Military intelligence lacking when troops are blamed for PTSD

Military intelligence lacking when troops are blamed for PTSD
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 4, 2014

MP Cheryl Gallant under fire for PTSD comment. What did she say? "The stigma that has to be overcome is a stigma within themselves," Gallant said on January 30.

If she avoids seeing the obvious, that is her problem. The obvious point is that after a decade of attempts to get the stigma out of the way with billions spent by nations, 40 years of research on PTSD, it isn't the fault of soldiers they still don't understand it. The fault belongs to the leaders of the nations sending men and women to fight their battles but refuse to return the favor by fighting for them.

This is not just the twisted logic of Canadian officials. Here in the US we have the same ignorance.

On a Veterans Day broadcast program, televangelist Kenneth Copeland and controversial historian David Barton told listeners that soldiers should never experience guilt or post-traumatic stress disorder after returning from military service.

General Ray Odierno blamed soldiers and their families.

Some of it is just personal make-up. Intestinal fortitude. Mental toughness that ensures that people are able to deal with stressful situations.

But it also has to do with where you come from. I came from a loving family, one who gave lots of positive reinforcement, who built up psychologically who I was, who I am, what I might want to do. It built confidence in myself, and I believe that enables you to better deal with stress. It enables you to cope more easily than maybe some other people.

Major General Dana Pittard blamed soldiers for suicide

“I have now come to the conclusion that suicide is an absolutely selfish act,” he wrote on his official blog recently. “I am personally fed up with soldiers who are choosing to take their own lives so that others can clean up their mess. Be an adult, act like an adult, and deal with your real-life problems like the rest of us.”

All of this has been so bad that a group of soldiers decided to do a video about the military feeding the stigma of PTSD.

If they understood what they needed to know, there there would be no stigma left. Had the military done their jobs there would be no reason for any of them to not get the help they need.

Vietnam Veterans Waiting Longer

Vietnam Veterans Waiting Longer
Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
February 3, 2014

Vietnam veterans have been waiting longer but if you read news reports it is almost as if they have all died off. Not taking anything away from WWII (3% of claims and backlog) and Korean War veterans (4% of claims and backlog) the largest percentage of claims involves Vietnam veterans.

This is how this news report should have ended, but it didn't.

There are 3.9 million Veterans of all eras who are currently in receipt of disability benefits from VA.

VA Pending Claims according to VA Monday Morning Report of Feb. 1 is 675,891.

36% of those claims are from Vietnam Veterans. 22% of those claims are from Gulf War Veterans.

The Backlog of claims over 125 days is 397,122.

37% of those claims are from Vietnam Veterans. 22% of those claims are from Gulf War Veterans.

60% of pending claims are supplemental, 40% are original.
77% of Veterans filing supplemental claims are receiving some level of monetary benefit from VA.
11% of Veterans filing supplemental claims already have a 100% disability rating (receive $2800 or more per month) or qualify for Individual Unemployability (compensated at the 100% disabled rate).
40% of Veterans filing supplemental claims are already rated at 50% disability or higher.
43% of supplemental claims are from Vietnam-era Veterans; 19% are from Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts.

It didn't tell you that most of the claims are from Vietnam veterans waiting longer for what they paid for. It didn't tell you that while there are 21,978,000 veterans in this country, the VA is only dealing with 3.9 million veteran claims. The rest are waiting and watching to see if the promise to care for those who served is honored or not. Some of them know they should be treated by the VA, others are in denial, others don't want to bother and some need nothing at all.

Bill Briggs interviewed IAVA director but not once was it mentioned those numbers were predominately from veterans waiting longer than Iraq and Afghanistan veterans.

Now that you know the rest of the story, read what Briggs wanted to tell you.

VA backlog again gnarled in red tape, report finds
NBC News
By Bill Briggs, NBC News contributor
February 3, 2014

The Department of Veterans Affairs' promise to end by 2015 its massive, benefits backlog for disabled veterans has "stalled," according to an analysis released Monday by a leading veterans' organization.

