Wyoming News Briefs
By: Associated Press
FORT CARSON, Colo. (AP) — A Wyoming soldier is among three troops killed in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. The Department of Defense yesterday said
45-year-old Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin J. Griffin of Laramie was killed alongside
38-year-old Air Force Maj. Walter D. Gray, of Conyers, Ga. and
35-year-old Army Maj. Thomas E. Kennedy, of West Point, N.Y.
when insurgents detonated suicide vests Wednesday in Kunar province. read more here
3 Firefighters Hurt In Camp Pendleton Brush Fire
10 News.com
Cause Of Fire Unknown
August 9, 2012
CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- Three firefighters suffered minor injuries Thursday while extinguishing a brush fire that charred a swath of open land alongside Interstate 5 on the grounds of Camp Pendleton.
The blaze erupted for unknown reasons about 2 p.m. on the east side of the freeway, just north of the main gate of the Marine Corps station, officials said. read more here
A Tale of Two Diagnoses: Records Show How Army Doctors Downgrade PTSD
By Keegan Hamilton
Seattle Weekly
Aug. 10 2012
How does one doctor diagnose an Iraq war veteran with PTSD while another says the same soldier has a less severe condition called adjustment disorder? Medical records shared by one of the characters in our feature story this week offer some insight into the workings the controversial forensic psychiatry team at Madigan Army Medical Center.
Here's the relevant background excerpted from our feature story, which chronicles the case of John Byron Etterlee, a chemical weapons specialist stationed at Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM):
On July 15, 2011, a Veterans Affairs (VA) psychiatrist interviewed Etterlee and diagnosed him with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). But five months later the diagnosis was abruptly changed to "adjustment disorder"--a lesser condition--by a forensic psychiatrist at Madigan Army Medical Center in Tacoma.
The switch was made even though the clinician merely reviewed paperwork and never spoke with Etterlee or met him face-to-face. Only later did Etterlee learn that he was one of several hundred Fort Lewis soldiers who'd had their PTSD diagnoses downgraded by Madigan doctors. read more here
Vets charity accused of illegal accounting
By David Fitzpatrick and Drew Griffin
CNN Special Investigations Unit
August 9, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
NEW: Charity's officers were "lining their pockets," attorney general says
California sues Help Hospitalized Veterans, accusing it of misspending donors' money
The state seeks $4 million in penalties for solicitations it calls misleading
The charity's president says it "looks forward to the chance to tell its story"
Winchester, California
(CNN) -- California authorities are taking a controversial veterans' charity to court, accusing it of paying officers "excessive" salaries and making "imprudent" loans, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars, to a leading conservative activist's company.
In a civil lawsuit announced Thursday, the state attorney general's office asked a judge to remove the president and the entire board of directors of Help Hospitalized Veterans. The complaint asks for the board and president to pay more than $4 million in penalties to compensate for "misrepresentations" in solicitations by the charity.
The charity "has helped some veterans," Attorney General Kamala Harris told CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360." But she said nearly two-thirds of its revenue went to overhead, and the officers named in the complaint "have basically been lining their pockets off the compassion that Americans have for our veterans and servicemen and women."
"They have really tugged, I think, at the heartstrings of Americans who want to help our veterans," Harris said. "And, instead, they've had gulf club memberships and condominiums, and they've been lining their pockets -- their personal pockets."
The complaint accuses the charity -- which reported more than $31 million in donations in 2010 -- of making false statements on its tax filings, paying "excessive" compensation, using donors' funds to buy a country club membership and a suburban Washington condominium, and unlawfully diverting money to start another nonprofit. read more here
Official: Man in Afghan security uniform kills 3 US troops
By Chelsea J. Carter and Masoud Popalzai
CNN
updated 8:31 AM EDT, Fri August 10, 2012
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
Six civilians died when a vehicle struck a mine
A man in an Afghan uniform shot and killed three U.S. troops in Helmand province Friday
A suicide bomb attack killed five people in Afghanistan's Kunar province Wednesday
Among the dead: senior members of the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division
Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) -- A man in an Afghan military uniform killed three U.S. troops Friday in southern Afghanistan, the latest in a series of assaults against NATO soldiers by Afghans clad in security force garb.
The man opened fire on the troops in the volatile Helmand province, said Maj. Lori Hodge, a spokeswoman for the International Assistance Security Force. Hodge did not immediately provide details about the attack, one of a handful in recent weeks to target NATO troops.
In the strikes, known as "green-on-blue" attacks, Afghan security forces or militants dressed as local police or soldiers target coalition troops.
Coalition forces have been working to address the problem. Gen. John Allen, commander of the NATO-led force, has said "an erosion of trust" has emerged from the attacks.
Speaking in March, he said that the systems the Afghans and coalition had put in place to help prevent these attacks were having an effect.
read more here
