Here are the top stories this week related to our soldiers here and abroad, taken from the Our Troops Newsladder.
Gen. David H. Petraeus spoke in his sternest terms to date that that "no one" in the U.S. and Iraqi governments "feels that there has been sufficient progress by any means in the area of national reconciliation," or in the provision of basic public services since the surge, despite a reduction in violence. (washingtonpost.com)
On the subject of the war in Afghanistan, President Bush said that he was envious of the troops serving there, trivially describing their mission as something "romantic". (www.outsidethebeltway.com)
A report on sexual assault in the military said that the number of reported assaults had dropped by 9% this year, after several years of increase. In 2006 there were 2,947 reported cases - in 2007 the number dropped to 2688. (www.armytimes.com)
Veterans of America is proud to sponsor the Our Troops Newsladder, a new tool to find the top news and articles in the progressive community by, about and for our troops.
On top of all of all the mental health problems that soldiers are facing as they return from the combat zone is the No. 1 disability in the war on terror: hearing loss. 70,000 troops who have served are on disability for tinnitus (a constant ringing in the ears) and another 58,000 for hearing loss. (AP)
A new study found that among people suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction, those who also suffer from PTSD face worse outcomes and consequences from their chemical dependency problems. (Medical News Today)
The weekly newspaper at Fort Drum (already the subject of a damning report about its failure to treat troops from the most deployed unit in America for mental health problems) responded to a recent spate of DWIs by printing the mug shots of servicemembers on the front page. Maj. Gen. Michael L. Oates defends his decision to print the pictures to discourage other troops from drinking and driving, while Adrienne Willis, a spokesperson for Veterans For America said it seemed to unduly burden soldiers who are reeling from the stresses of multiple deployments in Iraq. (NY Times)
Veterans of America is proud to sponsor the Our Troops Newsladder, a new tool to find the top news and articles in the progressive community by, about and for our troops.
What happens when you deploy troops who have seen high intensity combat time and time again with inadequate dwell time between tours? You see skyrocketing mental health issues.
After months of investigative work, talking to our troops and veterans, we released a report on the situation at Fort Drum in Watertown, New York. Since 9/11, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team has been deployed for more than forty months, more than any other brigade in the Army, and we are seeing what is nothing short of a cry for help from the men and women on the base; a cry we will answer not just at Fort Drum but here in Texas, which has seen thousands of troops deployed from Fort Bliss.
A cry for help that is also coming from the leadership on the base. In a New York Times article today about our report, Major General Michael Oates, commander of the 10th Mountain Division, says: "We recognize that there is stress on our force and their families from this conflict, but until recently, we have not fully appreciated the extent of some of the mental stresses and injuries or how to best identify them." Please read the rest of the article here.
What is happening at Fort Drum -- with Soldiers still on active duty suffering from PTSD, with Soldiers and their families in need of counseling, with Soldiers literally dying while still on duty -- is going to happen all around America unless we begin to address some of the basic issues of this war. As our report explains, DoD itself has stated that the likelihood of troops having mental health problems increases by 60% with every tour of duty. So, in short, through ourdeployment policies, we are consciously compounding the wounds of war.
This is unacceptable to us. Veterans for America's Wounded Warrior Outreach Program will continue to address these problems from the bottom up.
We are going to go to as many bases as we can afford to go to, see what is happening on those bases and see how we can help. If you can help us, we would greatly appreciate it.
We are going to continue our Wounded Warrior Registry Outreach -- if you or someone you know needs help getting help with PTSD or TBI, please click here.
And above all, we are going to continue to serve and help those that serve and have served us with the same level of dedication and courage they have shown. Click here to learn more about what we are doing.
Around the United States, including here in Texas (home to four Army bases and eight Air Force bases), we see that the military is overwhelmed as it tries to assist servicemembers.
Here at Veterans For America, where I am proud to be Director of Policy, we are determined to do something to help the men and women who have served us. Part of our efforts include our easy-to-use registry that will help us get you the help you need (or help for someone you know).
If you or someone you know needs help, we will work to make sure that you get it -- it's as simple as that. We will answer every single request we get. Sometimes it can be just knowing how to fight through the bureaucracy and get the mental health appointment you need or it might be how to get your family counseling.
Please let us help you or someone you know get the help you need and deserve.
Veterans For America was founded over thirty years ago by Bobby Muller, who was paralyzed by a bullet in Vietnam while leading a Marine patrol. Originally named the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation, VFA now works all across the country, focusing on the high rates of mental health problems and mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) as a result of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
This Wounded Warrior Registry will help us determine how many military men and women need help and what is the best way to get them that help.
With so many current servicemembers and veterans living in Texas, it's with great pleasure that I can tell you that the new "Survival Guide" has been published online free to all from Veterans For America.
Over the past few months, several constables have been working to set up a commission for veterans in Travis County. This sounds like a great idea...we should be taking care of our veterans. But this is barely even a starting point. There is an average of over a hundred veterans arrested per month in Travis County alone. Many of these involve drug and alcohol related incidents. The county is working on building a relationship with the VA so that such veterans can receive treatment and get the extra help they need. This could be and would be a breakthrough program. As far as we know, nothing like this has been done anywhere else in the country.
One of my core frustrations with the Corporate Media is how fast they turn onto, and off of, stories Veterans Day has come and gone and that means, sadly, coverage of veterans will come and go as well.
I saw this happen incredibly clearly with the Burma NewsLadder I launched just over a month ago, boom, everyone was on Burma, and then absolute silence from our media - interestingly enough, overseas the media has continued to cover the story; and we are continuing to link to all the stories from around the world and we are still getting great traffic to the site.
As important as Burma is to me personally, perhaps no where do we see the on-again, off-again coverage more powerfully than we do with the coverage of veterans and our men and women in uniform. While politicians are more than happy to parade the troops out on Veteran's Day, when the coverage turns away from veterans, so do the politicians.
Remember Walter Reed and the outrage? The most tragic story I heard about that situation was from Bobby Muller, the dynamic founder of Veterans For America - when he was just home from Vietnam, paralyzed from the waist down, there was similar outrage and a LIFE cover story - and guess what? Nothing changed.
I have a fundamental question for you two – a really simple basic question. One that every American should be asking themselves right now as you – and the rest of our Senators – get ready to return from your month-long break.
When the former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said that our troops were at their breaking point, when the Department of Defense reported that our current deployment policies are compounding the wounds of war, causing mental health problems among our troops to skyrocket, and that one of the primary causes was our current policy of deploying troops back to Iraq and Afghanistan without adequate dwell time at home, why didn’t you do something about it?
This week, General Wesley Clark joined us on Who's Blue to discuss those issues, his political activism through WesPAC and VoteVets.org, and what he views as a dangerous foreign policy precedent being set by the Bush administration in regards to Iran and the Middle East.
Recently, we interviewed State Representative Rick Noriega. We discussed his background, how he came to his military service, and how his service has informed his politics.
The majority of the interview is focused on veterans issues, and issues specific to members of the Reserves and National Guard when they return home from duty. I include an excerpt below from our conversation, concerning how veterans issues do (or should) influence foreign policy and national security.
