Fort Benning:PTSD to "recover" near bullets?

What lame brain decided sending PTSD soldiers next to firing range to "recover" would be a helpful thing? Are they out of their minds? Do they know anything about PTSD? What's next? Sending soldiers with amputations next to bombing ranges to "recover" and have them dodge targets as therapy?

Just when you think it's getting better for the wounded, (and yes that is exactly what they are) and there is hope for them to recover without screwing around anymore, they pull something like this! When will these reports get to the point when we can finally, once and for all know they are taking PTSD seriously? All of this leads to the rise in the death count from suicide and the rise in attempted suicides. Can't they understand this?

Sgt. Jonathan Strickland, 25, who has been diagnosed with PTSD, in barracks at Fort Benning that house wounded and are soldiers located across from several major firing ranges.

Firing ranges complicate vets' PTSD recoverySoldiers at Fort Benning say proximity to gunfire aggravates their disorder

By Ann Scott Tyson

updated 3:24 a.m. ET, Tues., June. 3, 2008
FORT BENNING, Ga. - Army Sgt. Jonathan Strickland sits in his room at noon with the blinds drawn, seeking the sleep that has eluded him since he was knocked out by the blast of a Baghdad car bomb.

Like many of the wounded soldiers living in the newly built "warrior transition" barracks here, the soft-spoken 25-year-old suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. But even as Strickland and his comrades struggle with nightmares, anxiety and flashbacks from their wartime experiences, the sounds of gunfire have followed them here, just outside their windows.

Across the street from their assigned housing, about 200 yards away, are some of the Army infantry's main firing ranges, and day and night, several days each week, barrages from rifles and machine guns echo around Strickland's building. The noise makes the wounded cringe, startle in their formations, and stay awake and on edge, according to several soldiers interviewed at the barracks last month. The gunfire recently sent one soldier to the emergency room with an anxiety attack, they said.

Soldiers interviewed said complaints to medical personnel at Fort Benning's Martin Army Community Hospital and officers in their chain of command have brought no relief, prompting one soldier's father to contact The Washington Post. Fort Benning officials said that they were unaware of specific complaints but that decisions about housing and treatment for soldiers with PTSD depend on the severity of each case. They said day and night training must continue as new soldiers arrive and the Army grows.
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