Military suicides up, Pentagon pushes program that failed them

Military suicides up, Pentagon pushes program that failed them
by Chaplain Kathie
Wounded Times Blog
July 31, 2012

OH MY GOD! They are never going to get it. They will never understand that their "Resiliency" program is the biggest reason there is such an increase in suicides as well as attempted suicides. The second is sending them back over and over again.

Go the top of Wounded Times Blog and type in the search box "resiliency" and read how bad this program is. Then type in "military suicides" to read some of their stories.

Don't expect congress to do anything about any of this since they've been having hearings all these years, listening to the same stories of families suffering but never doing anything about it that works. They pass bills that spend money on programs that have proven to be failures while ignoring programs that actually do work. Most of them cost very little money.

They spend money on research, then never use what the research provided. Most of the studies being done and paid for today were done in the last 40 years over and over again. What did they learn from them? Mental health professionals learned a lot but they do not work for the government. They used the research so they could help the people they treat. Too bad none of it is good enough for congress.

Pentagon Report: Active Duty Military Suicides on the Rise
Written
by Nicole Porter
Last updated on July 30, 2012

Earlier this summer the Pentagon released some startling statistics. The suicide rate with active military members sky rocketed and this year, we could have the most cases since the beginning of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The government says it's stepped up efforts to tackle this battle. It's safe to assume most of these thoughts come from post-traumatic stress disorder.

PTSD is a problem that veterans have been facing for years now. Before, it often went undiagnosed. Now, they are working to make sure that all veterans who come back from war are told where they can get any kind of help they would need.

As of June, there were 154 suicides among active duty troops. That was about one a day. There was only 130 during that same time period last year. There was 124 deaths in Afghanistan from January to July. That means there was about 30 more suicide deaths than war deaths in the first part of this year.

The VA acknowledges that the troops coming back now are battling a different type of PTSD. A lot of it is newer and fresh on their minds. That's why they have special liaisons at the hospital just for these vets and they have plenty of options for different kinds of treatment for PTSD.
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Oklahoma top Veterans Affairs officials out after investigations

Top veterans affairs officials out amid neglect, abuse investigations
By SHANNON MUCHMORE
World Staff Writer
Published: 7/31/2012

Frances Minter displays photos of her and her husband, Jay, who died in May after being scalded in a whirlpool bath at the Claremore Veterans Center. CORY YOUNG / Tulsa World

Nearly three months after an 85-year-old veteran died after being scalded in a whirlpool bath at the Claremore Veterans Center, the executive director of the Oklahoma Department of Veterans Affairs has retired and the administrator of the center abruptly resigned.

A veterans affairs official said executive director Martha Spears retired Friday, citing her husband's ongoing medical issues. Claremore Veterans Center administrator Cynthia Adams did not give a reason for her resignation, said Larry Jordan, administrative programs officer at the Department of Veterans Affairs' Claremore division.

Neither Adams nor Spears could be reached for comment.

The War Veterans Commission, which appoints the department's executive director and administers veterans programs in the state, has set an emergency meeting Tuesday in Oklahoma City.

Family members of the man who died, Jay Minter, as well as family of others who have been at the Claremore facility say this is not the first instance of neglect or abuse at the center. A state legislator has created an interim study to review the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Minter's widow, Frances, said she wants people to know about what happened to her husband, whose death was first reported by The Journal Record.

"I'm hoping that through the death of my husband there will be some changes to the system and this never happens again to anybody," she said in an interview with the Tulsa World.
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South Carolina Governor's husband deploying to Afghanistan

TRENDING: Gov. Haley's husband to deploy to Afghanistan
July 30th, 2012
Posted by
CNN Political Unit

(CNN) - South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley's husband received orders from the South Carolina National Guard on Monday and is expected to deploy to Afghanistan in January, a spokesman in her office said.

1st Lieutenant Michael Haley will deploy to Afghanistan, spokesman Rob Godfrey said.

Michael Haley said in a Monday statement that "this deployment is the reason I joined the National Guard."

"It is important to me to be able to give back. So, in that regard, I am looking forward to the opportunity to serve with a great team from South Carolina," he continued.
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Army acquits Sergeant in Pvt. Danny Chen's suicide

Army Jury Acquits Sergeant of Driving Private to Suicide in Afghanistan
By KIRK SEMPLE
Published: July 30, 2012

FORT BRAGG, N.C. — A military jury on Monday acquitted a sergeant on the most serious charges in the death of Pvt. Danny Chen, a Chinese-American from Manhattan who killed himself last year while deployed in Afghanistan.

The jury found the sergeant, Adam M. Holcomb, not guilty of negligent homicide, reckless endangerment, communicating a threat and violations of a military statute that prohibits hazing. Sergeant Holcomb was convicted of two counts of maltreatment and one count of assault consummated by battery.

The verdicts suggested that prosecutors had difficulty convincing the military jury that Sergeant Holcomb’s treatment of Private Chen, which the prosecutors said included brutal hazing and racial taunts, had led directly to the private’s suicide.
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Refusing to quit, disabled veteran aims to inspire others

Refusing to quit, disabled veteran aims to inspire others
By Rebecca Angel Baer
CNN
updated 3:15 PM EDT, Mon July 30, 2012

STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Noah Galloway served two tours of duty in Iraq with the U.S. Army
During his second deployment, Galloway's Humvee was hit by a roadside bomb
He lost his left arm above the elbow and his left leg above the knee
He now competes to inspire others and raise awareness for injured veterans

(CNN) -- Noah Galloway's daily workouts could intimidate the most seasoned athlete. He runs, climbs, does pull-ups and push-ups, and lifts weights for nearly two hours at a time. But what really sets this 30-year-old father of three apart is that he does it all with one arm and one leg.

