Defective weapon used by military kills hundreds a year

Defective weapon used by military kills hundreds a year
Wounded Times Blog
Kathie Costos
June 18, 2013

There is a weapon the Department of Defense has spent billions a year on. This weapon is more deadly to our own troops but no one seems care. The weapon is not used to kill opponents on the battlefield. The billions of dollars spent have been making contractors and stock holders very wealthy. It has also been filling graves.

What has the Department of Defense been claiming they have been doing on addressing military suicides? They have over 900 prevention programs but suicides have gone up every year. They claim they have addressed Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and getting rid of the stigma with "resilience training" but the troops are still reluctant to even ask for help as the number of servicemen and women needing help rises.

What they claim has not been based on reality. This is their reality.

“The issue with PTSD is that so many Marines and sailors are not diagnosed or seeking treatment,” said Jim Askins, the department head of health promotions. “Marine Corps public health estimates that 10 to 30-percent are undiagnosed from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Marine and Navy team go to combat against PTSD
By THOMAS BRENNAN
Daily News Staff
Published: Tuesday, June 18, 2013

The awareness campaign, held on Friday at the Marine Corps Exchange aboard Camp Lejeune, brought together the Health Promotion and Wellness department from the Naval Hospital and the Marine Corps Community Services resiliency education department to de-stigmatize and raise awareness about a disorder that affects many service members. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is a type of anxiety disorder that can occur after you have gone through an extreme emotional trauma that involved the threat of injury or death.

Their reality is they are still not seeking help because of what else is happening. Other than honorable discharges are still happening when most of them want to be treated so they can do the job they always wanted to do. They don't want to leave the military. Given the option to heal and stay in, most want to stay because they never thought of doing anything else but serving their country.

Their reality is, they are still receiving medications that do more harm than good. How many warnings on drugs do they need to read before they refuse to take them? How many times are they punished for what the medications are doing to them? How many warnings did the DOD need to hear before they acknowledged they are not monitoring the medicated?

Their reality is their families are falling apart because of what PTSD is doing to them but the military blames suicides on relationship problems while failing to acknowledge the simple fact that a third of the troops with PTSD do not seek help. No diagnosis, no tie to PTSD. They must be able to live with that fact and satisfied to use that excuse.

Their reality is, they are trained to not seek help. They are told they can train their brains to be resilient. If they end up with problems, the message prevents them from seeking help. Would you knowing there was the threat of being discharged with an "other than honorable" hanging over your head for the rest of your life when all you want to do is stay in? The message of telling them what they can do if they train right actually puts the blame on their shoulders. To them it means they are mentally weak and didn't train right.

How many times do you have to read on Facebook that another service member has taken their own life before you get clued in on what is behind it? How many times do you have to read about another OEF or OIF veteran taking their own life back home before you give a damn about what is going on? How many times do you have to read about what the reality is for the men and women risking their lives before you understand this weapon is the most deadly of all?

A more complete tally of U.S. military suicides last year: 524
LA TImes
By Alan Zarembo
June 17, 2013

In data compiled by the Defense Department on military suicides, perhaps the most surprising statistic is that between 2008 and 2011, 52% of service members who took their own lives had never been deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq.

That figure, which challenges the popular belief that exposure to war is the primary driver of a surge in suicides, became the basis for an L.A. Times story Sunday.

But another statistic in the story also deserves attention: 524. That is the number of suicides in the military last year. To those who have followed the issue, it may seem like a misprint. The Pentagon recently announced that the 2012 total was 349.

The Defense Department, however, has only tracked suicides of military personnel who were on active duty when they died.

For a more complete tally, The Times went directly to the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines for the data. That added three suicides to the Defense Department's figure, bringing the active-duty count for 2012 to 352. More significantly, it added 172 suicides of reservists and National Guard members who were on inactive status at the time of their deaths.

Little is known about the suicides of service members not on active duty. Military researchers say they are compiling and analyzing the demographics of the victims, their deployment histories and other characteristics. The Defense Department has yet to publish their suicide rate.

If they are discharged from the military, they are no longer a "military problem" and become a VA problem.

Military veteran who shot up mother's home goes to trial next week
Mother claims son, Adan Castaneda, has PTSD
Published On: Jun 17 2013

COMAL COUNTY, Texas

Maria Anna Esparza still can't believe her 27-year-old Marine sniper son, Adan Castaneda, shot at her home while she and her husband slept.

She said Adan had been home from Iraq for two years when the shooting happened.

"He was a scout sniper for the U.S. Marines, so if he wanted us dead, he knew where we slept, he knew exactly where we were in the house, but that was not his intention," said Esparza.

According to police, Adan used his own .45 caliber gun and fired off 23 shots. They said he started shooting at the top of the house and worked his way down.

Castaneda has been diagnosed with Posttraumatic stress disorder. Next week he will stand trial for attempted murder of his mother and stepfather after shooting up their house back in May 2011.
“They had to watch beheadings on their computers daily as part of their training,” said Esparza.

The reality for families is also much different than what we have been told.

Suicide rates among military family members are on the rise
Washington Times
Life Lines by Susan L Ruth
June 17, 2013

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2013—The last report tracking military suicides showed that there is no decrease in the rate of deaths by service members own hands and now there are other military suicides that are gaining attention.

Experts are reporting that they are seeing an increase in the number of military family members killing themselves as well, although the exact rates are not known because these cases are not being tracked at this time.

The growing rate of suicides among the military has been a problem that the chain of command has not been able to get under control since it came to light about 11 years ago.

This is why I wrote THE WARRIOR SAW, SUICIDES AFTER WAR. I listened to what the reality is for them and their families. The military however has not been listening to them. They are pushing the program that actually prevents them from understanding what PTSD is and seeking help to heal.

One last thing to leave you with is the fact that none of this is new. It has been researched for the last 40 years. Would you find it acceptable to spend billions a year on a weapon that was doing more harm than good for our own forces? UPDATE here is another report of not seeking help within the military.

‘You Have To Get Help’ — Vets Share Stories Of Living With PTSD
CBS News
June 18, 2013
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Jason Probst described what it was like last year in January when he was driving a vehicle down a street and hit a road side bomb in Afghanistan.

“It was like driving and hitting a wall,” he said.

The cab filled with smoke. He hit his head, causing a brain injury. He now deals with the aftermath of war in many ways."

Loud noises, and sudden noises startle me…and sleeping at night is different,” he said.

His mother, Deb Probst, remembers hearing news of the explosion and fearing the worst.

“So he had angels with him that day,” she said.

Probst has reached out for help at the VA but says there’s still a stigma associated with mental illnesses, like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).