Wounded Times
Kathie Costos
March 21, 2014
The US Army leaders are experts at causing trauma. Who in their right mind thought they would know how to heal it?
Think about what their job has always been. Defeat the enemy. They do it by training average citizens to become soldiers, use weapons and plan missions. They also come up with plans to cause the most psychological damage to enemy forces.
They have had a lot of practice perfecting the military solutions.
Birth of the U.S. Army
Founded in June 14, 1775
When the American Revolution broke out, the rebellious colonies did not possess an army in the modern sense. Rather, the revolutionaries fielded an amateur force of colonial troops, cobbled together from various New England militia companies. They had no unified chain of command, and although Artemas Ward of Massachusetts exercised authority by informal agreement, officers from other colonies were not obligated to obey his orders. The American volunteers were led, equipped, armed, paid for, and supported by the colonies from which they were raised.
In the spring of 1775, this “army” was about to confront British troops near Boston, Massachusetts.
The revolutionaries had to re-organize their forces quickly if they were to stand a chance against Britain’s seasoned professionals. Recognizing the need to enlist the support of all of the American seaboard colonies, the Massachusetts Provincial Congress appealed to the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia to assume authority for the New England army. Reportedly, at John Adams’ request, Congress voted to “adopt” the Boston troops on June 14, although there is no written record of this decision. Also on this day, Congress resolved to form a committee “to bring in a draft of rules and regulations for the government of the Army,” and voted $2,000,000 to support the forces around Boston, and those at New York City. Moreover, Congress authorized the formation of ten companies of expert riflemen from Pennsylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, which were directed to march to Boston to support the New England militia.
George Washington received his appointment as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army the next day, and formally took command at Boston on July 3, 1775.
The leaders are great at it but someone decided they should also be able to treat the citizens they trained for war to readjust back to being a civilian again. PTSD caused by combat and military training needed to be addressed way back then. Letters in history books proved the need and the attitude of military leaders that the soldiers were cowards. It has always been the attitude of brass that it is the soldiers' problems and not from what the leaders do.
The last Department of Defense Suicide Event Report was released on November 15, 2012 and covered military suicides for 2011.
The estimated cost of report for the Department of Defense is approximately $64,000 in Fiscal Years 2011 - 2012. This includes $20,000 in expenses and $44,000 in DoD labor. Generated on 2012Nov15 RefID: 0-D493E45
This was the result
The AFMES indicates that 301 Service Members died by suicide in 2011 (Air Force = 50, Army = 167, Marine Corps = 32, Navy = 52). This number includes deaths strongly suspected to be suicides that are pending final determination. DoDSER Points of Contact (POCs) submitted reports for 100% of AFMES confirmed 2011 suicides (Air Force = 46, Army = 159, Marine Corps = 31, Navy = 51) as of the data extraction date (26 April 2012). A total of 915 Service Members attempted suicide in 2011 (Air Force = 241, Army = 432, Marine Corps = 156, Navy = 86). DoDSERs were submitted for 935 suicide attempts (Air Force = 251, Army = 440, Marine Corps = 157, Navy = 87). Of the 915 Service Members who attempted suicide, 896 had one attempt, 18 had two attempts, and 1 had three attempts.
They stopped releasing the comprehensive report and the public does not know the specifics of what happened in 2012 or 2013.
Are we expected to just ignore all of this? Are we expected to settle for what they say again? The numbers went up even after the number of enlisted personnel went down. Where are the reporters on all of this?
What is even more baffling is no one is being held accountable for any of it including what has happened to the veterans after they were trained to fight.
If we do not face the cause of their suffering, they will continue to suffer no matter how much we may try to do.
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