In the aftermath of September 11, Galloway felt called to serve his country. At 19, he withdrew from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and enlisted in the United States Army.

"After we were attacked, I felt like it was what I needed to do. I quit school and started off on a new journey."

Galloway was deployed to Iraq with the 101st Airborne out of Fort Campbell, Kentucky, in 2003. After becoming a husband and father, he returned for a second tour in 2005. "They put us in an area that was known as the triangle of death. It was southwest of Baghdad. The units that had been there before us had taken a beating. It was just a rough area."
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VA Hospital costs in Orlando are on track

VA Hospital costs in Orlando are on track, officials tell Mica
By Marni Jameson
Orlando Sentinel
July 30, 2012

Veterans' Affairs officials overseeing the construction of the new Orlando VA Medical Center told U.S. Rep. John Mica today that project costs are actually well under budget, and that the agency won't be asking Congress for any more money.

"This is the best feeling I've had in a long time about this project," said Mica (R-Winter Park). "It's not as grim a picture as has been painted."

In a Congressional hearing in March, representatives from Brasfield & Gorrie, the main contractor for the project, testified that the project was running at least $120 million over budget.

Congress has appropriated $665 million for the 1.2 million-square-foot medical center, which was supposed to open this October, but is delayed.

In the meeting to update Mica on the project's status, VA officials committed to a summer 2013 completion. "The work can physically be done within that time frame," said Bart Bruchok, senior resident engineer for the VA project.

Brasfield & Gorrie has targeted completion for the end of 2014.
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New Talk Therapy Shows Promise for PTSD

If what you are getting for treatment does not work, don't give up. Talk to your doctor to try something else. Everyone is different.

New Talk Therapy Shows Promise for PTSD
By RICK NAUERT PHD
Senior News Editor
Reviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D.
July 30, 2012

University of South Florida (USF) researchers report that brief treatments with Accelerated Resolution Therapy (ART) substantially reduces symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

ART is a form of talk therapy that uses back-and-forth eye movements as an individual fluctuates between talking about a traumatic scene, and using the eye movements to help process that information.

In ART, the eye movements are thought to be conducive to sorting out problems quickly through increasing the integration of activities in the left and right sides of the brain. The eye movements also seem to help an individual process information by producing a deep feeling of relaxation.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), PTSD has become an epidemic in the United States. Recent NIH statistics show more than 7.7 million American adults and as many as 31 percent of war veterans suffer from PTSD. They experience mild to extreme symptoms, often with greatly impaired quality of life and physical and psychological functioning.
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Credit company to pay $12 million to troops for violating Civil Relief Act

Credit company to pay $12 million to troops for violating Civil Relief Act
By ERIK SLAVIN
Stars and Stripes
Published: July 30, 2012

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — Capital One will pay $12 million to servicemembers and their families to settle claims that it violated the Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, according to documents filed in federal court Thursday.

The bank and credit card issuer unlawfully foreclosed on homes, repossessed property and charged servicemembers at interest rates beyond the maximum 6 percent rate they were entitled to under the act, according to a settlement agreement with the Justice Department filed in Alexandria, Va.

The agreement sets aside $7 million for servicemembers who unlawfully lost their homes during foreclosure proceedings with Capital One or either of two acquired subsidiaries, ING Direct USA and HSBC Holdings.

An additional $5 million will go to servicemembers who did not receive correct interest rates or other benefits on credit card accounts and loans.

“Servicemembers will be identified and compensated, with no action required on their part, on accounts dating back to July 15, 2006,” according to a Justice Department statement.
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Reaper drone pilot talks about "kill shot a world away"

A Day Job Waiting for a Kill Shot a World Away
By ELISABETH BUMILLER
Published: July 29, 2012

HANCOCK FIELD AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, N.Y. — From his computer console here in the Syracuse suburbs, Col. D. Scott Brenton remotely flies a Reaper drone that beams back hundreds of hours of live video of insurgents, his intended targets, going about their daily lives 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan. Sometimes he and his team watch the same family compound for weeks.

“I see mothers with children, I see fathers with children, I see fathers with mothers, I see kids playing soccer,” Colonel Brenton said.

When the call comes for him to fire a missile and kill a militant — and only, Colonel Brenton said, when the women and children are not around — the hair on the back of his neck stands up, just as it did when he used to line up targets in his F-16 fighter jet.

Afterward, just like the old days, he compartmentalizes. “I feel no emotional attachment to the enemy,” he said. “I have a duty, and I execute the duty.”
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Fort Carson clinic named after Pfc. Eric P. Woods

Colorado Army clinic named for Omahan killed saving fellow soldier's life
By Matthew Hansen
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

An Army medic from Omaha who died trying to save a fellow soldier's life will now be remembered at a famed Army base.

On Friday, Colorado's Fort Carson officially renamed a medical clinic in honor of Pfc. Eric Paul Woods, who died in a 2005 bomb blast in Iraq. Now, when a soldier's spouse or child needs medical help they will go to the Pfc. Eric P. Woods Soldier Family Care Center on the base.
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