Former Navy SEAL Alleges Anti-Gay CIA

Former SEAL alleges anti-gay harassment in CIA
Brett Jones says he was bullied, called slurs, left outside in hot weather during deployment
San Diego Union Tribune
By Joshua Stewart
July 28, 2015

“I don’t tolerate racism or bigotry, and for some reason, that line of work attracts some people that are like that,” Jones said. “And because of the way the small units are, it goes unchecked.”

Former Navy SEAL Brett Jones discusses the importance of the repeal of Don't Ask, Don't Tell and the continuing breakdown of boundaries for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) individuals during the 2015 Cultural Awareness Day observance, April 10, 2015.
(U.S. Air Force photo by Melanie Rodgers Cox/Released)

A former Navy SEAL who gained national attention for a memoir about being gay in one of the military’s elite communities has filed a complaint, saying he was the victim of homophobic bullying during a June deployment as a CIA contractor.

Brett Jones says when he arrived at his outpost in an undisclosed location in Afghanistan on June 11, he was forced to endure anti-gay bullying, including homophobic slurs, a crass PowerPoint presentation, and snide comments as people watched the news about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down bans on same-sex marriage.

The atmosphere was so toxic that he feared for his safety and had to return home early, he said.

The anti-gay comments came from a group of contractors and civil servants in the CIA’s Global Response Staff, Jones said. Many, like himself, are former members of special-operations units. A few of them took issue with working alongside a gay man, Jones said.
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Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital Opens in Alaska

Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital opens in Anchorage
KTVA News 11
By Alexis Fernandez
July 28, 2015

The Patriots Program has 14 locations across the country, but the new facility is the first of its kind in Alaska. It’s also the only hospital named after Chris Kyle.

ANCHORAGE – Active duty military servicemembers and veterans in Alaska have a new hospital to turn to for help.

On Tuesday, Universal Health Services — the second largest U.S. hospital chain — cut the ribbon to its new Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital at 1650 Bragaw Street in Anchorage. The 36-bed hospital will primarily focus on mental health services like Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and short-term care in a non-traditional environment. It previously helped adolescents with behavior programs in Alaska.

Chris Kyle was a U.S. Navy Seal who wrote the best selling book “American Sniper” after he served four tours in Iraq. He was shot and killed in 2013 at a shooting range in Texas.

His wife, Taya Kyle, was at the dedication ceremony to represent her late husband.
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Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital
Inpatient Treatment Program for Service Members and Veterans ages 18 and older
Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital provides an intensive dual track treatment program for military service members and veterans, who have experienced trauma and are in need of detoxification and/or rehabilitation for substance abuse.

At its foundation, our program provides intensive trauma-focused multi-disciplinary treatment (i.e., psychotherapy, nursing, psychiatric and spiritual) with the goal to improve patients’ overall resiliency.

Holistic in nature, the Chris Kyle Patriots Hospital is attentive to needs of the whole self—the mind, the body and the spirit, and therefore, provides services that enhance the mind, strengthen the body, and empower the spirit.

More Talk Out of Congress On Military Sexual Assaults?

House passes bill urging VA to change military sexual assault regulations
The Hill
By Cristina Marcos
July 27, 2015

The House passed legislation on Monday that calls on the Department of Veterans’ Affairs to define military sexual assault as a service-connected cause of mental health disorders.

Passed by voice vote, the bill directs the VA to report to Congress every year on the number of claims for disability compensation based on a mental health condition allegedly caused by military sexual trauma.

The report would have to include the average number of days to process the claims and a description of the training provided to Veterans Benefits Administration employees who are processing the claims.

“We owe it to our veterans who are subject to personal assaults during their military service to ensure that the VA expeditiously and accurately processes mental health claims for conditions related to [military sexual assault], such as depression, anxiety or PTSD,” said House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Jeff Miller (R-Fla.).
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Seriously? And when do they plan on doing that instead of just talking about it?

2007

Healthy Living Report: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

But it's not just the bombs and gunfire that threaten their lives. Nearly 3,000 women reported last year that they were sexually assaulted while serving in the military, according to the Department of Defense's 2006 annual report on military sexual assault.

And now, the Cincinnati VA is getting national attention for a new program to help them recover.

