Thursday, July 22, 2010
Military Needs Leaders to Address Suicide Issue
Mullen: Military Needs Leaders to Address Suicide Issue
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea, July 21, 2010 – Leadership and the effects it can have to help bring down the suicide rate were among the topics the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed with servicemembers here today.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen spoke to 2nd Infantry Division soldiers about the stresses the Army is under after almost nine years of war. He took time from participating in high-level meetings in Seoul to meet with more than 200 soldiers and airmen.
Last month, 32 soldiers committed suicide – a figure not seen since the Vietnam War when the Army was twice as large.
Mullen said the suicide issue is not going to just magically disappear – it is a tragedy that leaders at all levels must address. “We can’t just keep reading the numbers every single month. They just keep going up,” he said.
Suicides in the military are increasing, the chairman said, because of the stress of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
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Military Needs Leaders to Address Suicide Issue
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
CAMP RED CLOUD, South Korea, July 21, 2010 – Leadership and the effects it can have to help bring down the suicide rate were among the topics the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff discussed with servicemembers here today.
Navy Adm. Mike Mullen spoke to 2nd Infantry Division soldiers about the stresses the Army is under after almost nine years of war. He took time from participating in high-level meetings in Seoul to meet with more than 200 soldiers and airmen.
Last month, 32 soldiers committed suicide – a figure not seen since the Vietnam War when the Army was twice as large.
Mullen said the suicide issue is not going to just magically disappear – it is a tragedy that leaders at all levels must address. “We can’t just keep reading the numbers every single month. They just keep going up,” he said.
Suicides in the military are increasing, the chairman said, because of the stress of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
go here for the rest
Military Needs Leaders to Address Suicide Issue
Camp Pendelton investigates apparent suicide of 18 year old Marine
Apparent suicide of private, 18, at Camp Pendleton under investigation by Marines
July 21, 2010 11:23 am
An investigation is continuing into the apparent suicide of an 18-year-old Marine at Camp Pendleton whose family had warned he was despondent, officials said Wednesday.
The body of Pfc. Derek Ryan Capulong, of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., was found last week hanging from an observation tower that overlooked a rifle range. The night before, his family had called the base to warn that he was distraught.
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Apparent suicide of private
July 21, 2010 11:23 am
An investigation is continuing into the apparent suicide of an 18-year-old Marine at Camp Pendleton whose family had warned he was despondent, officials said Wednesday.
The body of Pfc. Derek Ryan Capulong, of Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich., was found last week hanging from an observation tower that overlooked a rifle range. The night before, his family had called the base to warn that he was distraught.
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Apparent suicide of private
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Homeless man beaten to death in Santa Ana
Homeless man beaten to death in Santa Ana; suspect arrested
July 20, 2010 6:30 pm
A Santa Ana man has been booked on murder charges after he allegedly beat a homeless man to death with his fists, feet and a piece of construction rubble, police said Tuesday.
The slaying occurred after Jorge Alejandro Lopez confronted a group of homeless men Saturday who were talking and drinking near a construction site in the 200 block of South Bristol Street, the Santa Ana Police Department said.
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Homeless man beaten to death in Santa Ana suspect arrested
July 20, 2010 6:30 pm
A Santa Ana man has been booked on murder charges after he allegedly beat a homeless man to death with his fists, feet and a piece of construction rubble, police said Tuesday.
The slaying occurred after Jorge Alejandro Lopez confronted a group of homeless men Saturday who were talking and drinking near a construction site in the 200 block of South Bristol Street, the Santa Ana Police Department said.
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Homeless man beaten to death in Santa Ana suspect arrested
Suicide at Yellowstone Ex-Marine's death attributed to stress disorder
Ex-Marine's death attributed to stress disorder
By GRETCHEN EHLKE
Associated Press Writer
4:11 p.m. CDT, July 21, 2010
MILWAUKEE — Strong and athletically-gifted, Peter Louis Kastner had turned to the military for challenge and structure after graduating from a suburban St. Paul, Minn., high school.
