Reports of family violence, abuse within military rise

Reports of family violence, abuse within military rise
By NANCY MONTGOMERY
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 10, 2011

The number of reports of family violence within the military, which had been in decline over several years, has been rising over the last two years, and reports of abused children and spouses increased significantly last year, a report by the Defense Department’s Family Advocacy Program shows.

But what it means — more people reporting who had kept silent in the past, better record-keeping or more people in the military abusing their spouses and children — is unknown.

“It’s really hard to say at this point,” said Tib Campise, analyst at the Family Advocacy Program, the armed forces program set up decades ago to prevent and treat domestic violence and child abuse within the military.

“I don’t think I could answer whether anybody has a good sense of the prevalence (of family violence) across the military.”

In fiscal year 2010, the rate of confirmed spouse abuse was 11.2 per one-thousand couples, up from 10.1 per thousand in 2009 and 9.4 per thousand in 2008. Prior to 2008, the rate had been steadily declining from 16.5 per thousand in fiscal year 2001.
read more here
Reports of family violence, abuse within military rise

also

Army charges Fort Campbell soldier in 2 deaths
The Associated Press
Posted : Sunday Jul 10, 2011 11:13:41 EDT
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — A jailed Fort Campbell soldier is facing military charges in the 2007 slayings of his estranged wife and her former mother-in-law.

The Army said Saturday it had brought premeditated-murder charges against Sgt. Brent Burke.
read more of this here
Army charges Fort Campbell soldier in 2 deaths

With Abuse Increasing, Army Limits Addictive Meds

July 12, 2011
Associated Press|by Kristin M. Hall
FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- Faced with rising abuse of prescription drugs, the Army has limited how many painkillers a Soldier can get at one time and is threatening disciplinary action for troops caught violating the restriction.

Army data requested by The Associated Press shows the number of Soldiers referred for opiate abuse treatment has been growing steadily for at least a decade, a time when increasing numbers of troops have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with combat or training injuries that can cause chronic pain. The Department of Veterans Affairs says more than 50 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans report pain issues as they leave active-duty military service.

The Army put limits on painkillers in November by restricting most Schedule II controlled substances, which include narcotics, opiates and amphetamines, to just 30-day prescriptions. Previously, some prescriptions had been available for 60 or 90 days and the average was 40 days. The policy makes an exception for medications for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and it affects anyone who fills a prescription at an Army hospital or pharmacy, including military spouses, children and retirees.

In June, the Army followed with a policy that Soldiers found using the restricted drugs six months after they were prescribed could be disciplined, too. The force carries out random drug tests among active-duty soldiers.
read more of this here
With Abuse Increasing, Army Limits Addictive Meds