2008

Female veterans report more sexual, mental trauma, CNN
Story Highlights
Dept. of Veterans Affairs diagnosed 60,000 veterans with PTSD
Women have comprised 11 percent of military force in Iraq and Afghanistan
VA: 22 percent of women, 1 percent of men suffered sexual trauma in military
Expert says women afraid to report sexual harassment for fear of retribution

In 2007, the Department of Veterans Affairs found that women are reporting signs of mental health issues when they return home at a higher rate than their male counterparts.

Sen. Bob Casey, D-Pa., a member of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said in a Monday letter to Defense Secretary Robert Gates that harassment and assault of military women, especially in combat zones, is a “scourge” that needs to be eliminated.

Casey is particularly interested in how the military handles complaints from women in the National Guard and reserve, whose cases may be harder to investigate than those of women on full-time active duty and in the federal civilian workforce.

Of the women veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan who have walked into a VA facility, 15 percent have screened positive for military sexual trauma, The Associated Press has learned. That means they indicated that while on active duty they were sexually assaulted, raped, or were sexually harassed, receiving repeated unsolicited verbal or physical contact of a sexual nature.

Yep more smoke and mirrors out of Congress,

2010
Women vets' secret war: Sexual trauma

66,342 female veterans report assaults from 2002 to 2008 -- by their band of brothers.

By KIM ODE, Star Tribune Last update: December 17, 2010 - 11:32 PM

Judy VanVoorhis knew that some men thought she had no business serving in the National Guard. How? She smiled fleetingly. "They told me." The military world often lacks the nuance of civilian life.

She had enlisted in 1985 and moved steadily through the ranks, becoming an instructor at an officer training school. In 1999, while at a conference, a group of instructors went out for supper.

"One guy seemed like he was trying to get everyone drunk, without drinking too much himself," she recalled. "I left, but he cornered me and tried to kiss me and I said I wasn't interested."

It has just gotten worse but they still haven't figured out we have been paying attention and noticed the truth behind the smoke and mirrors. Another election year and more talk about doing absolutely nothing at all! They want their jobs back even though they never did anything to earn your votes.

Commanders Split on Warrior Women but History Isn't

Before you decide which Commander is right and which one is still living in the stone age, here's a bit of history of American Warrior Women

Mary Ludwig, who would go down in history as Molly Pitcher, was born circa October 13, 1754, near Trenton, New Jersey. In 1768, she moved to Carlisle, Pennsylvania, where she met William (also known as John) Hays, a local barber. They married on July 24, 1769.

Pitcher witnessed her husband collapse at his cannon, unable to continue with the fight. She immediately dropped her water pitcher and took his place at the cannon, manning the weapon throughout the remainder of the battle until the Colonists achieved victory. According to the National Archives, there was a documented witness to Pitcher's heroic acts, who reported a cannon shot passing through her legs on the battlefield, leaving her unscathed:

"While in the act of reaching a cartridge ... a cannon shot from the enemy passed directly between her legs without doing any other damage than carrying away all the lower part of her petticoat. ... She observed that it was lucky it did not pass a little higher... and continued her occupation."

Dr Mary Edwards Walker, Civil War POW and Medal of Honor

Only Woman Medal of Honor Holder Ahead of Her Time
Department of Defense
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 30, 1999. He told her Mary Walker was the first American woman to be a military doctor, a prisoner of war and a Medal of Honor recipient. She was also a Union spy and a crusader against tobacco and alcohol.

"He told me she was always imitating men, and if she had dressed like a lady, she would have had a larger role in history," said Walker, a resident of Washington's Georgetown Aged Women's Home. A retired free-lance journalist, Walker said she's working on a book, "Woman of Honor," to tell the story of her aunt's Civil War exploits and her controversial life thereafter.

Through the family friend and research, Ann Walker learned her aunt was born on Nov. 26, 1832, in Oswego County, N.Y., and graduated from Syracuse Medical College in 1855. She married fellow medical student Albert Miller, but declined to take his name. The couple set up a medical practice in Rome, N.Y., but the public wasn't ready to accept a woman physician. The practice and the marriage foundered.

When the Civil War started, the Union Army wouldn't hire women doctors, so Walker volunteered as a nurse in Washington's Patent Office Hospital and treated wounded soldiers at the Battle of Bull Run in Virginia. In 1862, she received an Army contract appointing her as an assistant surgeon with the 52nd Ohio Infantry.

