Army recruiter’s apparent suicide attempt part of troubling military trend
Brockton recruiter’s apparent suicide try may be linked to push to find wartime volunteers
By Maureen Boyle
ENTERPRISE STAFF WRITER
Posted Feb 02, 2010 @ 01:26 AM
Last update Feb 02, 2010 @ 03:18 PM
BROCKTON — Army recruiter Raymond Kerr was found clinging to life, gun in hand, in his car in the parking lot outside the military recruiting office on Westgate Drive on Monday morning.
The 33-year-old Army sergeant was shot in the head in what appeared to be a self-inflicted wound, police said. Kerr, who most recently lived in Whitman, was flown to a Boston hospital on Monday, where he remained Tuesday afternoon.
If investigators officially rule the case an attempted suicide, it would be part of a troubling trend in the military.
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Army recruiters apparent suicide attempt part of troubling military trend
Showing posts with label Army Recruiters suicide. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Army Recruiters suicide. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Why Are Army Recruiters Killing Themselves?
Why Are Army Recruiters Killing Themselves?
By MARK THOMPSON Thursday, Apr. 02, 2009
When Army Staff Sergeant Amanda Henderson ran into Staff Sergeant Larry Flores in their Texas recruiting station last August, she was shocked by the dark circles under his eyes and his ragged appearance. "Are you O.K.?" she asked the normally squared-away soldier. "Sergeant Henderson, I am just really tired," he replied. "I had such a bad, long week, it was ridiculous." The previous Saturday, Flores' commanders had berated him for poor performance. He had worked every day since from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., trying to persuade the youth of Nacogdoches to wear Army green. "But I'm O.K.," he told her.
No, he wasn't. Later that night, Flores hanged himself in his garage with an extension cord. Henderson and her husband Patrick, both Army recruiters, were stunned. "I'll never forget sitting there at Sergeant Flores' memorial service with my husband and seeing his wife crying," Amanda recalls. "I remember looking over at Patrick and going, 'Why did he do this to her? Why did he do this to his children?' " Patrick didn't say anything, and Amanda now says Flores' suicide "triggered" something in her husband. Six weeks later, Patrick hanged himself with a dog chain in their backyard shed.
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Why Are Army Recruiters Killing Themselves?
By MARK THOMPSON Thursday, Apr. 02, 2009
When Army Staff Sergeant Amanda Henderson ran into Staff Sergeant Larry Flores in their Texas recruiting station last August, she was shocked by the dark circles under his eyes and his ragged appearance. "Are you O.K.?" she asked the normally squared-away soldier. "Sergeant Henderson, I am just really tired," he replied. "I had such a bad, long week, it was ridiculous." The previous Saturday, Flores' commanders had berated him for poor performance. He had worked every day since from 6:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., trying to persuade the youth of Nacogdoches to wear Army green. "But I'm O.K.," he told her.
No, he wasn't. Later that night, Flores hanged himself in his garage with an extension cord. Henderson and her husband Patrick, both Army recruiters, were stunned. "I'll never forget sitting there at Sergeant Flores' memorial service with my husband and seeing his wife crying," Amanda recalls. "I remember looking over at Patrick and going, 'Why did he do this to her? Why did he do this to his children?' " Patrick didn't say anything, and Amanda now says Flores' suicide "triggered" something in her husband. Six weeks later, Patrick hanged himself with a dog chain in their backyard shed.
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Why Are Army Recruiters Killing Themselves?
Friday, February 13, 2009
Army recruiters describe nightmare of job
Army recruiters describe nightmare of job
By LINDSAY WISE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 12, 2009, 11:46PM
Staff Sgt. Daren Stewart remembers driving down a rural road in Arkansas and thinking how easy it would be to jerk the wheel and flip his car into a ditch.
The 27-year-old Iraq war veteran says he wasn’t suicidal. He just figured that injuring himself was the only way he could get any time off from his job as an Army recruiter.
“I would rather spend three years straight in Iraq, without coming home, without a break, than ever be a recruiter again,” said Stewart, who recruited in Hot Springs, Ark., from 2005 to 2008.
