If this life change is that hard on me, how hard is it for them? We just expect them to do it. Could we? Could we do it easier with help and a community that really has stepped up? Every community across this country needs to step up with support groups for them.
I met a lot of veterans at Valencia. Most of them were in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. There were several National Guard students. It was very hard for them to adjust to that part of their lives. Few other students wanted to understand and even less wanted to get to know them since they were older than students entering college right out of high school. The friends I made at Valencia made all the difference in the world to me. We can make all the difference in the world for these veterans as well.
Oregon National Guard reaches out to faith-based organizations
Oregon National Guard reaches out to faith-based organizations
Capi Lynn
Faith-based organizations are invited by the Oregon National Guard to become a “Partner in Care” to support service members, veterans and their families in communities throughout the state.
A one-day summit, in partnership with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, will be held Tuesday, May 8 at the Armed Forces Reserve Center at Camp Withycombe, 15300 SE Industrial Way, Clackamas.
Participants will learn about military/veteran culture, the Guard’s Partners in Care program, and suicide prevention. They will have opportunities to network with leaders and get involved on a personal, congregational and community level.
The hope, according to an email sent to me by Special Projects Officer Elan Lambert of the Oregon National Guard’s Joint Transition Assistance Program, is that a faith-based network will become a vital part of a larger effort to provide community based care to military families and veterans since this state does not have an active duty installation.
go here to get involved
Capi Lynn
Faith-based organizations are invited by the Oregon National Guard to become a “Partner in Care” to support service members, veterans and their families in communities throughout the state.
A one-day summit, in partnership with the National Action Alliance for Suicide Prevention, will be held Tuesday, May 8 at the Armed Forces Reserve Center at Camp Withycombe, 15300 SE Industrial Way, Clackamas.
Participants will learn about military/veteran culture, the Guard’s Partners in Care program, and suicide prevention. They will have opportunities to network with leaders and get involved on a personal, congregational and community level.
The hope, according to an email sent to me by Special Projects Officer Elan Lambert of the Oregon National Guard’s Joint Transition Assistance Program, is that a faith-based network will become a vital part of a larger effort to provide community based care to military families and veterans since this state does not have an active duty installation.
go here to get involved
Car accidents more common after deployments
Report: Car accidents more common after deployments
By LEO SHANE III
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 23, 2012
WASHINGTON — Just a few weeks after his 2005 deployment to the Middle East ended, Chief Petty Officer Ron Verdoza smashed his SUV into a neighbor’s car.
Three years later, after returning from Afghanistan, he backed his Mustang into the wall of his garage.
“Both times, I just wasn’t focused on driving like I needed to be,” he said.
A new study released by USAA this week echoes that sentiment. USAA, which provides auto insurance to the military community, found a 13 percent jump in at-fault accidents for troops in the first six months after returning from deployment, compared with the six months before they deployed. Drivers with three or more overseas tours saw a 36 percent increase in accidents.
The three-year study is being shared with military officials and traffic safety experts in an effort to find ways to help returning troops stay safe while driving.
Researchers said that most of the accidents were caused by objects in the roadway and “losing control of the vehicle,” both indications that troops aren’t fully prepared for the pressures of civilian driving after lengthy stints overseas.
By LEO SHANE III
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 23, 2012
WASHINGTON — Just a few weeks after his 2005 deployment to the Middle East ended, Chief Petty Officer Ron Verdoza smashed his SUV into a neighbor’s car.
Three years later, after returning from Afghanistan, he backed his Mustang into the wall of his garage.
“Both times, I just wasn’t focused on driving like I needed to be,” he said.
A new study released by USAA this week echoes that sentiment. USAA, which provides auto insurance to the military community, found a 13 percent jump in at-fault accidents for troops in the first six months after returning from deployment, compared with the six months before they deployed. Drivers with three or more overseas tours saw a 36 percent increase in accidents.
The three-year study is being shared with military officials and traffic safety experts in an effort to find ways to help returning troops stay safe while driving.
Researchers said that most of the accidents were caused by objects in the roadway and “losing control of the vehicle,” both indications that troops aren’t fully prepared for the pressures of civilian driving after lengthy stints overseas.
