Suicide in military getting attention from Congress today

Paul Rieckhoff: Testifying Before Congress on the Issue of ...
By Paul Rieckhoff(webmaster@huffingtonpost.com) We are very excited to hear about the nomination of General Peake to be the new secretary of the Veterans Administration. General Peake is a combat veteran who holds dear the Army's "Warrior Ethos."

Testimony of Todd Bowers
Director of Government Affairs
Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America
Before the House Committee on Veterans' Affairs

December 12, 2007

Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for hearing me speak today. On behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, and our thousands of members nationwide, I would like to thank you all for your unwavering commitment to our nation's veterans. The Committee originally invited our Executive Director, Paul Rieckhoff, to testify today. Unfortunately, Mr. Rieckhoff had a prior engagement that he could not reschedule and so he asked me to be here today on his behalf. I will do my best to fill his boots this morning.

I would like to begin by thanking the Committee for the outstanding leadership you provided to ensure that legislation combating suicide among veterans made its way into law. Specifically, I would like to thank you for your efforts to pass the Joshua Omvig Suicide Prevention Act. IAVA wholeheartedly endorsed this ground-breaking legislation and we are excited about the positive impact it will have on all veterans.

We are very excited to hear about the nomination of General Peake to be the new secretary of the Veterans Administration. General Peake is a combat veteran who holds dear the Army's "Warrior Ethos." The Warrior Ethos states that "I will always place the mission first, I will never accept defeat, I will never quit, I will never leave a fallen comrade." We believe we can apply the lessons of combat, and the Warrior ethos, to improving suicide prevention at the VA.

On my second combat tour in Fallujah, Iraq, I was on a patrol with my team of six Marines. As we moved through the city we made our way to Jolan Park, located in the Northwestern portion of the city, to link up with our battalion's Executive Officer. Once we arrived at the park we found ourselves alone. There were no other Marines in sight. As we surveyed the area, I noticed a group of Marines four blocks away waving their arms and jumping up and down. By the time I was able to figure out that they were telling us we were in danger, it was too late. I turned to inform my Captain and, just as I opened my mouth, the building next to us exploded. The blast was so strong that it threw me backwards. Once the dust settled and the ringing in our ears subsided, the Marines who were waving at us from down the street made their way over to our vehicle. "What the hell is wrong with you guys!?" a Major screamed at us. Apparently they were utilizing a controlled blast to destroy a massive weapons cache used by the insurgents and had called in the grid coordinates over the radio to warn all Marines to stay clear of the area. We did not get the communication. Our radio had lost its encryption.

The failure to communicate that day in Fallujah nearly killed me and six of my fellow Marines. On the battlefield, communication is key.

I believe communication is also the key to success in suicide prevention.

The Army's Field Manual 6-22.5, "A Leader's Guide to Combat and Operational Stress," states that ensuring "communication lines are open" is one of the most "potent countermeasures to confront combat stress and to reduce psychological breakdown...."

Recently, the VA had made great strides to improve communications lines by creating a nation-wide Suicide Prevention hotline. This hotline is available to veterans and their families 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This new program has had amazing results. The VA has highlighted many stories of veterans who have used the hotline to get the help they need. But after talking to many IAVA's members, including many in the National Guard and Reserves, we have found that they do not know that this service is available. Better outreach is the only way to ensure that these new programs are available to all who need them.

But outreach is a difficult task if you do not know where your targets are. And right now, the VA has no idea who is at risk. They don't even know where veteran are. A national registry of veterans would solve this gap in communication.

The Gulf War Registry was established to inform veterans of changes in policy regarding issues specific to the war in the Gulf such as exposure to burning oil wells and Gulf War syndrome. Although this registry is newly available to Iraq veterans, its potential is still limited. Right now, the registry is not open to Afghanistan veterans, and is only made available to those who are in the VA system. Only about one-third of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans eligible for VA care have sought care, so the vast majority of veterans are not eligible for inclusion.

We at IAVA believe that all veterans should be included in a registry upon discharge from the military. Currently the tracking system for veterans is almost non-existent. Registering veterans, along with their deployments to specific conflicts, would help the VA reach out to veterans and family members who will benefit from their outstanding initiatives and programs, including the suicide hotline.