Five-hundred miles away in Houston, the suicides of four Army recruiters from a single battalion have focused lawmakers and veterans advocates on the enormous stress endured by soldiers tasked with refilling the ranks of the all-volunteer military during wartime.
In response to the deaths, the Army will suspend all recruiting nationwide Friday to focus on leadership training, suicide prevention and the health of its 8,900 recruiters. The Army Inspector General also is examining working conditions throughout U.S. Army Recruiting Command.
In interviews with the Houston Chronicle, current and former recruiters and their relatives from 10 of the Army’s 38 recruiting battalions detailed their own experiences in a job long considered one of the military’s toughest. They said the exhausting hours, degrading treatment and toxic command climate reported in Houston were not isolated incidents, but deep-rooted, widespread problems that have affected recruiters across the country for years.
By LINDSAY WISE Copyright 2009 Houston Chronicle
Feb. 12, 2009, 11:46PM
Staff Sgt. Daren Stewart remembers driving down a rural road in Arkansas and thinking how easy it would be to jerk the wheel and flip his car into a ditch.
The 27-year-old Iraq war veteran says he wasn’t suicidal. He just figured that injuring himself was the only way he could get any time off from his job as an Army recruiter.
“I would rather spend three years straight in Iraq, without coming home, without a break, than ever be a recruiter again,” said Stewart, who recruited in Hot Springs, Ark., from 2005 to 2008.
Five-hundred miles away in Houston, the suicides of four Army recruiters from a single battalion have focused lawmakers and veterans advocates on the enormous stress endured by soldiers tasked with refilling the ranks of the all-volunteer military during wartime.
In response to the deaths, the Army will suspend all recruiting nationwide Friday to focus on leadership training, suicide prevention and the health of its 8,900 recruiters. The Army Inspector General also is examining working conditions throughout U.S. Army Recruiting Command.
In interviews with the Houston Chronicle, current and former recruiters and their relatives from 10 of the Army’s 38 recruiting battalions detailed their own experiences in a job long considered one of the military’s toughest. They said the exhausting hours, degrading treatment and toxic command climate reported in Houston were not isolated incidents, but deep-rooted, widespread problems that have affected recruiters across the country for years.
At the strip mall in Hot Springs where Daren Stewart worked, however, most of the recruiters were on antidepressants or antianxiety medication.
They worked 12- to 14-hour shifts, six or seven days a week, Stewart said. Commanders cursed, humiliated and screamed at soldiers who fell short of monthly quotas, threatening to ruin their careers or withhold time off with loved ones, he said. click link for more
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Recruiting stand-down ordered by Army Secretary Pete Geren
Recruiting stand-down ordered
Probe of Houston suicides prompts wide-ranging action
By Michelle Tan - Staff writerPosted : Tuesday Jan 27, 2009 10:17:04 EST
Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered a stand-down of the Army’s entire recruiting force and a review of almost every aspect of the job is underway in the wake of a wide-ranging investigation of four suicides in the Houston Recruiting Battalion.
Poor command climate, failing personal relationships and long, stressful work days were factors in the suicides, the investigation found. The investigating officer noted a “threatening” environment in the battalion and that leaders may have tried to influence statements from witnesses.
“There were some things found that are disturbing,” said Brig. Gen. Del Turner, deputy commanding general for Accessions Command and the officer who conducted the investigation.
While he declined to discuss what action might be taken, Turner has recommended disciplinary action against battalion- and brigade-level commanders. He declined to discuss what action might be taken.
The report was not made public, with officials citing extensive personal information contained in the report.
The four recruiters who killed themselves were all combat veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan. The Army did not identify them.
The Army Inspector General’s office has been asked to conduct a command-wide assessment of Recruiting Command to determine if conditions uncovered in Houston exist elsewhere.
The one-day stand-down of all 7,000 active Army and 1,400 Army Reserve recruiters will be Feb. 13.
The soldiers will receive training on leadership, a review of the expectations of Recruiting Command’s leaders, suicide prevention and resiliency training, coping skills and recruiter wellness, Turner said.
