Why does the DOD ignore military domestic violence

update Commands Protect Troops and Fail Families in Domestic Abuse Cases, Victims Say

Military.com
By Patricia Kime
19 Sep 2019

For three years, Kate Ranta said she endured escalating abuse at the hands of her husband, Air Force Maj. Thomas Maffei.

The alleged violence began when the couple lived in military housing at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and, she said, became worse after they moved to Florida, where Maffei planned to retire. One day after a fight, she said, Maffei grabbed a gun and the couple's two-year-old and left home, only to return a short time later to convince the police that he was a war veteran who had been injured in an IED blast in Iraq.

It was a lie, Ranta says. Maffei hadn't seen combat and was, in fact, still on active duty, having forged moving orders and leaving his unit in the Washington, D.C., area without retiring. After the incident, she reported him to his command, launching a lengthy Air Force Office of Special Investigations case, which concluded that he should face a court-martial.
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Is military domestic violence a ‘forgotten crisis’?

Military Times
By: Leo Shane III  
September 18, 2019

Wednesday’s hearing included testimony from a series of abuse victims who said their problems were exacerbated by military leadership, instead of receiving help and support.

Members from Fleet and Family Support Center promote the resources they offer to help with managing stress on Nov. 20, 2018, at Portsmouth, Va. (Petty Officer 1st Class Laura Myers/Navy)

House lawmakers are blasting defense officials for allowing domestic abuse to become “a forgotten crisis” in the military, saying not enough has been done to protect victims, punish attackers or even track the issue.

Rep. Jackie Speier, D-Calif., chairwoman of House Armed Services Committee’s personnel panel, said she is looking at possible legislative changes on the topic, to include mandating a higher level of command review for any criminal abuse and required reports on how cases have been handled.

“Military spouses are often isolated, living far from friends or family and unfamiliar with local resources,” she said at a hearing on the topic Wednesday, “It’s unfortunately easy to see how these conditions can make domestic violence possible, more dangerous, and persistent.
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Fort Bragg Soldier Shot in Back by Soldier Wife

Fort Bragg soldier shot by wife during dispute, police say
Fay Observer
By Nancy McCleary, Staff writer
March 2, 2017

HOPE MILLS — A Fort Bragg soldier was shot in the back Wednesday evening during a domestic dispute with his wife, who also is an active-duty soldier, Hope Mills police said Thursday.

Officers responding to a reported shooting on the 4100 block of Edward E. Maynor Drive found Jonathan Coleman, 39, with a gunshot wound to his upper left back, Chief Joel Acciardo said in an email Thursday morning.
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Number of domestic violence incidents involving veterans on the rise

More proof that what the DOD has been doing on PTSD doesn't work and the families are clueless on what to do to help.

Number of domestic violence incidents involving veterans on the rise
FOX 6 Milwaukee
By Chip Brewster
August 25, 2013

MILWAUKEE (WITI) — There are tens of thousands of domestic abuse incidents every year in southeastern Wisconsin. As wars in Iraq and Afghanistan wind down, the number involving veterans is growing.

“I`ve been officially diagnosed with PTSD, explosive anger disorder, high anxiety,” Frankie Torres said.

Torres is among a growing number of veterans afflicted with mental illness. As a U.S. Marine, he witnessed a lot of violence during his two deployments to Iraq. He remembers one day in particular.

“We were approximately, let`s use the word, six blocks away when an explosion went off that you could feel underneath our feet and I mean just a huge explosion and it took out — two of our Marines were KIA that day and two of them were severely injured,” Torres said.

When he came home, he was a different person — reacting to life in a different way.

“Just being overly aggressive, maybe car broke down, wife didn`t cook something, child, children were outside arguing, many, many small things. It really wasn`t an actual big event that triggered this. It was more multiple small triggers that were just building and building until I reacted in a negative manner,” Torres said.

That “negative manner” was an act of domestic violence in 2010.
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Iraq War Vet Gets 3 Life Terms in Slaying Attempts

Iraq War Vet Gets 3 Life Terms in Slaying Attempts
Nov 07, 2012
Fresno Bee
by Marc Benjamin

An Iraq war veteran was sentenced to three consecutive life terms and two sentences of 25 years to life for trying to kill his estranged wife, her brother and mother in their Reedley, Ca. home in 2009.

Judge Edward Sarkisian Jr. imposed the sentence Tuesday against Dejon Baskin, 29, a former U.S. Marine.

Baskin was found guilty in September of three counts of attempted murder. The charges carried sentencing enhancements, including premeditation and using a gun and a knife.

