Another study on PTSD being done at Fort Hood

Cause for concern right here.

"We know very little about what treatments work best for active duty military,” Dr. Alan Peterson, STRONG STAR Director, said. “There have been studies on civilians and a little bit on already discharged veterans, but we don't know the best treatments to use in the military right now."

This is 40 years after studies started on Vietnam Veterans. Don't you think they should have figured this out a long time ago? Another study? How many do they need to do before they come up with solutions instead of excuses for failures?

PTSD study reaches out to Fort Hood soldiers
By: Chie Saito

Thanks to new research, Fort Hood soldiers can now improve understanding of how to improve post-traumatic stress disorder treatments.

The research now underway is driven by a multidisciplinary partnership called STRONG STAR led by the University of Texas Science Center in San Antonio.

"We know very little about what treatments work best for active duty military,” Dr. Alan Peterson, STRONG STAR Director, said. “There have been studies on civilians and a little bit on already discharged veterans, but we don't know the best treatments to use in the military right now."

A decade of war in Afghanistan and nearly nine years in Iraq has left an estimated 100,000 to 300,000 service members as possible victims of PTSD.

"People will think about a particular event, an image or have nightmares. People tend to avoid thinking about the event that occurred, avoid things that will trigger off symptoms,” Dr. Peterson said. “It's almost like a constant state of alarm."

Two current studies by STRONG STAR involve groups of Fort Hood soldiers.
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7th Fort Carson Soldier charged in child abuse death for 2011

Soldier charged in child abuse death
January 04, 2012 5:37 PM
LANCE BENZEL

A Fort Carson soldier accused in the death of his 2-month-old daughter was charged Wednesday with child abuse resulting in death.

Pfc. Roderick Elam Jr., 20, was the seventh caretaker of 2011 to be arrested in Colorado Springs in the death of an infant or toddler.
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Gainesville Florida woman lost 84 pounds to become a soldier

Woman Loses 84 Pounds to Become Soldier


January 04, 2012
Army News Service
by Cynthia Rivers-Womack, USAREC
GAINESVILLE, Fla. -- Allison Scarbrough will officially change jobs Jan. 3, 2012, from retail cashier to Health Care Specialist in the U.S. Army. But the change has not been easy.

In May 2010, then 20-year-old Scarbrough walked into the Gainesville recruiting station ready to become a Soldier. This was a brave move for her because before she could enlist two things had to happen. Weighing 240 pounds, the 5-foot-5-inch Scarborough had to lose 84 pounds -- and keep the weight off -- before she would be eligible to enlistment. But for the motivated Scarborough, failure was not an option.

In 2010, Scarbrough belonged to the country's growing demographic of 18- to 24-year-olds considered overweight and obese. In 1998, the National Institutes of Health announced the release of the first federal guidelines to identify, evaluate and treat overweight and obese adults. When the guidelines were released, 97 million Americans, or 55 percent of the population, were identified by physicians as overweight or obese.
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Soldier may Face Punishment for Ron Paul Endorsement

Soldier may Face Punishment for Paul Endorsement

January 04, 2012
Military.com
by Bryant Jordan

An Army Reserve corporal could face disciplinary action after he publicly endorsed Rep. Ron Paul for president while wearing his uniform on Tuesday night during the Iowa caucus.

Cpl. Jesse Thorsen, of the Illinois-based 416th Theater Engineer Command, spoke out for the Texas congressman first in an interview with CNN and then before a gathering of Paul supporters.

His endorsement violates a longstanding Defense Department policy that bars servicemembers from engaging in political activities while in uniform.

"The chain of command of that soldier is involved," Army spokeswoman Maj. Angel Wallace told Military.com on Wednesday. "They will determine what kind of action may be taken."

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Navy pilot killed self in San Diego murder-suicide

Navy pilot killed self in San Diego murder-suicide
By JULIE WATSON, Associated Press – 10 hours ago
SAN DIEGO (AP) — A New Year's Day shooting that left four people dead at a condominium near San Diego was a murder-suicide involving a 25-year-old Navy pilot who killed himself, officials said Wednesday.

John Robert Reeves shot himself in the head, and the three others with him were murdered, the San Diego County Sheriff's Department said, citing autopsy results.

Fellow Navy pilot David Reis, also 25, was killed by a gunshot wound to the torso, and his 24-year-old sister, Karen, suffered a gunshot wound to the head and chest, officials said. Matthew Saturley, 31, of Chula Vista was shot multiple times.

Sheriff's Capt. Duncan Fraser said there were no outstanding suspects in the case, and police have found no evidence indicating there was an exchange of gunfire, although he declined to say if Reeves was the shooter, explaining that "we don't have forensic evidence yet to say that definitively."

"We have no eyewitnesses to what happened inside the residence," Fraser told reporters. "We don't know what the motive was."

Reeves' family members could not immediately be reached for comment.

The unusual case rocked the Navy's elite, tight-knit aviation community, many of whom live on Coronado, a picturesque peninsular enclave of 24,000 people on San Diego Bay that recorded only one homicide in 2010 and is home to Naval Air Station North Island.

It takes years of training to get wings as a Navy pilot. Aviation students are selected after standing out among their Navy peers, and fighter jet pilots are considered to be top performers among pilots.

Reeves, of Prince Frederick, Md., and Reis, of Bakersfield, Calif., were both F/A-18 fighter pilots assigned to the Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 101 of the Third Marine Aircraft Wing at nearby Miramar Air Station. Both men joined the Navy in 2008 at separate universities.
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2 Navy Pilots among dead

Navy police called in for murder-suicide investigation