“It’s significant,” Turner said about the stand-down. “It is not routinely scheduled. It normally occurs after some sort of major event like this.”
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Probe of Houston suicides prompts wide-ranging action
By Michelle Tan - Staff writerPosted : Tuesday Jan 27, 2009 10:17:04 EST
Army Secretary Pete Geren has ordered a stand-down of the Army’s entire recruiting force and a review of almost every aspect of the job is underway in the wake of a wide-ranging investigation of four suicides in the Houston Recruiting Battalion.
Poor command climate, failing personal relationships and long, stressful work days were factors in the suicides, the investigation found. The investigating officer noted a “threatening” environment in the battalion and that leaders may have tried to influence statements from witnesses.
“There were some things found that are disturbing,” said Brig. Gen. Del Turner, deputy commanding general for Accessions Command and the officer who conducted the investigation.
While he declined to discuss what action might be taken, Turner has recommended disciplinary action against battalion- and brigade-level commanders. He declined to discuss what action might be taken.
The report was not made public, with officials citing extensive personal information contained in the report.
The four recruiters who killed themselves were all combat veterans of Iraq or Afghanistan. The Army did not identify them.
The Army Inspector General’s office has been asked to conduct a command-wide assessment of Recruiting Command to determine if conditions uncovered in Houston exist elsewhere.
The one-day stand-down of all 7,000 active Army and 1,400 Army Reserve recruiters will be Feb. 13.
The soldiers will receive training on leadership, a review of the expectations of Recruiting Command’s leaders, suicide prevention and resiliency training, coping skills and recruiter wellness, Turner said.
“It’s significant,” Turner said about the stand-down. “It is not routinely scheduled. It normally occurs after some sort of major event like this.”
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Thursday, January 22, 2009
Army recruiter suicides finding, nope, no PTSD connection
The Army claims that none of the soldiers were diagnosed with PTSD. The key word here is "diagnosed" and we need to keep in mind that this does not mean they did not have PTSD. Sgt. Henderson did not have flashbacks because of "other issues" but had them from combat.
Do people commit suicide when they do not have PTSD? Regular people commit suicide for all kinds of reasons but these are not "regular people" they are a rarity. It's time for the military to acknowledge the difference between those willing to lay down their lives in defense of this nation, serving this nation and what it asks of them and the majority of the American people who depend on them. They do not take their personal lives above everything else. For them, their families, their friends, their outside lives come secondary to service. They know they can be deployed, sent away from their families and their "regular lives" at a moments notice. It doesn't matter if their wife is pregnant and they will miss the birth because they have to go. It doesn't stop them from going when adult children get married and they will not be able to walk their daughter down the isle because they are deployed into combat. This is their life and it's high time the military acknowledges that fact and pays tribute to it. They fail the men and women willing to lay down their lives if they do not understand the basis of these lives.
The DOD and the VA cannot keep denying the connection between known symptoms of PTSD because their is not an approved claim for it. Flashbacks of combat do not come from anything other than being in combat!
Recruiter Suicides Lead To Army Probe
Sgt. 1st Class Patrick Henderson in her home in Henderson, Texas, Nov. 20, 2008. Patrick Henderson, afflicted by flashbacks and sleeplessness after a tour in Iraq, hanged himself in a shed behind his house as his wife and her son slept.
He became, at age 35, the fourth member of the Army's Houston Recruiting Battalion to commit suicide in the past three years — something Henderson's widow and others blame on the psychological scars of combat, combined with the pressure-cooker job of trying to sell the war. click link for more
Do people commit suicide when they do not have PTSD? Regular people commit suicide for all kinds of reasons but these are not "regular people" they are a rarity. It's time for the military to acknowledge the difference between those willing to lay down their lives in defense of this nation, serving this nation and what it asks of them and the majority of the American people who depend on them. They do not take their personal lives above everything else. For them, their families, their friends, their outside lives come secondary to service. They know they can be deployed, sent away from their families and their "regular lives" at a moments notice. It doesn't matter if their wife is pregnant and they will miss the birth because they have to go. It doesn't stop them from going when adult children get married and they will not be able to walk their daughter down the isle because they are deployed into combat. This is their life and it's high time the military acknowledges that fact and pays tribute to it. They fail the men and women willing to lay down their lives if they do not understand the basis of these lives.
