Senate panel votes cut $8B from defense

Senate panel votes to cut $8B from defense

By Rick Maze - Staff writer
Posted : Friday Jul 16, 2010 9:48:41 EDT

A key Senate committee decided Thursday to show some fiscal discipline, cutting $14 billion from the Obama administration’s 2011 budget — including $8 billion from the Defense Department.

The 17-12 vote in the Senate Appropriations Committee came on a procedural motion that divided up money among the 12 subcommittees responsible for discretionary funding of federal programs. This was a party-line vote, with Democrats voting for it and Republicans opposing the reduction.

The defense subcommittee receives $522.8 billion under the allocation, $8.1 billion less than the administration’s request. It is too soon so say how the committee will shave that much money off the 2011 defense budget, but it will not necessarily cause a lot of pain. The committee has made similar, although smaller, reductions in the defense budget in the past, but then made up for most of the reduction by shifting expenses into the off-budget war supplemental, where it doesn’t count against spending caps.

After approving the allocations, the committee passed a $141.1 billion appropriations bill covering military construction and veterans programs that is a modest $1.5 million less that the Obama administration requested. It includes full funding of the $18.7 billion part of the budget that pays for construction and family housing programs.

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Senate panel votes to cut 8B from defense

Security Brief: Army suicides soared in June

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you can feel proud that you are better informed than the Department of Defense is when it comes to PTSD and suicides. You know what they keep claiming has turned out to be a lot less than promised and that the numbers, no matter how much money they toss at it, does little good. When we have so many calling the suicide prevention hotline, that screams of a need not being met. They wouldn't reach that point of hopelessness if they were getting the help they needed in the first place.

The DOD won't listen to people like me trying to find real answers and using common sense instead of big fat budgets to be fed. They keep asking the same people, getting the same answers and making the same mistakes over and over again. The results are proven in the suicide data.

How many times have you read about an expert on this blog knowing what needs to be done? How many times have you heard of that expert being asked by the DOD for any help? It doesn't happen. How many times have you heard about the House or Senate Veterans' Affairs Committees asking for solutions instead of asking to hear the same stories from the same people after they lost someone due to suicide instead of talking to people who managed somehow to save lives so their stories can be repeated instead of repeating the heartache of losing someone to suicide?

None of what we're seeing has to happen but it will keep happening as long as they stay in a bad cycle like repeats of Groundhog Day. There are great things on PTSD happening all over the country but everyone in charge has their heads in a box refusing to step out and take a look at what has worked. I read about the lives lost and wonder how many could have been saved if they would have listened when the research began over 30 years ago.

Security Brief: Army suicides soared in June
More U.S. soldiers killed themselves last month than in recent Army history, according to Army statistics released Thursday, confounding officials trying to reverse the grim trend.

The statistics show that 32 soldiers killed themselves in June, the highest number in a single month since the Vietnam era.

Twenty-one of them were on active duty while 11 were in the National Guard or Army Reserve in an inactive status. Seven of those soldiers killed themselves while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the Army numbers.

The spike comes after the monthly suicide numbers had dropped following a January high of 28, and Army officials admit they still haven't answered the question of why troops are committing suicide at a record rate. "There were no trends to any one unit, camp, post or station," said Col. Chris Philbrick, head of the Army's suicide prevention task force. "... I have no silver bullet to answer the question why." He said he could offer only what he has said before: "Continued stress on the force and the opportunities we have been facing in terms of the challenges in the Army continue to cause these events to take place."

Including the June numbers, a total of 145 soldiers have killed themselves this year, more than half of the total number for all of 2009, according to Army statistics. In 2009, a record-breaking year for suicides in the service, 245 soldiers killed themselves.
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Security Brief: Army suicides soared in June

Iraq Vet with PTSD says "I owe my life to the deputy" after being shot

Iraq war vet could avoid jail in scuffle with deputy
Valerie Olander / The Detroit News
Howell -- An Iraq war veteran who was shot in the stomach after trying to disarm a Livingston County Sheriff's deputy could avoid jail time under a sentence issued for him today.

