Armed Forces Day: How Are Our Soldiers?
This year’s commemoration of our servicemen and women is particularly sobering due to recent headlines of soldiers who have behaved monstrously while under stress.
Murder in Iraq
A US Army sergeant who was just six weeks shy of completing his third tour in Iraq was charged with five counts of murder and one of aggravated assault after allegedly killing five comrades at a mental health clinic on a base on the outskirts of Baghdad.
Just days before the attack, the deadliest of its kind in this war, Sgt. John M. Russell, 44, was sent to the mental health clinic by his superiors because of concern over his emotional state. Russell had been deemed enough of a threat to himself and to others that his commander had ordered Russell’s weapon confiscated. Somehow, on May 11, 2009, he got a new weapon, entered the clinic and opened fire.
The incident has cast a spotlight on combat stress and emotional problems resulting from frequent deployments to battle zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. Studies have shown that up to one in five who have served in the two conflicts show signs of anxiety, depression and other emotional problems, but only about half seek help.
Considering this, many are asking why it took a tragedy such as this to prompt an investigation into the availability and adequacy of mental health services provided to soldiers.
The Mental Health of our Soldiers
The military is struggling with the effect of multiple deployments on the psychological health of soldiers and their marriages. Rates of divorce, domestic violence, and suicide have risen steeply over the course of the wars, and the number of U.S. troops diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) jumped to 18.2% of all soldiers. Shockingly, this figure only reflects a fraction of servicemen and women suffering from psychological distress because the stats don’t include those diagnosed by Dept. of Veterans Affairs workers or civilian caregivers, nor does it include the thousands who avoid seeking care out of concern over stigma or damage to their military careers.
In addition, Army suicides are at a three decade high. 86 non-active-duty Guard soldiers committed suicide in the first 10 months of 2010, almost doubling the 48 suicides in all of 2009.
In an effort to counter the damaging affects of war, the armed forces have imposed mandatory transition counseling aimed at soldiers returning home. The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program, launched last year by the Pentagon, is designed to ease the transition home for reservists. The reintegration programs are held on weekends, 30, 60 and 90 days after the soldiers come home. The sessions cover anger management, financial planning and substance abuse, and feature several resources designed to help the soldiers get back on their feet. While many in the military brass consider it an improvement, some say it is not as comprehensive as it should be.
“Mental health problems can surface long after 90 days,” says Lt. Col. Michael Gafney, who runs the reintegration program for the Maryland National Guard. Gafney has been pushing to extend the program to at least a year but has been told there aren’t sufficient funds to cover that. “If we screwed them up, we should fix them,” counters Gafney.
“One thing we’ve learned from this war, we learned from World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the previous wars, is not all injuries are physical,” said Major General Daniel P. Bolger, commander of Multi-National Division-Baghdad.
What the future may hold
It was only in the aftermath of the Vietnam War that veterans’ mental health injuries were examined scientifically. The statistics tell a frightening tale of what could happen to the Iraq vets if they go untreated: 23% of homeless population are veterans (that’s between 529,000 and 849,000 vets) and 76% experience alcohol, drug, or mental health problems. In 2009 alone, 140,000 Vietnam vets were being held in State and Federal prisons.
Considering this, the current statistics on Iraq vets and PTSD injuries are sobering. The prevalence of mental health injuries among Iraq veterans is equivalent to that of Vietnam vets, and may in fact be higher … AND the wars aren’t over yet. In March, the Iraq War will celebrate a somber eight year anniversary. While Obama has set a deadline of December 2011 for troop withdrawal from Iraq, there is no overall troop withdrawal deadlines for the war in Afghanistan. The Obama administration is also preparing to flood Afghanistan with 20,000 more troops.
Still, experts say that with early screening and ready access to counseling, the mental health effects of combat are treatable. The hope is that this formal inquiry into the availability of behavioral health care for American service personnel will recognize the need for early intervention and will plan accordingly, including petitioning Obama’s administration to provide the funding.
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