Scanning streets for signs of roadside bombs, for example, can lead servicemembers to ignore road signs and stoplights on U.S. roads. Drivers used to asserting their right of way in a Humvee convoy can find it irritating and unnerving to get stuck in traffic.
read more here
University of Montana student's death opens dialogue about suicide
Friends, family remember Parmenter after death, open dialogue about suicide
By Linds Sanders
Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2012
It was hard to walk past Jacob Parmenter without being acknowledged.
He was inquisitive, confident and smiled a “big, toothy grin” recalls his close friend Connor Hovsepian, 21. It was that distinct smile that appeared in every picture displayed at his service Saturday, March 24, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Family, friends and fraternity members crowded the pews and stood in the doorway sharing that smile as pictures of Parmenter were projected on a screen in the front. A few laughs escaped when silly pictures appeared: Parmenter making a funny face at the cameraman or sticking out his tongue. The next picture cycled through, and the church was quiet again with old memories and fresh questions.
All those who loved Parmenter have been at a loss since he killed himself Friday, March 16, in his Miller Hall dorm room. Parmenter was 19 years old, a pledge of Phi Delta Theta and a freshman studying paramedicine.
After the pictures of family vacations and childhood memories, Parmenter’s oldest brother, James, stood at the podium. With the help of his close friends, James Parmenter composed a suicide letter he wished his youngest brother had left. The letter spoke to the pain Jacob Parmenter was feeling and said he wished more for his friends and family.
At the beginning of the semester, Parmenter pledged to be a Phi Delta Theta. His good friend and fraternity educator Richard LeCoultre, 19, remembers Parmenter’s confidence from one of the initial house meetings where aspiring pledges learn what it means to be a Phi Delta Theta brother. LeCoultre asked the group to nominate a class president. Parmenter jumped up and nominated himself. Then he explained to the boys why they should entrust him with this duty.
Before attending the University of Montana, he excelled in recruit training for the Marine Corps and was made squad leader.
read more here
By Linds Sanders
Published: Tuesday, April 24, 2012
It was hard to walk past Jacob Parmenter without being acknowledged.
He was inquisitive, confident and smiled a “big, toothy grin” recalls his close friend Connor Hovsepian, 21. It was that distinct smile that appeared in every picture displayed at his service Saturday, March 24, in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Family, friends and fraternity members crowded the pews and stood in the doorway sharing that smile as pictures of Parmenter were projected on a screen in the front. A few laughs escaped when silly pictures appeared: Parmenter making a funny face at the cameraman or sticking out his tongue. The next picture cycled through, and the church was quiet again with old memories and fresh questions.
All those who loved Parmenter have been at a loss since he killed himself Friday, March 16, in his Miller Hall dorm room. Parmenter was 19 years old, a pledge of Phi Delta Theta and a freshman studying paramedicine.
After the pictures of family vacations and childhood memories, Parmenter’s oldest brother, James, stood at the podium. With the help of his close friends, James Parmenter composed a suicide letter he wished his youngest brother had left. The letter spoke to the pain Jacob Parmenter was feeling and said he wished more for his friends and family.
At the beginning of the semester, Parmenter pledged to be a Phi Delta Theta. His good friend and fraternity educator Richard LeCoultre, 19, remembers Parmenter’s confidence from one of the initial house meetings where aspiring pledges learn what it means to be a Phi Delta Theta brother. LeCoultre asked the group to nominate a class president. Parmenter jumped up and nominated himself. Then he explained to the boys why they should entrust him with this duty.
Before attending the University of Montana, he excelled in recruit training for the Marine Corps and was made squad leader.
read more here
A special dormitory for vets opened up last week
Veterans dorm at Muscogee County Jail first in country
Updated: Apr 24, 2012
By Laura Ann Sills
Sheriff John Darr announced Monday that military veterans now have a new home at the Muscogee County Jail. A special dormitory for vets opened up last week.
Moses Haynes has been in the veterans' dormitory at the Muscogee County Jail for a week now. He says he can already tell a change in the way he feels and hopes the public will see that Vets have different needs.
"Hopefully people will understand that we do things not cause we just go and do it, because of mental ill problems."