He excelled during four years of service in Iraq, helping with intelligence gathering operations in Al Anbar Province and earning a promotion to sergeant and squad leader, according to family members. Kastner led his squadron through three roadside bomb attacks and received a Purple Heart after suffering head injuries.
Along with those injuries, family members say, Kastner's war experiences left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. The psychological affliction caused him to unravel after being honorably discharged in August 2007 and eventually drove the 25-year-old to take his own life in a remote area of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, his father, Larry Kastner said Wednesday.
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Ex-Marine death attributed to stress disorder
Marine Sgt. Peter Louis Kastner didn't want to live another day
By GRETCHEN EHLKE
Larry Kastner said his healthy, young son gradually succumbed to "the monster that is PTSD."
Associated Press Writer
4:11 p.m. CDT, July 21, 2010
MILWAUKEE — Strong and athletically-gifted, Peter Louis Kastner had turned to the military for challenge and structure after graduating from a suburban St. Paul, Minn., high school.
He excelled during four years of service in Iraq, helping with intelligence gathering operations in Al Anbar Province and earning a promotion to sergeant and squad leader, according to family members. Kastner led his squadron through three roadside bomb attacks and received a Purple Heart after suffering head injuries.
Along with those injuries, family members say, Kastner's war experiences left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. The psychological affliction caused him to unravel after being honorably discharged in August 2007 and eventually drove the 25-year-old to take his own life in a remote area of Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, his father, Larry Kastner said Wednesday.
read more here
Ex-Marine death attributed to stress disorder
Marine Sgt. Peter Louis Kastner didn't want to live another day
Bragg steps up suicide intervention training
Bragg steps up suicide intervention training
By Kevin Maurer - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 21, 2010 16:49:27 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Sgt. Mike Quintana was scared every time he was faced with a suicidal soldier. As a chaplain’s assistant, he was trained to help soldiers in crisis but did not know how to stop a soldier from trying to kill himself.
“It was really scary. I was very nervous. This person’s life is in my hands. I didn’t want to be held responsible,” Quintana said.
So, he’d refer soldiers to the chaplain or doctors. But after getting some specialized training, he learned how to talk to a suicidal soldier and stop him from taking his life.
“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. This model helps them get through their temporary problems,” said Quintana, who is now a trainer at Fort Bragg.
Officials met Wednesday to discuss what they are doing to help bring down the number of suicides at the post. So far this year, the base has seen four confirmed suicides, with two other deaths under investigation. The base saw six suicides in 2009, 13 suicides in 2008 and 10 suicides in 2007.
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Bragg steps up suicide intervention training
By Kevin Maurer - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Jul 21, 2010 16:49:27 EDT
FORT BRAGG, N.C. — Sgt. Mike Quintana was scared every time he was faced with a suicidal soldier. As a chaplain’s assistant, he was trained to help soldiers in crisis but did not know how to stop a soldier from trying to kill himself.
“It was really scary. I was very nervous. This person’s life is in my hands. I didn’t want to be held responsible,” Quintana said.
So, he’d refer soldiers to the chaplain or doctors. But after getting some specialized training, he learned how to talk to a suicidal soldier and stop him from taking his life.
“Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. This model helps them get through their temporary problems,” said Quintana, who is now a trainer at Fort Bragg.
Officials met Wednesday to discuss what they are doing to help bring down the number of suicides at the post. So far this year, the base has seen four confirmed suicides, with two other deaths under investigation. The base saw six suicides in 2009, 13 suicides in 2008 and 10 suicides in 2007.
read more here
Bragg steps up suicide intervention training
Deputies: Kids spent 2 days with dead dad
Deputies: Kids spent 2 days with dead dad
By JULIE MURPHY, Staff Writer
July 21, 2010 12:05 AM Posted in: West Volusia BUNNELL -- A 3-year-old boy was found curled up next to his father who had died two days earlier, relatives and Flagler County sheriff's officials said Tuesday.
John "Jay" Jason Uriarte, 24, was found dead Monday lying on a mattress inside a decrepit trailer on Laurel Avenue in the Daytona North area of western Flagler County. He apparently had been dead for two days before his 6-year-old son walked up the street to a neighbor's home and told her something was wrong, a sheriff's report states.