Army completes recruiter suicide investigation
Jan 21
By Catherine Abbott (Media Relations Division, OCPA)
The U.S. Army concluded a two and a half month investigation into the suicides of four Soldiers assigned to the Houston Recruiting Battalion.
Lt. Gen. Benjamin C. Freakley, commander, U.S. Army Accessions Command, directed Brig. Gen. Frank D. Turner III, deputy commanding general and chief of staff for the U.S. Army Accessions Command, to investigate the unit that experienced the four suicides that occurred between January 2005 and September 2008.
"Each of these deaths is an absolute tragedy and our sympathies and prayers go out to their families and friends, as well as their fellow brothers and sisters with whom they served so honorably," said Freakley. "Every leader, every Soldier, at every level of our Army, must help our institution reduce the stigma associated with seeking mental health care and raise the level of awareness of suicide risk factors. Neither our nation nor our Army can accept another needless loss of life."
The investigation concluded that there was no single cause for these deaths. Relevant factors included the command climate, stress, personal matters, and medical problems. None were diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
As a result of the findings, Secretary of the Army directed a USAREC command-wide "stand down" day focused on leadership training, suicide prevention / resiliency training and recruiter wellness. Additionally, the Commanding General of Army Accessions Command has requested that the Army's Inspector General lead an external assessment of the command climate across the U.S. Army Recruiting Command (USAREC), to which the Houston Recruiting Battalion belongs.
The Army is also reviewing recruiter screening and selection processes, the provisions of care for Soldiers who need mental health care, Army-wide suicide prevention training, and access to care and peer support networks for geographically dispersed Soldiers. It will review the current policy that allows Soldiers to waive their mandatory 90 days of stabilization after returning from deployment to ensure any personal or professional concerns are addressed prior to the recently redeployed Soldier moving into new and different work environments.
The Army will continue to focus its efforts on helping Soldiers get the assistance they need wherever they serve. For more information contact COL Michael Negard at TRADOC Public Affairs, (757) 788-3385; michael.negard@us.army.mil
The DOD and the VA cannot keep denying the connection between known symptoms of PTSD because their is not an approved claim for it. Flashbacks of combat do not come from anything other than being in combat!
Friday, November 7, 2008
Army to investigate 5 recruiter suicides from Houston battalion
Army to investigate 5 recruiter suicides
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 7, 2008 6:31:42 EST
HOUSTON — The Army has appointed a brigadier general to investigate allegations of a cover-up among commanders of a recruiting battalion after a string of recruiter suicides, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said.
Five Army recruiters from the same Houston battalion have committed suicide since 2001, including two since August.
Cornyn, a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services who won his second six-year term Tuesday, last month called for an independent investigation in a letter to Secretary of the Army Pete Geren.
Geren responded in a two-page letter dated Nov. 3, writing that he shared Cornyn’s concern about the suicides and reports of “undue command influence within the Houston Recruiting Battalion investigations.” He pledged to work with the senator’s staff to provide answers “after we review and assess these issues,” the Houston Chronicle reported Friday for its online edition.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_recruitersuicides_110708/
The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 7, 2008 6:31:42 EST
HOUSTON — The Army has appointed a brigadier general to investigate allegations of a cover-up among commanders of a recruiting battalion after a string of recruiter suicides, U.S. Sen. John Cornyn said.
Five Army recruiters from the same Houston battalion have committed suicide since 2001, including two since August.
Cornyn, a member of the Senate Committee on Armed Services who won his second six-year term Tuesday, last month called for an independent investigation in a letter to Secretary of the Army Pete Geren.
Geren responded in a two-page letter dated Nov. 3, writing that he shared Cornyn’s concern about the suicides and reports of “undue command influence within the Houston Recruiting Battalion investigations.” He pledged to work with the senator’s staff to provide answers “after we review and assess these issues,” the Houston Chronicle reported Friday for its online edition.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/11/ap_recruitersuicides_110708/
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