The first woman doctor to serve with the Army Medical Corps, Walker cared for sick and wounded troops in Tennessee at Chickamauga and in Georgia during the Battle of Atlanta.

Confederate troops captured her on April 10, 1864, and held her until the sides exchanged prisoners of war on Aug. 12, 1864. Walker worked the final months of the war at a women's prison in Louisville, Ky., and later at an orphans' asylum in Tennessee.

The Army nominated Walker for the Medal of Honor for her wartime service. President Andrew Johnson signed the citation on Nov. 11, 1865, and she received the award on Jan. 24, 1866. Her citation cites her wartime service, but not specifically valor in combat.

Walker's citation reads in part that she "devoted herself with much patriotic zeal to the sick and wounded soldiers, both in the field and hospitals, to the detriment of her own health. She has also endured hardships as a prisoner of war for four months in a Southern prison while acting as contract surgeon."

Go here for more Warrior Women Medals And then there are these from Business Insider

Maj. Lauren Edwards led more than 150 Marines and several vehicles in defensive maneuvers during the invasion of Iraq.

Sgt. Sherri Gallagher is one of the top long-range rifle marksmen in the country, and was named Soldier of the Year.

Sgt. Leigh Ann Hester killed several enemy combatants while under attack in Iraq, saving American lives.

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho is the U.S. Army Surgeon General—the first non-male, non-physician to take on this role.

As a military correspondent, Staff Sgt. Lindsey Kibler covered Army development and outreach in one of the most dangerous regions of Afghanistan.
v Cpl. MaryBeth Monson maintained the security of her base during an attack by Afghani insurgents disguised as American soldiers.

Air Force 2nd Lt. Samantha Morrison is the fastest woman triathlete in the armed forces.

Air Force Lt. Col. Susan Pangelinan orchestrated a disaster response mission during the California wildfires.

Spec. Ashley Pullen saved the life of a squad member by shielding him with her own body while under attack.

Spc. Elizabeth Wasil overcame combat injuries to become an all-star Army athlete.

Margaret Woodward commanded the entire U.S. air campaign in Libya during Operation Odyssey Dawn.

And more Warrior Women from the Army report

Cpl. Erica Gunter
2015: The first woman of 13M Military Occupation Specialty to become a launcher chief

Maj. Chrissy Cook
2014: The first female Bradley commander to lead her crew to "Top Gun"

Maj. Gen. Nadja West
2013: The first African-American female major general of the Army's active component

Lt. Gen. Flora D. Darpino
2013: The first female judge advocate general of the Army

Spc. Jessica Jones
2013: One of the first female Soldiers to graduate the artillery mechanic course and recognized as her company's honor graduate

Spc. Alexandra Seccareccio
2013: The first woman to obtain the multiple launch rocket system crewmember specialty

Maj. Gen. Laura J. Richardson
2012: The first female deputy commanding general of a maneuver division

Brig. Gen. Margaret W. Burcham
2012: The first woman to be promoted to a general officer in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Maj. Gen. Marcia Anderson
2011: The Army's first-ever female African-American reserve officer to obtain the rank of major general

Sgt. Sherri Gallagher
2010: The first female to be selected as Best Warrior's Soldier of the Year

Lt. Gen. Patricia Horoho
2011: The first female and first nurse to become surgeon general of the Army

There are even more you can find with a simple search online. Ok, now back to the article and it should be easy to be able to decide who is right and who is wrong.

Current and Past SOCOM Commanders Split on Women in Combat
Military.com
by Richard Sisk
Jul 28, 2015

U.S. Army Soldiers use teamwork to scale an obstacle during the Ranger Course on Fort Benning, Ga., April 21, 2015. Soldiers attend the Ranger Course to learn additional skills in a challenging environment.
(U.S. Army/Pfc. Antonio Lewis/Released)

The current and former heads of U.S. Special Operations Command (SOCOM) split last week on lifting the restrictions on women in combat in special operations and throughout the military.

Army Gen. James Votel, who has led SOCOM since last August, backed the policy of the Obama administration and the Pentagon in stating that women who can meet the standards should be allowed to serve in previously restricted Military Occupational Specialties.