The Uriartes' trailer, which sits on one of many dirt roads crisscrossing western Flagler County, was in disarray with clothing strewn about but lights, air-conditioning and a television operating when investigators arrived, according to the report.
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Deputies: Kids spent 2 days with dead dad
linked from Orlando Sentinel
By JULIE MURPHY, Staff Writer
July 21, 2010 12:05 AM Posted in: West Volusia BUNNELL -- A 3-year-old boy was found curled up next to his father who had died two days earlier, relatives and Flagler County sheriff's officials said Tuesday.
John "Jay" Jason Uriarte, 24, was found dead Monday lying on a mattress inside a decrepit trailer on Laurel Avenue in the Daytona North area of western Flagler County. He apparently had been dead for two days before his 6-year-old son walked up the street to a neighbor's home and told her something was wrong, a sheriff's report states.
The Uriartes' trailer, which sits on one of many dirt roads crisscrossing western Flagler County, was in disarray with clothing strewn about but lights, air-conditioning and a television operating when investigators arrived, according to the report.
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Deputies: Kids spent 2 days with dead dad
linked from Orlando Sentinel
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
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
Afghan soldier kills US trainers in shooting exercise
Afghan soldier kills US trainers in shooting exercise
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
KABUL — An Afghan soldier opened fire at a training exercise in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing two US civilian trainers and a fellow Afghan soldier in the second similar shootout in just a week.
The shooting raised further questions about the quality of the fledgling Afghan army as the international community endorsed a roadmap for President Hamid Karzai for Afghanistan to take security responsibility by 2014.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was investigating whether the gunman, believed to have been an army trainer, turned his gun on his comrades in a deliberate attack or by accident during the basic training exercise.
The shooter also died.
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Afghan soldier kills US trainers in shooting exercise
By Agence France-Presse
Tuesday, July 20th, 2010
KABUL — An Afghan soldier opened fire at a training exercise in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing two US civilian trainers and a fellow Afghan soldier in the second similar shootout in just a week.
The shooting raised further questions about the quality of the fledgling Afghan army as the international community endorsed a roadmap for President Hamid Karzai for Afghanistan to take security responsibility by 2014.
NATO's International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said it was investigating whether the gunman, believed to have been an army trainer, turned his gun on his comrades in a deliberate attack or by accident during the basic training exercise.
The shooter also died.
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Afghan soldier kills US trainers in shooting exercise
Iraq deployments could drop to 9 months
Iraq deployments could drop to 9 months
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 21, 2010 13:20:55 EDT
U.S. planners in Iraq are considering cutting troop unit deployments from 12 months to as low as nine months some time after the force falls to the 50,000 mark, the top U.S. commander there said Wednesday.
“I think nine months would be reasonable,” Army Gen. Ray Odierno said during a Pentagon news conference. But he cautioned that there is no certainty such a change will take place during the period between September and Dec. 31, 2011, by which time all major U.S. military units must be withdrawn.
“What we have to do is sustain a certain level through the end,” he told reporters at an earlier breakfast meeting. “We’re still working through that.”
Odierno said the plan now is to remain at the 50,000 level through next summer, at which time the force, following a command reassessment, would begin drawing down to zero over the following four months.
read more here
Iraq deployments could drop to 9 months
By William H. McMichael - Staff writer
Posted : Wednesday Jul 21, 2010 13:20:55 EDT
U.S. planners in Iraq are considering cutting troop unit deployments from 12 months to as low as nine months some time after the force falls to the 50,000 mark, the top U.S. commander there said Wednesday.
“I think nine months would be reasonable,” Army Gen. Ray Odierno said during a Pentagon news conference. But he cautioned that there is no certainty such a change will take place during the period between September and Dec. 31, 2011, by which time all major U.S. military units must be withdrawn.
“What we have to do is sustain a certain level through the end,” he told reporters at an earlier breakfast meeting. “We’re still working through that.”
Odierno said the plan now is to remain at the 50,000 level through next summer, at which time the force, following a command reassessment, would begin drawing down to zero over the following four months.
read more here
Iraq deployments could drop to 9 months
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