Joint Session of State Senate-Assembly Briefed on Military Suicides
On somber subject a brief gleam of hope, NJ is one of the best at identifying at-risk soldiers.
By NJ Spotlight
October 24, 2012
On Monday morning, a soldier apparently committed suicide in King of Prussia, PA; on Sunday, it was one in Illinois; on Saturday, one at Fort Knox, KY.
That stark information came from Brig. Gen Michael Cunniff, adjutant general of the state Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
In July, there were 26 suspected suicides reported among active-duty Army personnel, and another dozen among reservists. He was speaking yesterday at a joint session of the state Senate and Assembly military and veteran affairs committees in Lawrenceville.
“That’s more than one a day,” Cunniff said. “If that doesn’t get your attention, I don’t know what will.”
Already in the first half of the year, the American military was on a pace of almost one suicide a day, usually a low-ranking, male soldier, according to the Associated Press. That rate jumped in July, prompting a series of “stand downs,” set aside throughout the services to address the issue.
At the joint session, held in the office of the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Cunniff and other in-state brass assured legislators that they are responding well to such underlying problems as post-traumatic stress disorders, traumatic brain injuries, and depression among soldiers, reservists and veterans.
With training that now includes “resiliency,” stress management and recovery, New Jersey’s Army and Air National Guards does its best to prepare servicemen and women in advance, the officers said.
read more here
In 2008 after hearing what this program was doing to the troops instead of for the troops, I came out against what used to be called "Battlemind" because it blamed the troops for getting PTSD. Telling them they could train their brains to be mentally tough ended up telling them "you're mentally weak and didn't train right."
Because reporters have failed to learn what is really going on, no one is being held accountable and the DOD gets to be able to push a boatload of claims they are doing something about it while more and more families have to go to a grave that didn't need to be filled!
IF IT WORKED, THE NUMBERS WOULD HAVE GONE DOWN AND NOT UP!
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