After slicing its glut of pending claims from a peak of 600,000 cases in March 2013 to 400,000 in November, the VA has been unable to budge below that threshold this year, according to "The Red Tape Report," authored by the group Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

Consequently, hundreds of thousands of veterans who were permanently disabled or made ill by their military service are waiting months for their compensation checks to arrive to help pay bills and, in some cases, to buy food. Some of those veterans are physically unable to hold jobs.

“In the State of the Union address, President (Barack) Obama re-affirmed the VA disability claims backlog as a national priority,” said Jacqueline Maffucci, IAVA's research director and author of the report. “... It is not just about bringing the backlog to zero, but keeping it there."
read more here

These are the veterans reporters are no longer interested in even though they are still waiting.

101st Super Bowl flyover 5 seconds after National Anthem

Fort Campbell contribution: The making of a Super Bowl flyover
'What a difference a year makes' for unit that watched game in Afghanistan last year
The Leaf Chronicle
Philip Grey
Feb. 3, 2014

FORT CAMPBELL, KY. — On the Monday before the big game in the Big Apple, ground controllers of the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, were at Fort Campbell’s Fryar Stadium getting ready for the Super Bowl.

Their part of the game would be all of maybe five seconds, but they were intent on making it a perfect five seconds.

As night set in, it was cold enough to freeze skin on contact with metal or anything other than a lit match, but Command Sgt. Maj. John Martin and Chief Warrant Officer 3 Brett Chivers were just warming up as the first run was coming in from Clarksville, headed for the south end of the stadium.

“We’ve got line-of-sight,” someone yelled as nine helicopters came into view as distant points of light.

The time-on-target over the goalpost was 1805 hours, 6:05 p.m., and they had to hit it just right.

Come Sunday, there would be no do-overs. The plan called for them to crest the end of MetLife Stadium within 5 seconds of the last note of the National Anthem.
read more here

This is from New Jersey.com
WATCH: Spectacular footage of Super Bowl 2014 flyover from a Chinook helicopter

UK Female soldier hung herself after rape

Female soldier hanged herself at barracks after 'Army did not charge soldiers she claimed raped her'
Inquest hears how The Royal Military Police woman complained to her mother that she was depressed after senior commanders decided not to pursue her claim
The Telegraph
By News agencies
03 Feb 2014

The mother of a female soldier found hanged at her barracks told a coroner that her daughter had become depressed after the Army decided it was not going to charge two male soldiers she alleged had raped her on a drunken night out.

Anne-Marie Ellement was found hanged on a fire escape at Bulford Barracks (INS)

Corporal Anne-Marie Ellement died just three days after her 30th birthday on October 9, 2011.
read more here

Navy suicides for 2013 44

Navy suicides drop from peak in '12
Culture change helping sailors overcome, act
Army Times
By Mark D. Faram
Staff writer
Feb. 2, 2014

The Navy made great strides in driving down the number of sailor suicides last year, a success officials credit to more robust awareness programs and the fleet.

The Navy suicide rate hit a record high in 2012, and was lower in 2013— but still remains too high, officials say.

“We’re seeing positive signs and the trend is down, though we’re far, far away from doing any kind of end-zone dance or spiking the football or claiming we have any total solution to suicide,” said Rear Adm. Sean Buck, who heads the Navy’s 21st Century Sailor office for the chief of naval personnel.

The Navy tracks suicide numbers by calendar year, and in 2013, the Navy says 44 active-duty sailors took their own lives — 12.4 out of every 100,000.

That’s down from 2012, when the Navy had 59 suicides, or 16.6 per 100,000 sailors — the highest rate since tracking began in 2001.

Ending a trend
The Navy’s suicide rate had its largest drop in 2013 since the service began tracking the statistic in 2001, but it remains the fourth-highest yearly rate over that span
Year Suicides Rate per 100,000 sailors
2001....40.......10.0
2002....45.......10.9
2003....44.......10.8
2004....40.......10.0
2005....37.......9.5
2006....38.......10.1
2007....40.......11.1
2008....39.......11.0
2009....46.......13.1
2010....39.......11.1
2011....52.......14.6
2012....59.......16.6
2013....44.......12.4
Source: Navy

read more here

Citizen Journalist and Reporters need protection

Federal law needed to protect public's right to know
Florida Times Union
Mon, Feb 3, 2014

The bill also would expand the definition of journalist to account for today’s citizen journalists if a judge approves it.

