Navy researching surfing for PTSD, million dollar dud

When will they ever learn? Here goes another boatload of money on research for something they should already know helps veterans with PTSD.

What is even worse is, they should know that anything that helps calm down their bodies helps. That's right, anything!

Their suffering bodies are also part of what PTSD hits and they have to teach their bodies how to relax again. For some, it is music, art, meditation, martial arts, or even something as simple as taking a walk. In this story, it is getting on a surfboard.

Why is it that the military is so far behind on figuring all this out? After all, it is because of veterans coming home from war the results of traumatic events are understood. Those veterans came home over 40 years ago from Vietnam and they pushed for all the research done.

If any of these people in charge actually bothered to do some research on what has already been understood, we would have saved a lot more lives and a lot more money!


U.S. Navy study aims to see if surfing will help counteract PTSD
First Coast New
Janny Rodriguez
March 14, 2018

McCrossin said he struggled with survivor's guilt and he's still coping with his PTSD every day. Over time he found some relief in music and three years ago, he started surfing.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The U.S. Navy is spending $1 million on a three-year study that's aimed to find out whether or not surfing can counteract with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD.

Disabled Navy vet and avid surfer, Bill McCrossin, told First Coast News he is excited about the study.

"I love waking up before the sun and loading up the car trying to throw this 9-foot board into the car and then going to the beach," McCrossin said. "I started finding that therapeutic."

McCrossin said he has PTSD from his four years in the Navy. He joined 2001 right out of high school.

"[PTSD is] a living hell," he said. He said he didn't know how to ask or get help.

"You don't know what it is you're trying to reach it for because you can't verbalize it because you don't know what it is," he said.
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PTSD: 81 percent of firefighters fear they will be seen as weak or unfit for duty

Firefighters, including Detroit crews, suffer from PTSD, other mental health issues as result of job
95 percent say they experience critical stress while working
Click On Detriot
By Karen Drew - Reporter/Anchor, Amber Ainsworth
March 15, 2018

The survey also found that 81 percent of firefighters fear they will be seen as weak or unfit for duty if they talk about the emotional toll of their job, and 87 percent said it keeps them from getting the help they need.

DETROIT - A survey conducted by NBC New York and the International Association of Firefighters found that firefighters are battling more than just fires.

Firefighters struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health issues.

"We suffer from the same challenges the general public does -- financial issues, marital issues. Now you compound that with the horror that we see every day, day in and day out. It adds up and eventually takes its toll," Jim Brinkely of the International Association of Firefighters said.

Ninety-five percent of the 7,000 surveyed said they experience critical stress on the job, and three quarters of the the firefighters said it leaves them with unresolved issues. Many of them, 71 percent, have trouble sleeping, and 65 percent of them are constantly haunted by bad memories.

"We're no different than someone on the battlefield [with] the death and the destruction that we witness," Derrick Foxhall, a 20-year-veteran of the Detroit Fire Department, said.
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"This company was built by brothers helping brothers"

How This Former Marine Turned His PTSD Into a Multi-Million-Dollar Business in 60 Days
Entrepreneur
Javier Hasse
March 14, 2018

“I can tell you with certainty that I thought about killing myself more than once. And so did one of my best friends and former unit companion, Caleb Patton. It was the guys around us, who are now part of IPG, that saved us.” Hunter Garth

Hunter Garth, bearded, 27, seems to be as chill as they come. After all, he works with marijuana.

But this was not always the case.

Returning home after serving with the United States Marine Corps in Afghanistan for four years was not easy. Readapting to civilian life was not easy. And, as you might imagine, overcoming the trauma of war was not easy--is it ever?

“During my life in deployment, I was hyper-exposed to trauma, but I really negated it all, telling myself that it was not that bad. I really took a tough guy approach while I was in the Marine Corps,” Garth reveals.

However, coming back home was a whole other issue. He could no longer live in denial. “My deployment had pretty extensive consequences. During my transitional period, I was not thinking right, I was not sleeping well, [and] I wasn’t handling things in an appropriate manner,” he continues.