Brent Michael McMullen, 30, of Walled Lake was sentenced to a post-traumatic stress disorder program at the Veterans Administration Hospital, 90 days in jail and five years of probation. The jail time could be waived if McMullen completes the six-month PTSD program, under the sentence from Judge David Reader of Livingston Circuit Court.

McMullen, 30, of Walled Lake said in court he does not remember what happened the night of Jan. 9, 2009, but knew he was on a disastrous road, and all the signs of post-traumatic stress disorder had been present. Friends told him to seek help.

"I owe my life to the deputy. I don't know how I could have kept going the way I was," McMullen said.

He apologized for making the deputy go through the similar emotional trauma of having to shoot his weapon.



From The Detroit News: Iraq war vet could avoid jail in scuffle with deputy

Vietnam Vet's struggle, traffic stop and a fatal ending

40 years of struggling to overcome what happened to him during war, during the time when he served this country and the country, in turn, let him down. We can excuse it anyway we want to but the truth is, what we see happening to our veterans everyday is all tied back to the Vietnam veterans like Clifton Salter.

There was nothing for any of them when they came home from this war with no clear enemy army to fight. The rules of combat were tossed out when the other side decided they would fight with all they had including old women and children. When they came home, they didn't have the support other generations had but no matter how badly we treated them, they never lost faith in us. They knew, somehow, the American people would finally honor their service and try to help them heal. All we see today is because they didn't give up on us.

With all we've learned about PTSD, how far we've come in overcoming the stigma attached to it, the support sites online and shared experiences to eliminate isolation, we still have much work to be done for the newer generation or we will be reading reports like this and the end of their lives 40 years from now. We need to take care of the newer generation but not at the expense of the older generations still trying to heal. If we can't take care of all of them, then we don't deserve any of them.

"The willingness with which our young people are likely to serve in any war, no matter how justified, shall be directly proportional to how they perceive veterans of early wars were treated and appreciated by our nation." - George Washington

Why does peace after combat come only with the end of their lives?

A vet's struggle, traffic stop and a fatal ending
Man shot by trooper, self had history of mental illness, was known to carry a gun
Louis Cooper

"Most of the people I see are, Army aviation, infantry guys, all the Marines, the medics and the corpsmen — those for whom the war is really personal," he said. "There is a burden of war all across your life — the wear and tear, and the grief of losing very dear friends in a bond that we can't really understand, and the moral injury of doing something against all of the values you were raised on."

Cottage Hill resident Clifton Austin Salter returned from combat in Vietnam in 1970, but the last shot of that war for him may have come in a confrontation with a state trooper on Wednesday morning.

Salter, 60, died from gunshot wounds suffered during a traffic stop by a Florida Highway Patrol trooper on Pine Forest Road near Longleaf Drive. Preliminary findings indicate that both Salter and Trooper Michael Black fired their weapons. Salter sustained at least one self-inflicted shot.

The victim's brother, Santa Rosa County Commissioner Don Salter, said his brother suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder and was known to keep a gun in his car.

While Clifton Salter never attempted suicide, he had spoken about ending his life, his brother said.

"When he got back from Vietnam in 1970, he was never the same," he said. "As he got older, as a lot of veterans do, they go back in time and dwell on the war. In the last five or six years, he had become more depressed."

Both Don and Clifton Salter served in Vietnam. A third brother died in the war. Clifton Salter served as an Army specialist in 1969 and '70. His duties included serving as helicopter door gunner.
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A vets struggle traffic stop and a fatal ending

Filner Challenges VA Leadership at Hearing Over John Cochran VA

Filner Challenges VA Leadership at Hearing
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 15, 2010

Washington, D.C. – House Veterans’ Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner (D-CA) released the following statement following a Congressional hearing to examine an incident involving reusable dental equipment and veteran patient safety at the John Cochran VA Medical Center in St. Louis, Missouri:

“I would like to thank the veterans who bravely told their stories of receiving a certified letter in the mail from the Department of Veterans Affairs notifying them of possible exposure to deadly diseases following routine dental procedures at a VA medical facility. After 1,812 veterans received this letter, they were directed to a hotline to answer their personal questions and orchestrate their follow-up care. To learn that VA employees that answered that hotline were not prepared with facts – much less the necessary compassion to attend to these veterans – is shameful.

