Who is checking on National Guards and Reservists when they come home?

For all the claims we have read about how much is being done, it turns out the military was wrong but so were journalists we trusted to tell us what was happening as a result of what they were doing.

PTSD Hits National Guard Soldiers Harder: Study
National Guard Soldiers Have Higher Rates of Mental Health Problems Than Others
By KRISTINA FIORE
MedPage Today Staff Writer
June 13, 2010

Over 20 percent of service members report psychological distress.Rates of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) with serious functional impairment increased from about 7 percent to more than 12 percent over a nine-month period, compared with only about a 1 percent increase among those in the Active Component, according to Jeffrey Thomas of Walter Reed Army Institute in Silver Spring, Md. and colleagues.

The researchers reported their findings in the June issue of Archives of General Psychiatry.

"The emergence of differences ... likely does not have to do with the differences in the health effects of combat, but rather with other variables related to readjustment to civilian life or access to health care," they wrote.

These are from the DOD

Army Suicides according to the DOD press release on January 19, 2011 for 2010
Army 156
145 "not on active duty" (National Guards and Reservists)

For 2011 DOD press release on January 19, 2012
Army 164
114 potential not on active duty suicides (80 National Guard and 34 Army Reserve)

For 2012 DOD press release dated February 1, 2013
Army 182
143 potential not on active-duty suicides (96 Army National Guard and 47 Army Reserve)
This report was revised and released in the August report for suicides in July
Army CY 2012: 185
CY 2012: 140 (93 Army National Guard and 47 Army Reserve)

Army for 2013 thru July
For CY 2013, there have been 94
For CY 2013, there have been 90 potential not on active duty suicides (58 Army National Guard and 32 Army Reserve

CNN reported "Suicide rate doubles for Army National Guard" (Charley Keyes, CNN Senior National Security Producer on January 19, 2011)

The overall number of suicides for the 2010 calendar year was 343 -- an increase of 69 over the previous year -- and included self-inflicted deaths among active-duty soldiers, the National Guard, the Army Reserves, civilian employees of the Army and family members. The Army reported 156 active-duty suicides last year and 112 in the National Guard.

Where did they get their numbers from? As you can see the 2010 numbers they are referring to were reported by the DOD as 156 Soldiers and 145 National Guards/Reservists. How could they get that wrong? They wrote the report on the same day the DOD released the numbers.
USA Today reported this the following day (Gregg Zoroya January 20, 2011)

Among active-duty Army soldiers, there were 156 potential suicides in 2010, down slightly from 162 in 2009.
Among National Guard soldiers on inactive status in 2010, there were 101 confirmed or suspected suicides, more than double the 48 deaths among Guard members on inactive duty in 2009.

The Washington Post got it right.

"Army sees suicide decline overall, increase among Guard and Reserve soldiers" (By Greg Jaffe Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, January 19, 2011)

Last year, 301 active-duty, reserve and National Guard soldiers committed suicide, compared to 242 in 2009, senior Army officials said.

Christian Science Monotor got 2011 wrong Army report: Suicide rate sets record; some alcohol abuse up 54 percent (By Anna Mulrine, Staff writer, January 20, 2012)

There were 164 suicides among active-duty, Army, National Guard, and Reserve troops in 2011, compared with 159 in 2010 and 162 in 2009.

As you can see by the DOD report the Army suicides were 164 plus 114 potential not on active duty suicides (80 National Guard and 34 Army Reserve)

National Guard 2013 Posture Statement
The National Guard has made suicide prevention a top priority by promoting resilience and risk reduction programs that will enhance coping skills in our Soldiers, Airmen, families, and civilians through leadership awareness, training, and intervention programs. In the last 18 months, DPHs have provided 14,177 consultations and 2,881 clinical referrals.

Follow-up and case management services are also provided to ensure the behavioral health treatment received is successful. (page 27)

In the last 18 months, DPHs actively mitigated 954 high risk situations; to include suicidal, homicidal and assault cases

National Guards 2014 Posture Statement
There are 260 Air Guard Wounded Warriors enrolled in the Air Force Wounded Warrior Program. Nearly two-thirds of them (172) suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder or PTSD.

Army Guard clinicians have screened more than 8,000 Soldiers; 2,000 were referred for ongoing care in FY12.

Army Guard behavioral health counselors provided informal consultations to 30,000 Soldiers and family members; 1,400 of these consultations led to further psychological care in FY12.

Our heart-breaking suicide rate profoundly alarms us, and senior leaders are aggressively addressing this mental health challenge. We developed creative programs to build resilience and out determined staff of mental health professionals and volunteers provide a supportive network of friends and family members to our Citizen Soldiers in need.