When The Washington Post exposed the deplorable conditions at Walter Reed Hospital for America’s injured military people, Robert Gates was shocked. The Defense secretary at the time found out about the inexcusable conditions in the newspaper.

He fired those responsible, set aside those who offered excuses and made it a personal priority to put the injured military men and women first.

We don’t know where the newspaper’s investigative reporters obtained their information.

Most likely it came from anonymous sources — tips. Careers could be on the line if their names were known.

It’s important that the source of those tips be protected in fact and in public perception; otherwise an important safeguard for America’s democracy will be lost.

That is why a qualified reporter’s privilege needs to pass U.S. Senate.

The key word is “qualified.” Nobody is asking for total privilege for the news media. But it is reasonable that the federal government offer the same sort of reasonable and respectful privilege to the news media that exists in Florida and most of the states.
read more here

"One of the largest criminal investigations in the history of the Army"

Recruiting fraud, kickback scandal rocks Army
Soldiers received bonuses for persuading friends to sign up during Iraq, Afghanistan wars.
USA Today
Tom Vanden Brook
February 3, 2014

WASHINGTON — More than 800 soldiers are under criminal investigation for gaming a National Guard program that paid hundreds of millions in bonuses to soldiers who persuaded friends to sign up during the darkest years of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, USA TODAY has learned.

Fraudulent payments total in the "tens of millions"; one soldier allegedly pocketed $275,000 in illegal kickbacks, according to documents obtained by USA TODAY. At least four others made more than $100,000 each.

"This is discouraging and depressing," Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., said in an interview. "Clearly, we're talking about one of the largest criminal investigations in the history of the Army."

McCaskill has scheduled a hearing Tuesday on the scandal before a panel she chairs on financial and contractor oversight. She has called top Army officials to testify. The Army declined to comment on the hearing or the investigations, said George Wright, an Army spokesman.

The Army National Guard launched the Recruiting Assistance Program in 2005 to bolster its ranks, which had thinned during the wars. It was later expanded to the the Army Reserve and active-duty Army. In essence, it paid soldiers for referrals of recruits. After audits turned up evidence of potential fraud, the program was canceled in 2012.
read more here

Dolphins in Afghanistan

Miami Dolphins spend Super Bowl Sunday with troops in Afghanistan
Stars and Stripes
Alex Pena
33 minutes ago

CAMP MARMAL, Afghanistan — Two former players for the Miami Dolphins and five members of the team’s cheerleading squad swapped the sand and sun of South Florida for snow at Camp Marmal in northern Afghanistan to meet with troops on the eve of the Super Bowl.

Troops based at Camp Marmal turned out to meet the former players and cheerleaders and get autographs.

Former Miami Dolphins linebacker Derrick Rodgers, who served in the Air Force before being drafted into the NFL, spent two of his four years in the service in Okinawa.

“Me coming over here is part of my giving back, because I understand that being over here sometimes can be monotonous,” Rodgers told Stars and Stripes. “You’re going through this situation, and not being appreciated is one of the biggest things that goes on in their minds.

“So when I get back and tell everybody what happened, I’m going to tell them there is a lot of individuals out here that care about their country,” Rodgers said.

Rodgers, former NFL fullback Lousaka Polite and the cheerleaders were on a trip organized by Armed Forces Entertainment, a Defense Department agency that provides entertainment to U.S. military overseas.

They signed autographs for the troops, posed for pictures, and had servicemembers sign a Dolphins banner that was to be brought back and hung in the stadium in Miami.
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USF investigates eye-movement therapy for PTSD

When it comes to PTSD everything is "helpful" except denial. As soon as veterans start seeking help for PTSD, it stops getting worse, at least for a while. With the right kind of help focusing on body-mind-spirit, healing is a lifetime experience. With the wrong kind of help, that lifetime is too often cut short.

Some consider alcohol and drug abuse as helpful but that does not mean they are getting better by getting numb. Some methods leave them feeling temporary relief but that can fade, they feel it all over again and then, then they just give up. What works for a friend including medication, may not work for them so they think there is something "wrong" with them instead of understanding that while the combat experience may have been similar, their body chemistry is not. Their history is not the same. Their emotional strengths are not the same any more than they way they look at the world.

Getting help helps but all things that "help" are not created equally.

USF investigates eye-movement therapy for PTSD
Tampa Bay Times
Jodie Tillman, Times Staff Writer
Sunday, February 2, 2014

TAMPA — Sent to fight in Afghanistan, Brian Anderson killed a man for the first time in 2009. He helped load two slain buddies into body bags. Ran low on rounds as Taliban fighters attacked. Heard a dying local man scream for Allah.

Only a few years later, the former Green Beret was a suburban husband and father, physically uninjured but struggling with the psychic fallout of war.

Some days he locked himself in the bedroom to avoid his family. He swore he saw his two dead friends on the street. He passed open doorways and felt his chest tighten and his heart race as if he still had to brace for sudden attack.

Now 31, the Pasco County man tried one of the standard talk therapies used for post-traumatic stress disorder, with only initial success. Last June, he heard that University of South Florida researchers were studying a different approach.

Called "accelerated resolution therapy," or ART, it has patients think about their traumatic memories while watching the therapist's hands move back and forth. That part is similar to another eye-movement therapy. ART adds a second part to the session by asking patients to replace their traumatic memories with new, positive mental images.

Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing, or EMDR, is a third approach, developed in the late 1980s and now approved by the Department of Veterans Affairs. It requires a patient to focus on a therapist's finger moving back and forth while recalling the traumatic memory. The idea here, too, is to make the memory less potent.

No one can say for certain what the eye movement does. Some theorize it provokes a state of relaxation that mimics deep sleep, allowing patients to finally process traumatic memories the way they do nontraumatic memories.

Skeptics say it's the talking portion of the therapy — not the eye movement — that is effective.
read more here

Military sniper links his string of armed robberies to PTSD

Military sniper links his string of armed robberies to PTSD
After serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gabriel Brown came home to an emptier life in Florida.
At his sentencing for a two-week crime spree, he pleaded for clemency.
LA Times
David Zucchino
February 3, 2014

Gabriel Brown, who served as an Army sniper in
Iraq and Afghanistan, pleaded guilty in Florida
to a string of robberies and cite
 post-traumatic stress disorder.

TAMPA, Fla. — As an Army sniper in Iraq and Afghanistan, Gabriel Brown craved danger. Combat satisfied what he called his "adrenaline addiction."

When he returned home to Florida, nothing in civilian life provided the sense of invincibility that made combat so alluring and vital. The sniper was now a nursing student. There was a hole in his life, but he found a way to fill it: robbing banks.

He robbed with a military flair. On Feb. 5, 2013, Brown whipped out a gun and tossed an M83 military smoke grenade during a robbery of a TD Bank branch in Auburndale, Fla., that netted $19,000. It was his final crime in a two-week string of robberies that targeted banks, a cellphone store and an insurance company.

Brown was arrested the next day on federal charges that carry a mandatory minimum sentence of 32 years to life. He quickly confessed.

"It was extremely hard for me to find a way to go from being in highly threatening situations, risking my life every day, to sitting at home watching TV alone," he wrote later. "The adrenaline I got from committing robberies was some kind of weird addiction I so desperately needed to get myself out of this depressive state I was in."

Like thousands of other combat veterans, Brown was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. And like thousands of PTSD veterans seeking reduced sentences for crimes, he blamed the condition, in part, for his actions.

Increasingly, veterans across the U.S. have cited stress related to their combat experience as the reason for civilian misdeeds, a tactic that often reduces or even eliminates sentences for minor crimes, especially in special veterans' courts.

"It's a growing trend, with the stigma of PTSD largely eliminated and the condition more widely understood," said David Frakt, a law professor and Air Force Reserve military legal officer.
read more here