“I remain concerned with VA’s lack of transparency. When mistakes are made, honesty and truthfulness are the only way to begin to rebuild trust with the public. Success is measured by veteran service, not bureaucratic preservation. “I challenge the leaders at the John Cochran VA Medical Center, and the leaders at VA Medical Centers around the country, to step up their game. The time is now – to ensure safety procedures are in place, to establish strong employee training programs, to continue to strengthen their national oversight structure, to improve their veteran notification process, to provide timely information to veterans, and to prove to our veterans that these problems are not systemic of the VA medical system.“The VA’s response at the hearing was instructive. Only when Under Secretary Petzel abandoned his prepared remarks, and responded directly to the personal struggles of our veterans, were we able to begin to address the issues at hand. My biggest concern is that we have been here before. It is my commitment to deliver accountability to the veterans of St. Louis and across the country. I will be back in six months to ask the tough questions, speak directly with these veterans, and monitor the progress of this Department in caring for those who have so bravely borne the battle for our country.”
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Filner Challenges VA Leadership at Hearing

House Committee Reviews Effectiveness of VA’s Outreach Efforts on Suicide Prevention

Committee Reviews Effectiveness of VA’s Outreach Efforts on Suicide Prevention
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 14, 2010

Washington, D.C. – On Wednesday, July 14, 2010, Chairman Harry Mitchell (D-AZ) conducted a hearing of the Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee to examine the progress of suicide prevention outreach efforts at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The Subcommittee evaluated the current state of VA’s ability to educate the public of VA services concerning suicide prevention and discussed the effectiveness of the media campaign to encourage veterans to seek help at the VA.

Public Law 110-110, The Joshua Omvig Veterans Suicide Prevention Act, required VA to develop a pilot program encouraging veterans battling suicide to seek help at the VA. As a result, VA advertised its suicide hotline using Washington, D.C. metro area buses and metro subway trains, in addition to creating a Public Service Announcement for network television use.

“As you know, many of our newest generation of veterans, as well as those who served previously, bear wounds that cannot be seen and are hard to diagnose,” said Chairman Mitchell. “Proactively bringing the VA to them, as opposed to waiting for veterans to find the VA, is a critical part of delivering the care they have earned in exchange for their brave service. No veteran should feel they are alone,” said Chairman Mitchell.

The two witnesses of the hearing’s first panel were Warrant Officer Melvin Cintron, USA (Ret.) who has served multiple tours in Iraq, and also Ms. Linda Bean, who tragically lost her son to suicide after he returned from his second tour in Iraq. Mr. Cintron observed that while the VA’s suicide hotline is a valuable and much needed service, there should be other equally accessible resources offered by the VA that service intermediate levels of urgency prior to the final resort of calling the suicide hotline. Ms. Bean stated that to improve suicide prevention and outreach, the VA must publicize civilian mental health counseling alternatives that might better suit some veterans who are either not located near a VA facility, or who may otherwise choose not to approach the VA for help.

Bob Filner (D-CA), Chair of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, said, “The Department of Veterans Affairs has made significant progress in its effort to address the tragic problem of veteran suicide. However, until we can be confident that an effective system is in place to reach 100% of our veterans who may be contemplating suicide, this Committee will not stop in its efforts to ensure that a more robust and all encompassing VA outreach program has been developed and implemented. To only help the veterans who walk through the doors of a VA facility is not enough. The Department must vigorously reach out to the entire veteran population and educate those not currently enrolled in the VA health care system about the services available and how to go about accessing them.”
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Outreach Efforts on Suicide Prevention

Children fared worse when mothers struggled with PTSD

Mom's Mental State Influenced Kids' Well-Being After 9/11: Study
Children fared worse when mothers struggled with PTSD, depression, researchers say
By Jenifer Goodwin
HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, July 15 (HealthDay News) -- For New York City preschoolers, having a mother with lingering mental health issues after the 9/11 attacks influenced how they fared emotionally more than whether the children had actually witnessed the attacks, a new study finds.