Despite being among the lucky ones, counting on the support of friends and family at the time of his return, Garth marks the moment of getting out of the Marine Corps as the one where things really went South--not only for him but also for almost every one of his comrades. There was not a lot of time to process things in Afghanistan; back home, they were all alone with their thoughts.

“A few of the guys that I served with killed themselves; a few of them got in adrenaline-based accidents… Basically, we were all self-medicating and acting in a way that was incredibly dangerous as a group of people and as individuals.”

“This company was built by brothers helping brothers, and we intend to follow that path,” Patton adds.
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Nine lost in two days

Seven U.S. service members killed in Iraq helicopter crash
NBC News
by COURTNEY KUBE, RICHARD ENGEL and PHIL HELSEL
March 16, 2018

All seven service members aboard an American military helicopter that crashed in western Iraq late Thursday were killed, according to two U.S. military officials.

The crash of the U.S. HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter does not appear to be a result of enemy activity and the incident is under investigation, U.S. Central Command and military officials said.

"All personnel aboard were killed in the crash," said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Jonathan P. Braga, the director of operations for the U.S.-led anti-Islamic State coalition in Iraq and Syria.
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2 FDNY Firefighters Among 7 Killed in U.S. Helicopter Crash in Iraq, Sources Say

An FDNY lieutenant and an FDNY fire marshal were among the seven service members killed when their U.S. helicopter crashed in Iraq, the FDNY announced Friday evening.

The department identified Lt. Christopher Raguso and Fire Marshal Christopher “Tripp” Zanetis as the 1,148th and 1,149th members of the FDNY to die in the line of duty. read more here

Navy identifies aviators killed in Florida Super Hornet crash
STARS AND STRIPES
By KAT BOUZA
Published: March 16, 2018

The Navy has identified the two pilots killed when their F/A-18F Super Hornet crashed into the sea near Key West, Fla., Wednesday afternoon.

Lt. Cmdr. James Brice Johnson and Lt. Caleb Nathaniel King — both assigned to the “Blacklions” of Strike Fighter Squadron 213 at Naval Air Station Oceana — died after the aircraft went down on final approach to Naval Air Station Key West at about 4:30 p.m. The squadron was conducting training in the area at the time.
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UPDATE

Master Sgt. William R. Posch, 36, of Indialantic, Fla

Staff Sgt. Carl P. Enis, 31, of Tallahassee

Capt. Mark K. Weber, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colo

Capt. Andreas B. O’Keeffe, 37, of Center Moriches, N.Y.

Capt. Christopher T. Zanetis, 37, of Long Island City, N.Y.

Master Sgt. Christopher J. Raguso, 39, of Commack, N.Y.

Staff Sgt. Dashan J. Briggs, 30, of Port Jefferson Station, N.Y.

Veterans left shaken after trying to save life

Veteran pushes through past experiences in effort to save an injured cyclist’s life
VAntage Point
Department of Veterans Affairs
Doré Mobley is a Communications Specialist with Patient Care Services
March 16, 2018

For VA employee and Veteran Eric Detrick, Feb. 11 began as a brisk Sunday under sunny blue skies – the perfect day for a 100-mile bike ride through California’s Coachella Valley known as the Tour de Palm Springs.

However, around mile 30, events took a turn that would leave Detrick emotionally shaken.

Detrick and two fellow Veterans Tom McMillen and Raul Portal were riding with Project Hero, a national non-profit therapeutic cycling program for Veterans and first responders when they came upon an accident (pictured above) where a driver lost control of his vehicle and collided with two cyclists. The group immediately rendered aid to the more seriously injured cyclist.

An Army medic who served two tours in Afghanistan, Detrick realized one of the cyclists wasn’t getting enough air, so he created an intubation tube from the hose of another cyclist’s hydration pack. Unfortunately, the cyclist’s injuries proved to be too extensive and later died at the scene.
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