Marine's conviction for attempted suicide overturned!

Marine’s Attempted Suicide Conviction Overturned
Apr 30, 2013
Stars and Stripes
by Travis J. Tritten

CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa – The U.S. military’s highest appeals court on Monday rejected the conviction of an Okinawa Marine for attempting suicide, but the decision may fall short of setting a precedent for all such prosecutions.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces ruled that Pvt. Lazzaric Caldwell was improperly charged and convicted of disrupting order and discrediting the Marine Corps after he slashed his wrists in his Camp Schwab barracks in 2010. Caldwell, who had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder unrelated to combat, was confined to the brig for six months and received a bad-conduct discharge.

The Marine’s prosecution raised concerns at a time when the military is emerging from over a decade of wars and struggling with high rates of PTSD and suicide in the ranks. However, Caldwell defense attorney Lt. Mike Hanzel said the appeals court decision was specific to the case and does not prevent prosecution of other suicides by the military.

The court also found no justification for charges that Caldwell’s suicide brought discredit to the service by making it appear the unit’s leaders had failed to keep the Marines in check.

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Marine's attempted suicide prompted punishment instead of help

Marine Major says criminalizing attempted suicides "helps retain discipline"

Marine Maj. David Roberts, representing the government, countered that the statute is clearly written and that it helps retain discipline within the ranks.

Cockamamie war games will not fix combat PTSD

I am glad this article started out with the most important part of the delusion the DOD has been under. Computer games may be something the troops like but that does not mean they are good for them. Like drinking alcohol may make them feel better for a while numbing the pain they do not want to deal with, but afterwards they are worse off. Computer games feed adrenaline and adrenaline feeds PTSD. This is one of the worst ideas I have ever heard.

Can the rush in gaming help overcome the stress of combat?
By Matthew M. Burke
Stars and Stripes
Published: April 30, 2013

Former Army Sgt. Melissa Cramblett was once again pitched in battle against a tenacious enemy fighter. Her heart raced as she tried to save fellow soldiers from falling.

“I’m going to kill this mother[expletive],” she said to herself as adrenaline coursed through her veins.

Cramblett could put down the controller when violent combat video games like “Call of Duty: Black Ops” got to be too much, but it wasn’t so easy to flip the switch on her post-traumatic stress symptoms, which worsened each time she played.

She suffered anxiety and took her anger out on her family. She couldn’t sleep, but when she did, she was constantly haunted by a solider she knew who had been decapitated in an IED attack in Iraq in 2004. The soldier had been in the vehicle behind her; it was a devastating loss. Now, despite being a few years removed from the battlefield, she was back in Iraq and his bloodied body was standing over her.

“I can’t be in the same room [with someone playing],” she said of the increasingly realistic and violent crop of combat video games, some of which are developed with the help of active-duty and retired special operations troops. “It gives you that adrenaline rush that makes you feel like you’re back there.”

Cramblett has since asked her husband to get rid of the videos at home and she warns servicemembers with PTSD to stay away from them through her work with veterans groups Stay Strong Nation and the Veterans Who Care Foundation.

“I know I’m not the only one suffering from those games,” she said from her civilian job at a recruiting battalion in Portland, Ore. “I think it’s dangerous if a servicemember plays if they have PTSD.”

Despite the beliefs of people like Cramblett — and media reports that former servicemembers might have committed suicide after playing the games — violent combat video games remain a popular respite of troops downrange and a connection to their warrior past once they return home.
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It is time for the DOD and "researchers" to actually research PTSD before they come up with these cockamamie fix-it by breaking it approaches. This isn't rocket science! This is common sense.

When military training and exposures teach their bodies to operated under adrenaline rushes, the body learned to adapt. The best way to treat PTSD is to teach the body how to work without it again. Learning how to calm down will not happen with this. Sure they may have fun playing the games. Sure they may even get some relief for a while but what they will end up with is what will make PTSD worse.

Some "games" may work but that depends on how much the designer understands PTSD as much as it depends on how talented they are in creating the game. Violent games are part of the problem when kids think they can kill on a computer screen but find real life much different. When they left real combat and play the games again, there is a much different effect on what is happening inside of them and it is not good.

Veterans outraged by cases of Stolen Valor Vietnam faker

Veterans outraged by cases of Stolen Valor
WOIA News
Reported by: Jaie Avila

SAN ANTONIO - Military veterans call it an outrage that dishonors them and those who died in battle. A kind of deception that's rampant across the country and on the internet: imposters falsely claiming medals and accolades they didn't really earn. News 4 Trouble Shooter Jaie Avila joined forces with a network of internet detectives to uncover cases of stolen valor.

Fernando Herrera is one of the most decorated veterans in San Antonio. Among the medals he received during Vietnam: the Distinguished Service Cross and four bronze stars for rescuing fellow soldiers during a fire fight. Plus, a purple heart for shrapnel wounds he received in battle. A local park was even named after him.

The Fake Warrior project worked with us on the case of this former marine from Pearsall, Albert Bustamante. Pictures show him wearing the bronze star ribbon along with other insignias and badges from the Vietnam War.

The problem is, Bustamante's military record shows him not joining the marines until 1976, after the Vietnam War ended. It doesn't list the medals and citations seen in the pictures.

We tracked down Bustamante at his home in Pearsall, where even his pickup truck is adorned with a Vietnam ribbon.
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Marines Have Six Four-Stars — But Not for Long

Marines Have Six Four-Stars — But Not for Long
Washington Wire
by Julian E. Barnes
April 29, 2013

With its emphasis on its enlisted troops and its creed that every Marine is a rifleman, the Marine Corps is the military service that keeps the smallest ratio of brass to troops. But for a brief moment —actually only until Wednesday—there are, for the first time, six four-star generals in the Corps.

Earlier this month [April 19], the officers gathered at the Home of the Commandants at the Marine Barracks Washington, the only time six active-duty four star generals have gathered together, according to the service. Except for a handful of five-star admirals and generals in American history, four-stars is the highest attainable rank in the military. And for the Marines it is unusual to have four or five, much less six.

The Corps thinks of the gathering as historic. But for the generals, the April get-together was simply a reunion of a group of men who have worked with each other and off for four decades.
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Military Sexual Assaults Cost More Than $872 Million

Military Sexual Assaults Cost More Than $872 Million
By DAVID FRANCIS
The Fiscal Times
April 30, 2013

The Veterans Affairs department spent almost $872 million in 2010 to deal with the health impacts of sexual assaults on former military personnel.

This figure is based on the $10,880 dollars the Veterans Administration spends to treat each sexual assault victim after he or she leaves the service. The $872 million does not include costs for victims still in the military.

In 2011, the last year that information on sexual assaults is available, 3,192 cases were reported to Pentagon brass. Former defense secretary Leon Panetta estimated nearly 20,000 occur each year within the military. According to a 2011 military health survey, one in five soldiers said they had been touched inappropriately since joining.

It’s not clear how much the Pentagon spends dealing with these attacks. But because of the nature of how the military deals with sexual assault allegations, it’s likely that it costs the Pentagon tens of millions of dollars.
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