Another General Steps Up and Speaks Out With PTSD

PTSD News: Another Army General Fights Stigma by Announcing He Sought PTSD Recovery
Pamela Walck


Savannah Morning News (Georgia)

Dec 21, 2008

December 21, 2008, Fort Stewart, Georgia - War changes a person. It's a truth Maj. Gen. Tony Cucolo knows all too well from his 29 years of service - and counting - in the U.S. Army.

And it's a truth he tries to share with each new man and woman arriving at Fort Stewart to serve in the 3rd Infantry Division he guides.

"Command Sgt. Maj. Jesse Andrews and I try to speak to each newcomers' group," said the commanding general of the 3rd ID. "We get all ranks - from private to colonel - and in part, we try to impress upon them ... it is a point of moral courage to step forward and say you need help."

Cucolo then points to a few examples of soldiers he knows who recognized the classic signs of combat-related post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury in their own behavior - then sought help for it.

"I applaud that behavior," Cucolo said Friday, moments after participating in a groundbreaking at Winn Army Hospital for a new PTSD and TBI clinic.

Cucolo said he then tells his soldiers they are looking at an officer who sought counseling and got help.

"A lot of people think it is a career-ender," Cucolo said in an exclusive interview.

But he's living proof to the contrary.

Cucolo took command of the 3rd ID in July, after serving a two-year tour at the Pentagon as the Army's chief of public affairs.

During a career that spans nearly three decades, he has served 16 of those years in infantry and armor divisions.

"Soldiers return (from war) a slightly different person," Cucolo said. "It's understood ... we all deal with it different."

The general contends that details over when, why or where he personally sought help are not important.

The fact that he sought help, however, is.
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