ArmyBlood

Now here is one first sergeant involved, with integrity:  Retired soldier creates military association for atheists in Cove.

With duty stations spanning from South Korea to Iraq, Johnson said she’s always served her country – just leave God out of it.

Thirteen years ago, Johnson, 43, founded the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers. What began as three people conversing online has since grown to 1,500 members nationwide.

Johnson, a Copperas Cove resident, went on to create a Fort Hood chapter in 2007 that provides local military atheists with an open forum to socialize, vent and learn from one another.

“If there’s one thing church groups get right is fellowship,” Johnson said. “Everyone wants to be around people who are like them.”

DoD PAO types (I’m one, I know) love to point out that “Stars and Stripes” and “ArmyTimes” are not official publications, because they occasionally run stories contrary to what the services want.  I think they do a good job and that, in the main, are very friendly to the Pentagon.  Some things you just can’t hardly sugarcoat (all the euphemisms for “enhanced interrogation” aside).  Kudos to the Stars and Stripes for getting a piece of home into the hands of our troops toiling in Haiti:  via Overcoming Daunting Logistics, ‘Stars and Stripes’ Starts Delivery to Troops in Haiti.

“Stars and Stripes has not only a proud tradition but a mandate to be sure that we provide a newspaper wherever soldiers are,” Senior Managing Editor Howard Witt said in a telephone interview Friday. “The main places we go now obviously is Iraq and Afghanistan, but as soon as it was apparent there was going to be a massive deployment to Haiti, our distribution and circulation people were trying to figure out how to get on the island.”

Talk about trying.  Interesting, even if it makes the young guys laugh – the Army tries Greek theater with Theater of War Productions, LLC.  According to the Army’s “Stand To”:

What is it?

“Theater of War” is a DoD project designed to remove stigma related
to psychological injuries by illustrating that many of the bravest
war heroes in history have lived with the psychological effects of
battle. Performances include a dramatic reading of selected scenes
from the plays “Ajax” and “Philoctetes” by Greek General and
playwright Sophocles, performed by a rotating cast of acclaimed film
and stage actors. The reading is followed by a town-hall discussion
with the audience and a panel of members from the local military
community.

In every war, medical technology advances.  I think that there, unlike during more peaceful, less litigious times, Docs will “try anything” approaches to solving wicked health problems.  The Civil War saw amputations, World War I the invention of blood banking, sulfa drugs and bandages proliferated in WW II.  The current wars, or whatever it is that they are, are helping to push the boundaries of identification and treatment of all sorts of invisible injuries.  This article discusses the recognition that the rising suicide rate may be another sort of symptoms for PTSD and the like.  I guess that senior military and political leaders will continue to dance away from the real damage being done to their charges by these repeated deployments.

Those problems also have been associated with PTDS (sic), traumatic brain injury and substance abuse. VA is researching suicide rates in veterans who have reported problems with memory, attention or motor skills.

….

VA also is reviewing the effectiveness of suicide hot lines and prevention coordinators at VA medical centers and evaluating public awareness campaigns to see whether people seek help in greater numbers after seeing a poster or TV announcement.

Castro said part of the problem is that things that work for civilian populations may have the opposite effect on service members because of the military mind-set about what makes them successful or defines them as individuals.

via VA, DoD discuss suicide research, screening – Army News, news from Iraq, – Army Times.

It is good to see the real, number-crunching studying of the efficacy of some of the methods used or attempted.  I am glad of that.  But don’t forget that one of the main reasons for these strains is repeated, overlong deployments. If the leadership admitted this, then they’d have to admit that, every day they don’t throw down a gauntlet over a larger force or fewer obligations, they are betraying their oaths.

The excellent Dr. Kotrla and her research are extensively quoted in this article from Sunday’s Statesman.

Kathryn Kotrla , a psychiatrist and the associate dean at the Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine's Round Rock campus, said there is a scientific reason that many soldiers seek out extreme pastimes.

Because of repeated deployments, the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have subjected soldiers to more prolonged danger than any previous war fought by Americans, Kotrla said.

And soldiers' brains actually change when they are under such a constant threat, said Kotrla, who has a master's degree in developmental neurobiology from Stanford University and completed a fellowship in brain imaging at the National Institutes of Health.

Nerves communicate via synapses, and intense experiences can alter synapses' connections. “They remodel,” Kotrla said.

via Soldiers back from war seek out new risks It is a great and unflinching article that describes a phenomenon long observed (where do you think American motorcycle gangs come from?) but not always well studied.  Dr. Kotrla’s work with both troops and kids may be the foundation for better physical diagnosis of PTSD one day.  Meanwhile, she is involved with several projects that directly benefit our troops, Vets, and their families, including www.TexVet.com.

IAVA gave me a creative outlet for lots of issues when I returned from Iraq.  Family responsibilities help keep me focused, as does the result of my day job – blood for the still deployed.  Not everyone is so lucky.

As Mike Stevens says in the article: “Everyone dies, Life isn’t worth living unless you do something with it, unless you go out and do something with your life.”

I’m quoted in this Christmas Eve story that is just as valid this week:

Blood needed for troops overseas.

Said it for years:

Two new studies seem to provide more evidence that post-traumatic stress disorder is a chemical change in the brain caused by trauma — and that it might be possible to diagnose, treat and predict susceptibility to it based on brain scans or blood tests.

via 2 studies: PTSD is chemical change in brain – Air Force News, news from Iraq – Air Force Times.

Here’s an article on  a new treatment for PTSD involving dogs. Gotta love dogs and Soldiers togethter:

That's the way things are with G.I. Joe, a psychiatric service dog, and Peacock, a veteran of the Iraq war: She gives him breaks from his work, and he gives her breaks from the fears and anxieties that plague her.

One in eight Soldiers returning from Iraq or Afghanistan report symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research. Peacock, an honorably retired Army sergeant, is among them.

via Pooch Helps Soldier Deal with PTSD.

I get the system here but the execution is very poor.  Stopping these payouts now will leave a reservoir of ill will that will last:

The bill makes clear that troops who re-enlisted or extended their contract and collected a bonus while being held under stop-loss do not qualify for the compensation.

The temporary halt will last until the Army gets a list of soldiers who received a re-enlistment or retention bonus while being stop-lossed, said Army spokeswoman Jill Mueller.

“The services didn’t decide this,” Mueller said on Wednesday. “This was decided by the legislature and we are executing their will.”

via Retroactive stop-loss payments temporarily halted | Stars and Stripes.

From a couple of months ago but something to think about as we enjoy our holidays.  Soldiers deployed, Soldiers departed, and those that watch over them as well:

A Soldier who served with the Old Guard talked with the Turret about his service on condition that he remain anonymous – not for any reasons other than pride. He said he didnt want his name to be published when those he guarded werent fortunate enough to have the same privilege.For the sake of clarity, Ill call him Will.”Those folks sacrificed everything – their lives, their futures, and even their identities – so you could have your way of life, and I can put on this uniform every day,” he said.

via NCO relates experience as Tomb Guard.