Haynes served in the Army for 5 years. He was in a helicopter crash during his service and says he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Alcoholism and a probation violation landed him in the Muscogee County Jail.
read more here
Updated: Apr 24, 2012
By Laura Ann Sills
Sheriff John Darr announced Monday that military veterans now have a new home at the Muscogee County Jail. A special dormitory for vets opened up last week.
Moses Haynes has been in the veterans' dormitory at the Muscogee County Jail for a week now. He says he can already tell a change in the way he feels and hopes the public will see that Vets have different needs.
"Hopefully people will understand that we do things not cause we just go and do it, because of mental ill problems."
Haynes served in the Army for 5 years. He was in a helicopter crash during his service and says he suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD. Alcoholism and a probation violation landed him in the Muscogee County Jail.
read more here
Nicholas Horner sentenced to 2 life terms plus 29 to 59 years
UPDATE
July 17, 2013 Horner gives up appeals
July 17, 2013 Horner gives up appeals
The U.S. Army veteran whose murder trial last year focused on the issues of post traumatic stress and the treatment he received has decided - against the advice of his lawyer - to give up his appeals.
PTSD on trial. Was justice served? Will Horner get help in prison?
Iraq war vet sentenced to 2 life terms plus 29 to 59 years in 2009 Pa. slayings during robbery
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
First Posted: April 23, 2012
HOLLIDAYSBURG, Pa. — An Iraq war veteran has been formally sentenced to life in prison in the shooting deaths of two people during the robbery of a west-central Pennsylvania sandwich shop three years ago.
The Altoona Mirror says Blair County President Judge Jolene Kopriva gave 31-year-old Nicholas Horner of Altoona two consecutive life terms on Monday plus 29 to 59 years in prison.
Jurors who convicted Horner of first-degree murder last month deadlocked on whether he deserved execution or life in prison without possibility of parole in the April 2009 deaths of 19-year-old Scott Garlick and 64-year-old Raymond Williams during the robbery of the Altoona Subway shop.
Defense attorneys argued that Horner was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder at the time, but Williams' daughter, Melanie Kollar, told Horner on Monday that she didn't believe that. She said "I pray nightly you will finally accept responsibility."
read more here
Nicholas Horner Pennsylvania Iraq war veteran convicted of first-degree murder
Monday, April 23, 2012
Black Hawk helicopter crew mourned at Kandahar Air Field
Black Hawk helicopter crew mourned at Kandahar Air Field
By HEATH DRUZIN
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 23, 2012
KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — The mission goes on. Outside a hangar full of mourners here Monday, the buzz of choppers continued unabated. There’s little time to pause during a war.
For two hours, though, hundreds of soldiers got a chance to say goodbye.
They filled the seats inside and spilled out of the fabric clamshell structure in a crowd stretching close to the flight line, bowing their heads in prayer and tears to remember four soldiers killed Thursday in a helicopter crash in Helmand province.
By HEATH DRUZIN
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 23, 2012
KANDAHAR AIR FIELD, Afghanistan — The mission goes on. Outside a hangar full of mourners here Monday, the buzz of choppers continued unabated. There’s little time to pause during a war.
For two hours, though, hundreds of soldiers got a chance to say goodbye.
They filled the seats inside and spilled out of the fabric clamshell structure in a crowd stretching close to the flight line, bowing their heads in prayer and tears to remember four soldiers killed Thursday in a helicopter crash in Helmand province.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Nicholas Johnson, 27, San Diego
Spc. Dean Shaffer, 23, Pekin, Ill.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Don Viray, 25, Waipahu, Hawaii
Spc. Chris Workman, 33, Boise, Idaho.
read more here
Investigation blasts VA over wait times for mental health care
Investigation blasts VA over wait times for mental health care
By LEO SHANE III AND MEGAN MCCLOSKEY
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 23, 2012
WASHINGTON — Calling the Department of Veterans Affairs’ data “of no real value,” the Inspector General on Monday slammed department officials for drastically overstating how quickly veterans were able to be seen for mental health issues.
