Australia "Overwatch" Tracking Social Media to Save Veterans

'Overwatch' group prevents veteran suicides by monitoring social media, sending in the troops
ABC Australia
By Louise Merrillees
Posted Fri April 29, 2016

"I've had my bad moments when I've been pretty low, and they've sent vets to come and find me. From what I can see, they've prevented an awful lot of suicides from happening."

PHOTO: Ex-serviceman Trevor Dineen receives support from veterans at his local RSL. (ABC News: Louise Merrillees)

Trevor Dineen, a 31-year-old ex-serviceman, is talking about Overwatch Australia, a national organisation that intervenes when defence force veterans show mental health warning signs.

Overwatch, a military term that means one unit providing cover or support to another unit, has more than 4,500 volunteers Australia-wide, who have served with the Australia Defence Force.

The organisation describes itself as a "peer-to-peer, boots-on-the-ground, rapid-response organisation formed to assist former ADF members who are at risk or in crisis".

Robert Harris is the national president of Overwatch, while Marc Kirwin is the national coordinator. Both of them served in the Army.

Mr Harris said Overwatch was all about a quick response when warning signs became obvious.

"Once we have someone's address, we can put boots on the ground in 30 minutes," he said.

Overwatch focusing on Rwandan and Somali vets

Mr Kwinan said Overwatch was focusing on veterans from the Rwandan and Somali peacekeeping and humanitarian missions.

"Those guys are wracked with guilt. The rules of engagement were totally different - they couldn't engage unless they were in direct harm's way or fired upon.

"They saw women and children slaughtered in front of them. And the militia are standing there looking at them smiling and knowing they couldn't do anything about it.
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Canadian Ret. General talks about his own battle with PTSD

Military grapples with attempted suicide
North Bay Nipissing
December 4, 2013

It was drawn in especially sharp relief Tuesday when Liberal Sen. Romeo Dallaire, arguably Canada's highest-profile military victim of post-traumatic stress, nodded off at the wheel and crashed into a traffic barrier on Parliament Hill.

The retired general later admitted that the news last week that three Canadian soldiers had killed themselves, coupled with the coming 20th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide, have left him unable to sleep, even with medication.

OTTAWA - The moment the Canadian military told him he was being discharged because of his post-traumatic stress disorder, Master Cpl. Kristian Wolowidnyk felt his life was over.

Two days later, on Nov. 21, Wolowidnyk — a former combat engineer who survived the desolation of Kandahar in 2009 and 2010 — tried to take his own life, but survived.

Veterans advocates say a number of suicides within the military in recent days may only hint at the magnitude of the problem.

For every death by suicide, they warn, as many as 12 others may have sought the same fate.

Defence officials confirmed Tuesday that military police are investigating the death of a member of the Royal 22e Regiment at CFB Valcartier in Quebec as the fourth apparent Canadian Forces suicide in a week.
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Christian McEachern crashing through PTSD walls

Former city soldier plans wilderness centre to battle PTSD
By GLENN KAUTH, Sun Media


Christian McEachern, a former member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry who left the military in 2001. (Supplied photo)

A former Edmonton soldier – once so distressed he crashed an SUV into a garrison building – is the driving force behind plans for a new wilderness centre dedicated to helping fellow post-traumatic stress disorder sufferers battle their demons.

“It’s going to be geared towards using an adventure-therapy concept with the veterans,” said Christian McEachern, a former member of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry who left the military in 2001.

Earlier that year, McEachern drew attention to the issue of PTSD when he crashed the vehicle through the Edmonton Garrison headquarters. At the time, he lashed out at the military for doing too little to help soldiers with the disorder, which he had suffered from for years following service in Bosnia and Rwanda.

Since leaving the military, McEachern, 37, has been living in his hometown of Calgary. Now, after finishing a degree in ecotourism and outdoor leadership, his goal is to apply that knowledge to help his successors in the army by setting up an adventure centre in the mountains nearby.
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