Kids whose mothers struggled with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression after the 2001 assault on the World Trade Center were more likely to have behavioral problems three years later than children whose moms coped better with the attacks, the researchers said.

"With young kids, you have two possible sources of trauma: what they experienced directly, and how they react to the impact on their mother from what she experienced," said lead study author Claude Chemtob, director of the Family Trauma Research Program at New York University. "What we learned was, in fact, that if the mom's experience with 9/11 led to her having depression or PTSD, it had more of an impact than whether the kids saw it or not."
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Children fared worse when mothers struggled with PTSD

VA finally changing for the better

Martin Schram: VA finally changing for the better
Published: Thursday, July 15, 2010


By Martin Schram
Scripps Howard

Viewed through the media's close-up lens, this week's bureaucratic mid-course correction at the Department of Veterans Affairs looked like just another slow-mo replay of a proverbial ocean liner turning, ever so slowly, on the high sea.

But viewed through a contextual big picture prism that has monitored the VA's decades of dysfunction and injustice for those who fight our battles, watching the change happen was like witnessing that same ocean liner flipping up like a teenager's skateboard executing a 180-degree reversal and plopping back into the sea, without even making a splash.

President Barack Obama's VA Secretary, Gen. Eric Shinseki, showed decades of top-level VA non-doers how easy it was to end decades of official inaction and unfairness. Just act. Which is to say, just care enough to act.

Shinseki issued a simple regulation declaring an end to the old rule that VA adjudicators used for decades to deny service-related benefits to tens of thousands of veterans who suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder. The old rule required that veterans had to provably identify a specific combat-related "stressor" incident that caused their PTSD.

But the reality of war, as psychiatrists have long maintained, is that there often isn't one single stressor that can be cited definitively as having caused a service member's PTSD — even though the affliction is real and requires treatment. House Veterans Affairs Committee Chairman Bob Filner, D-Calif., said Shinseki's action "will immediately help combat veterans get the help they need."
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VA finally changing for the better

Troubled vets need help sooner, lawmakers told

Finally someone started to ask why so many would need to contact the Suicide Prevention Hot Line in the first place! As they have talked about the success of this no one seemed willing to ask why so many would be brought to that point instead of helped before it got that bad. I've been screaming about this since the reports of the number of calls began to surface. It just didn't make sense to see so many calling and so few "rescued" in the end. It's good the hotline is there but we need to notice how huge of a problem we have when so many have to reach the brink.

Troubled vets need help sooner, lawmakers told
Army Times
By Kelly Kennedy - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 14, 2010 18:04:51 EDT

Even as Veterans Affairs Department officials offered testimony that 10,000 people have been saved by VA’s suicide hotline, veterans themselves said help should come long before a person needs to make that call.

“The suicide hotline is too much of a last alternative,” said Melvin Cintron, an Army veteran who served as a flight medic in Desert Storm and in aviation maintenance in the current war in Iraq. “Either you don’t have enough of a problem and you can wait for weeks for an appointment, or you have to be suicidal.”

Cintron spoke Wednesday before the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee’s oversight and investigations panel.
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http://www.armytimes.com/news/2010/07/military_suicide_va_071410w/

Indian veterans memorial dedicated in Pablo

Images of service, strength: Indian veterans memorial dedicated in Pablo

By VINCE DEVLIN of the Missoulian

PABLO - The vision of the coyotes came to artist Corky Clairmont 20 years ago.

He just didn't know what it was for at the time.

On a warm Wednesday, hundreds of people saw part of Clairmont's vision etched in granite as the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes dedicated the Clairmont-designed Warrior/Veterans Wall of Remembrance at Eagle Circle in front of tribal headquarters.

Tepee poles 65 feet tall rise over the memorial, and serve to welcome Indian veterans both alive and dead back home to their reservation.

Inside the monument, the head of an eagle occupies the tallest piece of granite, and other pieces form the wings that circle around to protect those inside.

On those inside walls, the names of more than 1,200 Indians from the Flathead Reservation who have served their nation are carved into the stone.

There's Louis Charlo, the young man from Evaro who help raise the first American flag on Iwo Jima in 1945, and was killed in action there a week later.
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Indian veterans memorial dedicated in Pablo