The investigation found that veterans on average have to wait nearly two months – far longer than the VA has claimed. It also confirmed observations by members of Congress that veterans’ access to mental health services has been much more problematic than department officials have acknowledged.
Veterans Health Administration policy requires that all first-time patients requesting mental health services receive an initial evaluation within 24 hours, and a comprehensive diagnostic appointment within two weeks. VHA officials had said that 95 percent of its new patients were seen in that time frame.
But the new inspector general report called those calculations confused and inaccurate. By their researchers’ count, fewer than half of those patients were seen within the 14-day requirement. The average wait for a full evaluation among the rest was 50 days.
The report also sharply criticized VHA staffers for not following proper scheduling procedures, further confusing the data collection.
For new patients, scheduling clerks frequently stated they used the next available appointment slot as the desired appointment date for new patients, thereby showing deceptively short wait times. For established patients, medical providers scheduled return appointments based on known availability, rather than the patient’s clinical need.
Investigators also blamed some of the long wait times on shortages in mental health staff throughout the department.
read more here
By LEO SHANE III AND MEGAN MCCLOSKEY
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 23, 2012
WASHINGTON — Calling the Department of Veterans Affairs’ data “of no real value,” the Inspector General on Monday slammed department officials for drastically overstating how quickly veterans were able to be seen for mental health issues.
The investigation found that veterans on average have to wait nearly two months – far longer than the VA has claimed. It also confirmed observations by members of Congress that veterans’ access to mental health services has been much more problematic than department officials have acknowledged.
Veterans Health Administration policy requires that all first-time patients requesting mental health services receive an initial evaluation within 24 hours, and a comprehensive diagnostic appointment within two weeks. VHA officials had said that 95 percent of its new patients were seen in that time frame.
But the new inspector general report called those calculations confused and inaccurate. By their researchers’ count, fewer than half of those patients were seen within the 14-day requirement. The average wait for a full evaluation among the rest was 50 days.
The report also sharply criticized VHA staffers for not following proper scheduling procedures, further confusing the data collection.
For new patients, scheduling clerks frequently stated they used the next available appointment slot as the desired appointment date for new patients, thereby showing deceptively short wait times. For established patients, medical providers scheduled return appointments based on known availability, rather than the patient’s clinical need.
Investigators also blamed some of the long wait times on shortages in mental health staff throughout the department.
read more here
Veterans healthcare exempt from budget cuts
Vets health care exempt from sequestration cuts
By Rick Maze -
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 23, 2012
Funding for veterans’ health care programs is not subject to sequestration, the White House budget office announced Monday, ending months of speculation about how across-the-board budget cuts could be applied early next year if Congress cannot find a way to avoid fiscal disaster.
Sequestration, looming because Congress and the White House failed to reach an agreement on a 10-year, $1.2 trillion deficit reduction plan, also will not cut veterans’ benefits, leaving only administrative expenses of the Veterans Affairs Department potentially subject to reductions, according to legal opinion issued Monday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
The announcement came in a letter to the Government Accountability Office, which had asked the White House for clarification about the automatic cuts’ effect on VA.
The Budget Control Act of 2011, which set up mechanism for cutting federal programs if a deficit spending agreement wasn’t reached, specifically exempted veterans’ benefits but had no clear statement about what might happen to veterans’ medical care expenses. read more here
By Rick Maze -
Staff writer
Posted : Monday Apr 23, 2012
Funding for veterans’ health care programs is not subject to sequestration, the White House budget office announced Monday, ending months of speculation about how across-the-board budget cuts could be applied early next year if Congress cannot find a way to avoid fiscal disaster.
Sequestration, looming because Congress and the White House failed to reach an agreement on a 10-year, $1.2 trillion deficit reduction plan, also will not cut veterans’ benefits, leaving only administrative expenses of the Veterans Affairs Department potentially subject to reductions, according to legal opinion issued Monday by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget.
The announcement came in a letter to the Government Accountability Office, which had asked the White House for clarification about the automatic cuts’ effect on VA.
The Budget Control Act of 2011, which set up mechanism for cutting federal programs if a deficit spending agreement wasn’t reached, specifically exempted veterans’ benefits but had no clear statement about what might happen to veterans’ medical care expenses. read more here
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