In the last 18 months, DPHs have provided 14,177 consultations and 2,881 clinical referrals. Follow-up and case management services are also provided to ensure the behavioral health treatment received is successful. (exact number used in the 2013 report)

Now that you know the false report and claims going on, these are the deaths that resulted from "repeating the same mistakes over and over again while expecting a different result."

Army National Guard suicides increased 75 percent in 2009. May 11, 2010

Apr 20, 2010
Reporter: Associated Press
The National Guard says 28-year-old Sgt. Randolph A. Sigley Jr. of Richmond, was found dead in his quarters Sunday at Bagram Airbase, where he was serving with the 2123rd Transportation Company. The Guard says Sigley had been a member since 2006, and previously served a tour in Afghanistan when he was in the Marines, from 2000 to 2004.

April 23, 2010
National Guard renews suicide prevention campaign after "highest number of suicides within the active duty Army in 28 years. According to the Department of Defense, there were 12 potential suicides among active duty soldiers in January and 14 in February. And there have been 2 potential suicides among Missouri National Guardsmen in the last six weeks."

A Minnesota National Guardsman serving his second tour of duty in Iraq killed himself last October,(2009) the Army reported Thursday. According to the Army's Criminal Investigation Command, Maj. Tad Hervas, 48, died of a self-inficted gunshot wound to the head.

SPENCER, Iowa (AP) - Military officials have continued their investigation of the death of a 29-year-old Iowa solider who died in Iraq during a "non-combat incident." The United States Forces-Iraq offered no new details Saturday in the death of Spc. Christopher Opat. He died last Tuesday from injuries in a non-combat incident in Baquah, Iraq.

Five Missouri National Guard Troops Commit Suicide So Far This Year June 2010

Sgt. Jordan E. Tuttle , 22, of West Monroe, La., died July 2 at Baghdad, Iraq, of injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident.

Sixty-five members of the Guard and Reserve took their own lives during the first six months of 2010, compared with 42 for the same period in 2009. The Army recently announced that 32 soldiers, including 11 in the Guard and Reserve, took their own lives in June, a rate of one a day and a level not seen since the Vietnam War, according to the military.

Seven of the suicides occurred in Iraq or Afghanistan.

22-year-old man fatally shot by Vancouver police was an Oregon Army National Guard soldier who served 12 months in Iraq, a National Guard spokesman confirms.

Spc. Nikkolas W. Lookabill deployed in May 2009 as a member of the 41st Infantry Brigade after joining the guard in 2008, Guard spokesman Capt. Stephen Bomar said. Lookabill returned in May.

McCain calls suicide prevention overreach and blocks bill

Army to report rise in National Guard, Reserve suicides Report on suicides is to be released Wednesday, senior Army official says Active-duty suicides declined in 2010, but rose among Reserve, National Guard Increase was among stateside troops, most of whom were never in a war zone Army doesn't have any answers for the discrepancy, official says Washington (CNN) -- The U.S. Army on Wednesday will report that while the number of suicides in the active-duty force declined in 2010, the number of suicides in the Army Reserve and National Guard increased, a senior Army official said. The increase in Reserve and National Guard suicides is among troops who are in the United States and not activated for duty. The senior Army official said more than half of those troops were never deployed to a war zone.

Matthew Magdzas, a 23-year-old Wisconsin National Guard soldier who earned a combat badge in the Iraq war, shot and killed his pregnant wife, their 13-month-old daughter Lila, and their three dogs before turning the gun on himself. August 2010

24-year-old guardsman in Waukesha, Wis., allegedly shot dead “his best friend,” a 23-year-old Marine Corps veteran, after the two argued during a night of drinking, according to local police.

Friends identified the shooter as Clayborne Conley, a former Hawaii National Guardsman with a history of violent behavior and mental instability. Conley was deployed with his Hawaii unit to Iraq in 2004, and friends said he struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder.

22-year-old man fatally shot by Vancouver police was an Oregon Army National Guard soldier who served 12 months in Iraq, a National Guard spokesman confirms. Spc. Nikkolas W. Lookabill deployed in May 2009 as a member of the 41st Infantry Brigade after joining the guard in 2008, Guard spokesman Capt. Stephen Bomar said. Lookabill returned in May.

Pennsylvania Army National Guard’s Company C, 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry, Wilson had returned from Afghanistan in November after being stationed there about nine months. Staff Sgt. James Wilson was also a police officer

Their stories get worse and I can post more if you want but I think you have the idea that when it comes to what the military tells us and what reporters write, the National Guards and Reservists haven't mattered nearly as much as they should have.