Much of the work of suicide prevention, however, must occur much earlier in the process. IAVA has strongly endorsed the mandatory pre- and post- deployment mental health screening of our service members by mental health professionals. This will produce a more accurate assessment of the impact that combat has on a service member's mental health. Making screening mandatory will reduce the stigma related to seeking mental health treatment. I would compare this to the mandatory drug testing that the Department of Defense conducts for all service members. If all are required to take part, then it becomes a part of daily routine and no longer singles individuals out.
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I had a talk with the Pastor at the church I work for today. I had a confession to make. I've been feeling really left out of all of this. Considering it's what I've worked for the last 25 years for, I should be happy everything I prayed for and worked so hard for is finally happening. The media has reported more in the last few years than they did in the 30 years prior to this. Organizations across the country are popping up and stepping up to help our wounded veterans to heal. People are making speeches and giving testimony of the ravages of war. My confession is that I'm not part of any of this. At least that's what I thought.

I'm so far under the radar I'm amazed anyone finds my blogs or my videos. 25 years of my life has been devoted to this and for the last decade, most of it has been online. The last few years has been a gradual increase from 6 to 8 to 10 to 12 hour days, seven days a week. It hadn't even dawned on me it became 12 hours until my husband had a fit one day and pointed it out. I've tried to back off a little bit in the last couple of weeks but mostly because working for a church, this is one of the busiest times we have.

So as I read about the people going to Washington to testify, I was feeling really jealous wondering why, after all these years, I have no part in any of this. The Pastor reminded me of something I told her about a problem I have. I'm terrified of pubic speaking so much so that when I was in high school I wrote a first prize speech for a national competition. A week before the contest, I had to hand the speech over to a friend to deliver because I knew if I delivered it, it would loose. My trembling hands and stuttering from fear wouldn't have done the speech justice. She delivered it perfectly and it took first place. I've tried to overcome this but I haven't been able to yet. Every once in a while the church makes me get up and deliver a sermon or I have to public speaking as part of my job, but I still try to get out of it. I keep telling people I write so that I don't have to talk.

That's really the point to all of this. It is not my role to be the one in the spotlight. I can't keep up with the work I do now and this is the place I need to be in for whatever it is I'm intended to do. There are thousands of others across the country and the rest of the world out of the spotlight but with the courage to take on this kind of work. It is not self-serving that we think we will be rewarded or patted on the back but that we will inspire changed. That is the goal we all have. For all the others like me out there, take heart in that. What's our job been? It's been to end the silence of PTSD, remove the stigma and provide support and compassion for the people living with it the way we are. We've never been close to achieving it than we are today.
I'm sure you think the same way I do about never seeing it this bad, but we have to take a look at how far we've come. None of this would be possible without us being willing to stand up and fight these battles. Just as the Vietnam veterans made it possible for what advances have been made in treating combat PTSD, it wouldn't have happened without them being willing to fight for it.

No play can go on without stage hands to set things up. No speech can be heard without someone writing it. Nothing changes without people willing to fight for it. We all need to think of it this way and then support those who are in the spotlight because they will deliver what we have all fought for so very long.

Jesus had 12 disciples who became famous but there were also 70 more he sent out that no one remembers. Think of what would have happened to Christianity had they not been there to spread the messages of Christ. Think of what would have happened if the people who heard his words went back to their homes and instead of sharing it, kept it to themselves. Rejoice and be glad that the silence is being shattered. Take comfort that the words of those being heard in Washington will one day end the stigma we've all been living with. We've never been this close to achieving what we've worked so long and so hard for, but there is more, much more, for all of us to do. We have thousands more coming and our job will not end until they are all taken care of and no one else takes their own life because of this wound. Families are still falling apart and the suffering goes on. Keep up the good fight for them and when someone gets the media to pay attention, pray they find the right words to make the changes needed and that the ears of the people with the power are softened to hear them.



Kathie Costos
Namguardianangel@aol.com
www.Namguardianangel.org
www.Namguardianangel.blogspot.com
www.Woundedtimes.blogspot.com
"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington