Oh my Lord, where to begin. OK, first of all, the US military recognizes that there is a very high rate of suicide not only at Fort Hood, but all over the world, and yes, one tends to take the easy way out and blame the wars and the multiple deployments. But lets look at some facts.
1. Anyone who has joined the military post 9/11 did so knowing full well that they can and will do at least one tour in Iraq or Afghanistan regardless of their MOS. 2. MANY soldiers have re-enlisted down range indicating that things are not quite as bad in the Army as the media wants you to think. My last two deployments our battalion's achieved over 100% or their annual retention goals. 3. Most people who commit suicide have other issues as well, but you add the stress of multiple deployments, blah blah blah and that is usually the breaking point. In my opinion, someone who kills them self is already weak and should have never joined the military in the first place. And combat cannot be used as a scapegoat. Again, they were already weak and there could very well have been any number of stressors that could have triggered their willingness to perform the ultimate act of selfishness. 4. We attend MANY suicide prevention classes, especially when we are down range. I think that we had a total of four or five of those briefings in our 12 month deployment. Leaders are given additional classes to recognize the signs in their subordinates as well. 5. Combat stress teams are on EVERY FOB and are available to EVERY combat outpost as well. There is no reason that a soldier cannot get treatment while in country. 6. Within days of returning home, we are given a PDHRA (Post Deployment Health ReAssessment) and three months and six months later the same reassessment. This is only a small part of what is being done to try and discover any issues that a soldier has. Of course the key to this working is the soldiers willingness to be honest. If they are honest like I was, then they are more than likely going to see a behavioral health specialist as I am now doing. 7. Some soldiers who have multiple deployments VOLUNTEER for them. By that I mean this. When we deploy, we are given at least one year of dwell time. You can waive your dwell time though. MANY soldiers, especially NCO's did this prior to our last deployment. I do not see this reported though. It probably plays out like this: "Sgt Smith, how many times have you been to Iraq?" "Four times sir". Then the media runs with that. Did they ask if he waived his dwell time? No. They ask how many times he/she has been down range and that is that. 8. The media DOES report about this. I see stories at least once or twice a week regarding soldier suicides. Perhaps because I am in the military and I instantly key in on anything and everything military related on the tv, internet and print media I am aware that there is reporting being done on this issue, I dunno. All I can say is that the Army is NOT trying to hide this. Maybe they do not see a need to have every suicide sensationalized on TV and such. Bottom line, the Army knows that there is a problem and they are working hard to fix it. Now, to address the abuse at Fort Carson in April. It is true that there was for a long time a certain stigma attached to a soldier who sought out mental health treatment, especially in a line unit such as what Tim and I were/are in. And not just Fort Carson, but on every installation worldwide. In the infantry we are both mentally and physically tough and conditioned, more so than any other combat arms (tankers, artillerymen, combat engineers) and much more than the other POGS that the Army needs to support the infantry (yes, EVERY job in the army exists to support the Infantry), and seeking help was a sign of weakness. However, not every unit is like that and many of the leaders are starting to realize that yes, we do come back with issues, and seeking help when you recognize you need it is not a sign of weakness, but of strength and the willingness to become as good as you were before deployment or better mentally. There are a number of reasons why we seek help now. We are now assured and it is practiced that anything and everything that is said with the counselors are kept in confidence (with the usual legal exceptions of course). When there is a problem in the military, it is addressed at the appropriate level. The military is a very large and complex machine and requires constant maintenance and upkeep. Because of the wars we took in anyone and everyone who had a pulse. Moral waivers were being approved at breakneck speed. Quantity, not quality was the word of the day to help feed the war machine. Now, with things winding down in Iraq there is not the need for as many soldiers. So we are now starting to focus more on quality than quantity. Three months prior to our deployment, we kicked four soldiers out of my company, three of them from my platoon for drug use and domestic violence. We have a few soldiers now that we are in the process of kicking out as well for discipline issues. Although the Army is the easiest job in the world, it is not for everyone. It requires a certain type of person to be successful at it. The conclusion is this. The military knows there is a problem. They are working hard to fix it. It does require cooperation on the serviceman's part. It will NOT happen overnight. There will be more suicides/homicides in the future. The stigma attached to having PTSD is slowly going away. Larry C. Lyons wrote: > There was an NPR series last April about Ft. Carson and the abusive > treatment of soldiers with PTSD. > > > > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Want to reach the ColdFusion community with something they want? Let them know on the House of Fusion mailing lists Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:307549 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
