Fort Bliss PTSD work praised by Gates

Military's policy for dealing with post traumatic stress disorder changing, defense secretary says
By Chris Roberts/For the Sun-News
Article Launched: 05/02/2008 12:00:00 AM MDT



Bracing against a blasting wind that reminded him of his native Kansas, U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates spent a day at Fort Bliss touring a mental health center, watching a demonstration of the Army's newest technology, and meeting with soldiers and community leaders.

Gates said the recent announcement that two additional brigades will come to Fort Bliss as part of a plan to expand the Army "will be the final major additions for the time being."

The total increase in the number of soldiers expected to be stationed at the post since the Base Realignment and Closure process in 2005 is nearly 30,000.

Gates had high praise for a Fort Bliss center designed to treat soldiers suffering from post traumatic stress disorder and return them to their units, which he said would serve as a prototype for the Army.

"They are doing some amazing things here in terms of helping soldiers who want to remain soldiers but who have been wounded with post traumatic stress disorder," Gates said of the Restoration and Resilience Center. "I think it's an extraordinary program. I think it's a prototype. And one of the things that I will carry back to Washington with me is the question of whether we can replicate this at other posts
around the country."

During a morning press conference in front of the center, Gates also formally announced a change in government policy he said will allow soldiers to seek help for PTSD without hurting their careers. Getting help for PTSD related to the "combat environment" will no longer be a reason to deny security clearances, he said.

The Fort Bliss center also is looking at finding ways of helping soldiers in combat zones deal with stress, Gates said, adding that those techniques "are clearly worth additional attention as well."
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