On July 16, 2009, he held his wife, Rachel Laura Baskin, and her mother and brother hostage, stabbing and shooting them.

Defense lawyer Eric Schweitzer tried to establish that Baskin's behavior was triggered by post-traumatic stress disorder from his service in Iraq and Afghanistan. He said he was sure Baskin, who was trained to kill using a knife and gun, didn't intend to kill anyone.
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10th Mountain Soldier in custody after shooting at Fort Drum

Soldier in custody after shooting at Fort Drum
Fort Drum (WSYR-TV) - A Fort Drum soldier is in custody after a domestic dispute in which shots were fired and a woman was injured.

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Soldier in custody after shooting at Fort Drum

Few soldiers assigned to domestic violence care finish programs at Fort Bragg

Few soldiers assigned to domestic violence care finish programs

By Greg Barnes
Staff writer

Fort Bragg sometimes orders soldiers who commit domestic violence to deploy before they have finished court-mandated programs designed to correct their abusive behavior, court and military officials said.

There are two primary programs for abusive soldiers: The county operates the RESOLVE program, and Fort Bragg oversees the Marching to Change program. Judges refer soldiers to both, and a review committee at Fort Bragg sends soldiers to the on-post program, as well.

Numbers provided by Fort Bragg and the county show that less than half of the soldiers enrolled have completed either program. A variety of reasons are listed for the failure to finish, including deployments.

In Cumberland County, District Court judges often defer prosecution for soldiers who commit domestic violence, allowing the soldiers to clear their records if they abide by the terms of their probation. Many times, those terms include the completion of the RESOLVE or Marching to Change programs.

Debby Tucker, executive director of the National Center on Domestic and Sexual Violence, calls the numbers "very discouraging."

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Few soldiers assigned to domestic violence care finish programs

Soldier shot in Fort Carson domestic call is two tour Iraq Vet

Officer Shoots and Wounds Fort Carson Soldier On Post
Reporter: Lisa McDivitt
Fort Carson officials say they were called to a home on post at 11:45 a.m. regarding a soldier acting erratically. Twenty-five minutes later, police say the soldier came at them in a threatening manner and that's when one officer took a shot to subdue him. The soldier was taken to Memorial Hospital, and was in good condition on Thursday night.

A Fort Carson soldier was wounded at his home on Thursday afternoon. Officials on the Mountain Post say the soldier was acting in an erratic manner, and police officers at Fort Carson tried to subdue him.

After spending about half-an-hour calming the soldier down, officials say the soldier came at the officers in a threatening way, and that's when one of the officers shot him. Authorities say the soldier had a knife, and sources close to the soldier's family say he was shot in the hand.

Officials say the man's family was not home at the time of the shooting. He's part the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, which is currently deployed to Iraq.

On Thursday afternoon, 11 News spoke with people who live in the same neighborhood as the soldier. They say he was shot in the hand that was holding the knife.

It all happened at the Choctaw Village apartments on the post. The people who spoke with 11 News are close to the soldier's family. They say the soldier is in his early 20's, and had been deployed to Iraq twice. The sources close to his family also say the soldier has a history of domestic abuse and attempts at taking his own life.
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Officer Shoots and Wounds Fort Carson Soldier On Post

Female Army soldier involved in domestic incident

Police: Army soldier involved in domestic incident

Associated Press
08/24/10 4:30 PM PDT SAVANNAH, GA. — Savannah police say an Army soldier is suspected in a shooting incident that left her husband seriously injured Tuesday.

Savannah-Chatham police have not identified the woman or the man. They say it happened around 11:30 a.m. at a Windsor Forest home.

Read more at the San Francisco Examiner: Army soldier involved in domestic incident

UPDATE August 26, 2010
Soldier’s husband ‘primary aggressor’ in domestic shooting
The husband of a 3rd Infantry Division soldier was determined to be the primary aggressor in a domestic shooting Tuesday on Savannah's Southside, confirmed Savannah-Chatham Metropolitan Police Department Information Officer Gena Moore. The soldier, Spc. Marlena McLaughlin, 24, is attached to an aviation brigade at Hunter Army Airfield, said Fort Stewart media chief Kevin Larson. McLaughlin's home of record is Wake Forest, N.C, Larson said.

"Officers found 26-year-old Charlie McLaughlin lying in the front yard of the residence suffering from a gunshot wound. His wife, Marlena McLaughlin, was across the street. She had run there to get help after an argument had escalated into violence. She told officers she had shot her husband after he had beaten her severely," read a SCMPD release.
go here for more of this
http://www.coastalcourier.com/news/article/23950/

Spike in domestic violence at Fort Hood

Remember that Fort Hood had their sense of safety shattered when Maj. Hasan opened fire last year. Aside from the deployments over and over again into two combat zones, this very well could have a lot to do with the spike at Fort Hood.

Stop family violence - Love should never hurt
By Maj. Gen. William Grimsley, Fort Hood Acting Senior Commander

Combat is a necessary part of our lives in the Army. Few of Fort Hood’s Soldiers have not been affected by it during eight years of combat deployments. We’re trained to inflict harm and do violence on the enemy in defense of our country. However, we’re also taught restraint and how to properly apply controlled measures of violence only when necessary.

In our line of work, it’s crucial that we know where that violence ends. One thing we must always remember is that we can never bring violence into our homes. In April, I signed the Month of the Military Child Proclamation, recognizing the importance of our children and bringing awareness to the problem of child abuse. Fortunately, that has not been a significant problem in our Fort Hood community.

Lately, however, we have been seeing a spike in the number of reported cases of spousal abuse. In some of these cases the female, both Soldier and spouse, has been determined to be the aggressor. A few other cases are a result of mutual combat. Regardless of the circumstance, victim or perpetrator, if you find yourself in a situation that might escalate to violence you must choose to walk away and remove yourself from the scenario.
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Stop family violence

Lewis soldier pleads guilty to strangling wife, also a soldier

Lewis soldier pleads guilty to strangling wife

The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 21, 2010 13:39:13 EDT

TACOMA, Wash. — A Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier who admitted strangling his wife pleaded guilty Wednesday to murder and domestic violence charges.

Sheldon Plummer, 28, calmly said to a Thurston County Superior Court judge, “guilty, your honor,” according to The News Tribune of Tacoma.
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Lewis soldier pleads guilty to strangling wife

Body found at home of Lewis-McChord soldier who said he killed wife
A 28-year-old Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier who returned from an overseas deployment last year has confessed to killing his 27-year-old wife during an argument on Feb. 18, then hiding her body in his garage, according to the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office.

JEREMY PAWLOSKI; Staff writer

Read more: Body found at home of Lewis-McChord soldier who said he killed wife

Fort Hood:He swore an oath of loyalty to the military

One of the questions that needs to be asked over the terror Maj. Hasan inflicted on the troops he was supposed to be taking care of, is what was he telling them? He was their psychologist! What did he tell them when they went to him for help with combat trauma? Did he end up with secondary PTSD from hearing their stories and seeing the wounded at Walter Reed?

Families have been wounded by secondary PTSD from living with PTSD veterans. Mental healthcare providers have been wounded by it because of all they have to hear and the repeated stress. Burnouts happen all the time. This has happened to me more times than I can remember and readers of this blog have witnessed it in me when it has gotten too much for me. But all of this leads to even more questions.

Did he make things worse for them? According to news reports, he was not that great at his job in the first place. What kind of training did he have on PTSD? Was he just what the DOD had their hands on to use to take care of the increased need of our troops to heal from all the traumatic events they were exposed to, especially with these multiple deployments? The Army study a few years ago stated clearly the redeployments increased the risk of PTSD by 50%. Didn't the troops deserve experts on PTSD instead? Don't they still deserve it?

Details Emerge on Hood Rampage Suspect
November 06, 2009
Associated Press

"He swore an oath of loyalty to the military," Grieger said. "I didn't hear anything contrary to those oaths."

WASHINGTON - His name appears on radical Internet postings. A fellow officer says he fought his deployment to Iraq and argued with Soldiers who supported U.S. wars. He required counseling as a medical student because of problems with patients.


There are many unknowns about Army Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, the man authorities say is responsible for the worst mass killing on a U.S. military base. As of this morning 13 people are dead and 30 wounded following his alleged shooting spree at Fort Hood, Texas.

For six years before reporting for duty at Fort Hood, Texas, in July, the 39-year-old Army major worked at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center pursuing his career in psychiatry, as an intern, a resident and, last year, a fellow in disaster and preventive psychiatry. He received his medical degree from the military's Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., in 2001.

While an intern at Walter Reed, Hasan had some "difficulties" that required counseling and extra supervision, said Dr. Thomas Grieger, who was the training director at the time.
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http://www.military.com/news/article/details-emerge-on-hood-rampage-suspect.html?ESRC=eb.nl

This Major was supposed to be loyal to the troops like they were his own family because it is a military family. They are supposed to be willing to die for the sake of their brothers and sisters. We saw examples of this yesterday when they were pulling off their uniforms to bandage the wounded while waiting for help. This is as if it were domestic violence because a trusted member of the family killed others. I fear not many are taking yesterday's events seriously enough.

Over the years I've heard all kinds of statements that cause me to fear what is coming. I heard a Chaplain say that he does not know anything about PTSD but was sent to be counseling Marines in Iraq. While Chaplains are supposed to be taking care of the spiritual needs of the troops, this is a concern because PTSD is an emotional wound, caused by an outside force with one of the biggest issues is spiritual. They question their lifetime of understanding their faith, remembering a loving God, then wonder where God was with all of the horror they saw. They wonder how a loving God could allow all of that. They wonder if they were judged or abandoned by God. They need someone who not only knows God but what PTSD is as well. The other factor is that with the lack of trained psychologist, the chaplains are the next best thing for them to turn to, but over 60% seem to more interested in proselytizing than ministering to their needs.

Some psychologists and therapist believe that telling the troops they can prevent PTSD by training their minds is the answer, but it's not. They cannot stop being human. Scientists found the region of the brain where emotions live. They have seen the changes after trauma. PTSD is not a mental illness the way many think it is but an anxiety disorder caused by an outside force and it attacks the compassionate because they carry away the pain of others as well as their own pain. If they simply tell them they can train their brains, they are missing what PTSD is.

Are any of the troops prepared with what they really need to hear? Do they know how to heal? Do family members know what to do? After what I've seen in news reports, the answer is doubtful. With the increase of suicides and attempted suicides, that answer is supported by the results of the attempts they've come up with to address this.

With what happened at Fort Hood, there are many things they are missing. Now the biggest one after yesterday is the fact they were attacked by one of their own on their base where they are supposed to be safe. The "secondary stressor" of yesterday piled onto what they've already been exposed to will cause many to experience a full blown assault of PTSD without warning. Many think that their mild PTSD is as bad as it can be and they have not been given the proper treatment to begin to really heal. With this striking, there will be many in crisis and shocked over the sudden changes in themselves. The military has proven they were ill prepared for all of this and now it is very doubtful they will be prepared for what is to come.

Calling in crisis teams is the best thing they can do to take care of people who need to talk. Who will call in crisis teams for the already wounded now exposed to trauma at home? This was a man trusted to take care of them instead of trying to kill them and now there are 13 of their own they will have to grive for along with 30 more wounded. They will be looking for answers and wondering who they can trust. Aside from this, they will also be wondering who the miltiary decided was worthy of trusting with their care.

Man shot by police a Iraq three tour veteran

Man shot by police a veteran
The father of a 26-year-old Lake Stevens man who was fatally shot by police on Sunday, says his son returned from three deployments in Iraq an angry man.

By Christine Clarridge

Seattle Times staff reporter

When John LaBossiere returned from his third tour in Iraq this summer, he was an angry man, according to his father.

"I'm not saying that all of his issues were war-related," Phil LaBossiere said on Tuesday. "But it seems to me that the service just used him and spit him out."

John LaBossiere, 26, was fatally shot by a Lake Stevens police officer on Sunday after he reportedly forced his way into a home where his wife and three children were staying with friends. Investigators found one handgun near him and another on his body, according to Sgt. Robert Goetz, a spokesman for the Snohomish County Multi-Agency Response Team (SMART), which is investigating the shooting.

According to Goetz, officers were called to a "domestic disturbance" that involved a weapon at about 8 p.m. in the 10400 block of 25th Street Southeast near Lake Stevens in unincorporated Snohomish County. Two Lake Stevens officers arrived and almost immediately got into an "altercation" with LaBossiere that ended in LaBossiere's death, Goetz said.

Phil LaBossiere, however, confirmed his son's death.

He said he believes his son was "confused and upset" by his return to the civilian world and a deteriorating marriage.

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Man shot by police a veteran

Soldier Faces Homicide Charge In Wife's Death

Soldier Faces Homicide Charge In Wife's Death
A soldier faces a criminal homicide charge after his wife was found shot to death early Tuesday.

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- A soldier faces a criminal homicide charge after his wife was found shot to death early Tuesday.

The Leaf Chronicle reports Clarksville Police responding to a welfare check found 25-year-old Sena Marie Downing's body. They put out an alert for a Ford Explorer with Fort Campbell decals.


The vehicle turned up in Robertson County where the police also found 31-year-old Jonathan Clyde Downing hiding in the woods. Police talked with him for a couple of hours before arresting him without incident at around noon.

Clarksville Police spokesman Jim Knoll said officers then transported Downing to the Montgomery County Jail to be booked. Knoll did not know whether Downing had obtained a lawyer.
http://www.wbko.com/news/headlines/57773572.html

When a veteran suffers, the family suffers

by
Chaplain Kathie

Reading the headline of the following story, along with stories like this from across the country, the first thought is in the direction of another parent having no self control and terrorizing a child with abuse. If we walk away with that and only that thought, we're missing the point and letting down children across the country, but it doesn't end there. It goes into the next generation as well.

Domestic violence and verbal abuse go hand in hand with PTSD but most of these incidences can be avoided if the knowledge is there first. While every domestic issue cannot be prevented, many can. I do not know the whole story of Evonne Schneider but I know the stories of too many of our veterans.

A wife snaps from being woken up too many nights by her husband having nightmares. She yells and shakes him. He punches her. She has been given no way of knowing that in that nightmare, her husband in not in that bed with her, but somewhere back in combat and that punch was for the enemy he was fighting. If she knew what she needed to know, she would have removed herself from the bed without anger and gently said his name to wake him up calmly. It would have avoided the animosity in their relationship, avoided the assault and the call to 911 to have him arrested. It would have avoided the kids being woken up yet again by their parents yelling at each other.

A husband infuriated with his wife not listening to a word he says while she's having a flashback reaches for her shoulders to get her to pay attention to him. She reacts with a move Jackie Chan would be proud of and knocks her husband out. He decides that he's had enough and files for divorce. What he did not know is that in that moment when she was zoned out, not listening, she was not in that room but thousands of miles away being sexually assaulted by a soldier in Vietnam after the base had been under attack and treating other wounded soldiers. If he knew what she brought back home with her along with commendation awards, this never would have happened.

A child cries because she fells her father does not love her, that everything she does is wrong and nothing will please her Dad. She knows he's been drinking again but Mom walked out on them and isn't there to do anything about any of it. Had the daughter and Mom known what was behind the way he was acting, they would have never blamed themselves for causing any of what they were being blamed for and the veteran would know it isn't his fault either. He came home wounded.

In the following story a 10 year old was a child abused by her Mom being treated by the VA for mental health. Is it PTSD she's being treated for? More likely than not. What's this child's life and future worth? Is it worth simply taking her to a foster home, away from her Mom and leaving her to think that it was her fault all the rest of her life? Or is her life worth taking care of her Mom so they can live together healing? When it comes to PTSD, healing the veteran is healing generations but we have not even really started to do either.

NH mother arrested in daughter's beating
The Union Leader - Manchester,NH,USA

By DALE VINCENT
New Hampshire Union Leader Staff
Monday, Mar. 2, 2009

In court, Schneider said: “I’m already being punished.” She said she is receiving mental health care from the Veterans Administration.

MANCHESTER – Police said Evonne Schneider slapped and punched her 10-year-old daughter, kicked the girl as she lay on the floor and then pushed her outside without a coat or shoes after accusing the girl of taking a bracelet that was a sibling’s birthday present.

Court documents show the child told police her mother then pulled her back inside the residence at 1143 Mammoth Road and told her to go upstairs and wash her face. The child had bruising around both eyes and a bloody lip, according to Detective Sgt. John Patti.

According to police, Schneider, 35, said: “There has always been a problem with (the girl) her whole life. ... I’m at my boiling point with her and I’m ready to snap.”

Officials: Help limited for domestic violence victims overseas

Officials: Help limited for domestic violence victims overseas
By Natasha Lee, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Thursday, November 13, 2008



Despite a decrease in domestic violence at military bases, some officials say limited resources overseas continue to make tackling abuse difficult.

At Kadena Air Base on Okinawa, referrals to its Family Advocacy Program regarding child and spousal abuse have declined from 259 cases reported in fiscal year 2006 to 197 in fiscal 2008.

But Kadena’s lack of the kinds of services available to military and civilians stateside — namely domestic violence shelters and child protective services — presents challenges for victims and advocates.

"It’s significant. It’s the most intense place in all of the nine PACAF (U.S. Pacific Air Forces) locations," said Air Force Capt. Sundonia Wonnum, chief of Kadena’s Family Advocacy Program, which provides resources and services for Air Force and Army victims.

The only domestic violence shelter that did service military families on Okinawa closed last November due to lack of funding, Wonnum said.

And a language barrier makes it difficult for victims to seek help outside military bases, she said.

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