Standards are "absolutely the bottom line," Votel said at the Aspen Security Forum in Colorado last Friday. "This is about meeting the standards for the task that the nation expects us to be able to do. If people can meet the standards, then we should be able to integrate them."

In a separate panel at Aspen, retired Adm. Eric Olson, SOCOM commander from 2007 to 2011, said that the military and the nation must look beyond standards in making the decision and view women in combat in another context.

"I think that we are only having part of the discussion on women in combat," Olson said in a separate panel discussion at Aspen. "I think that we need to ask ourselves as a society if we are willing to put women in front-line combat units to take the first bullet on target."
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Seriously?

WWII Veteran Diagnosed With PTSD at 105

Durham’s oldest veteran, 107, faces life’s end with post-traumatic stress disorder 
Durham News
BY VIRGINIA BRIDGES
July 28, 2015

Samie Anderson turned 107 last week
Anderson was diagnosed with PTSD at 105
Late in life diagnosis aren’t uncommon as veterans slow down and ‘darker voices get louder’

Samie Anderson has lived many lives.

Anderson, who turned 107 last week, grew up in rural Mississippi in the early 1900s, rode freight trains across the country as a teenager, hand rolled biscuits and cinnamon rolls as a chef and became a father of three and grandfather and great grandfather to many.

Today, however, one of Durham’s oldest veterans faces his final days with post-traumatic stress disorder more than 70 years after he fought in World War II.

Anderson was just diagnosed last year.

The late-in-life struggle is “actually common,” said Ilario Pantano, director at the N. C. Division of Veterans Affairs.

Many older veterans came home from war and needed to jump right back into the work force or faced a country that wasn’t very sympathetic, he said. Back then, post-traumatic stress wasn’t a mental health disorder, but something waved off as “shell shock.”

“They were forced to bottle up their pain, literally and figuratively, and get to work,” Pantano said.

“And then as their children left home, or now that they’ve retired and they have more time to begin decompressing in the later part of their life, some of these memories start to surface.”

More than 400,000 veterans in the state are older than 60, Pantano said, and as some of them slow down “those darker voices get louder.”
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Missing Vietnam Veteran Found After 7 Days Stuck Under Tree

Missing Vietnam veteran, 66, is found alive under a fallen tree - SEVEN DAYS after he vanished during woodland walk 
Daily Mail
Kiri Blakeley
July 27, 2015

Army vet Larry Merton Shaddy, who reportedly has cancer and dementia, disappeared during a late-night walk near his care home
He fell down a steep embankment and got wedged under a broken tree
A passerby spotted him on Monday and phoned police
Shaddy, from Springdale, Maryland, is dehydrated and has leg injuries but is otherwise said to be in good spirits

A Vietnam veteran who has been missing for seven days has been found alive - wedged under a fallen tree in thick woodland.

Larry Merton Shaddy, of Springdale, Maryland, was conscious, lucid, and able to give his name to his rescuers, they said. He is now being treated for dehydration and leg injuries in hospital.

The 66-year-old, who is said to have cancer and dementia, was reported missing by his care home at 1am on July 20 after he failed to return from a late-evening walk.

He was spotted under a large tree limb by a passerby in Prince George's County on Monday, according to NBC 4 Washington.

He was just 0.3 miles from his care home.

The passerby, who was walking down the 9000 block of Ardwick-Ardmore Road, flagged down a passing motorist, who radioed for help.

The tree was removed by the Prince George's County Fire Department, using hydraulic power tools. Mr Shaddy was then placed in a large basket and pulled up the steep embankment to a waiting ambulance.
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Iraq Veteran Killed in Kermit Texas

Deadly Shooting Outside Bar in Kermit
NewsWest 9
By Kalene O'Brien
Updated: Jul 27, 2015

WINKLER COUNTY, TX - One person was shot and killed outside of a bar in Kermit over the weekend. Authorities are now working to figure out who’s at fault. It happened around 1:00 a.m. on Saturday at the Texas Moon Bar and Lounge.

It all started out as a fist fight and then quickly turned into a deadly shootout between four guys. Locals say it’s a shock for their small community. 25 year old Mark Stahlman was killed by the gunfire.

His brother was one of the four guys involved in the gunfight.

The other two guys were place in custody for just over four hours before they were released. read more here

Canada: Afghanistan Veteran Denied Insurance Because of PTSD

Afghan war veteran denied insurance because of PTSD
CTV News Canada
Michael Shulman
Published Monday, July 27, 2015

"I did a job the government asked me to do (and) I did it to the best of my ability. I was injured during that but now I lack the ability to have the privilege of protecting my investment (and) my house," said Arnsten.

April 17, 2002 is a date that continues to haunt Shaun Arnsten.

The Afghanistan war veteran was part of the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry Battle Group that lost four Canadian comrades and saw eight others injured in friendly fire at the hands of an American F-16 fighter jet near Kandahar.

"I was about 150 metres from the point of impact where the bomb was," Arnsten told CTV News.

In 2003, Arnsten, 38, was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, and a year later he received a medical discharge.

"I'm a young guy -- a soldier -- I went to war, I saw horrible things, I came back (and) I had a reaction to it," Arnsten said.

But the repercussions of his PTSD have affected his life back at home in Cochrane, Alta., as well.

Earlier this month, Arnsten says that he was rejected for mortgage disability insurance by Sun Life Financial because of his condition.

The veteran suffered a severe concussion in a motorcycle accident in April, which he says is preventing him from returning to his work as a heavy equipment operator.
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Veterans May Get More Help From Veterans Affairs

House backs bill to help vets who've suffered sexual assault
Associated Press
Posted: Monday, July 27, 2015

WASHINGTON (AP) — Veterans who suffered sexual assault or other sexual abuse while in uniform would get help more easily from the Department of Veterans Affairs under a bill approved Monday by the House.

The bill would allow a statement by a survivor of military sexual trauma to be considered sufficient proof that an assault occurred. The House approved the bill xxx--xx Monday night.

The bill is named after Ruth Moore, a former Navy sailor who was raped twice by a superior officer nearly three decades ago. Moore, of Milbridge, Maine, was awarded more than $400,000 in retroactive disability benefits last year after a decades-long battle with the VA.

The bill's sponsor, Rep. Chellie Pingree, D-Maine, called it an important step to get the VA to make its benefits process easier and fairer for veterans like Moore who were sexually assaulted during their military service.

Since starting work on the issue five years ago, Pingree said she heard from "countless veterans who've struggled for years to get disability benefits for (post-traumatic stress disorder) and other conditions that stem from their assaults."

The Defense Department estimates that about 19,000 sexual assaults occurred in the military in 2010, but only 13.5 percent of those assaults were reported.
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Florida Late on "Armed Citizens" at Recruitment Centers, Opps!

Last week we read this

Marine recruiters told to call the cops if armed citizens show up
Marine Corps Times
By Hope Hodge Seck, Staff writer
July 23, 2015

Marines were also instructed to call the relevant Army Corps of Engineers representative to notify the lessor of the recruiting office property of the presence of the armed individuals.

After four Marines and a sailor were killed by a lone gunman last week, armed civilians have volunteered to stand guard at military recruiting stations around the country — but troops are being warned to keep their distance and alert law enforcement of their presence.

In a memo published Tuesday that was obtained by Marine Corps Times, Lt. Gen. Mark Brilakis, the head of Marine Corps Recruiting Command, advised troops not to support the "armed citizen" volunteers in any way.

"These citizens' presence, while well intentioned, will be counterproductive to our recruiting operations," Brilakis wrote.
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It seems that my state of Florida didn't get the memo!

Florida to speed concealed weapons licenses to veterans
FLORIDA TODAY
R. Norman Moody
July 27, 2015

The Florida move to expedite the process for military and veterans comes amid debates about how best to protect recruiting stations, many of them in shopping center storefronts, and reports of armed citizens showing up at recruiting stations.

Amid reports of armed citizens standing guard at military recruiting stations and recommendations on how best to protect military personnel, Florida officials announced today that they will expedite concealed weapons permits for active duty military and veterans.

The move comes on the heels of the murder of five military members in Chattanooga, Tennessee earlier this month.

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs said its goal is to issue licenses to qualified active military and veterans within 30 days, a third of the time allotted by law.

“The men and women who serve and have served our country deserve all of the support we can provide,” Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam said. “We are pleased to expedite active military members and veterans’ applications for a concealed weapon license, and our partnership with tax collectors throughout the state will make this process even more convenient.”
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Opps!