Vet Families Can Access Mental Health Tools Online

http://www.thedailyarmonk.com/wellness/vet-families-can-access-mental-health-tools-online

MONTROSE, N.Y. – The VA Medical Center in Montrose has become the epicenter for a new online veteran’s mental health initiative. “Family of Heroes” is a website which uses avatars, realistic animations of people, to allow people to anonymously work through conversations with veterans recently returned from deployment.

“We’re trying to help families attain some skills,” said Benny Linneman, a therapist for residents of the Montrose VA. “A lot of vets think the problem is theirs, and that they can deal with it,” he said about veterans afflicted with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The program was launched on Veterans Day, Nov. 11.

“Family of Heroes”is meant to provide those who know a veteran recently returned from deployment with the skills to defuse arguments, approach a veteran who may need help and recognize signs of PTSD. The metropolitan area has about 34,000 veterans home from theaters of war, according to Linneman, and there are about two million veterans nationwide who served in both the Iraq and Afghanistan theaters.

“Family of Heroes” is only available to residents of southern New York and New Jersey as it undergoes development.

According to Linneman, stressors for veterans returning home from a theater of war can run the gamut of what civilians consider everyday activities. Difficulty driving, dealing with packages or garbage (which in Iraq or Afghanistan may indicate explosives) and behavioral changes in the veteran can all be difficult for friends and extended family of veterans to understand.

Julie Kelly, a military wife and veteran suicide-prevention advocate, said there is almost no training for friends and extended family of veterans. Kelly says immediate family members are debriefed by the military regarding a homecoming veteran's experiences abroad. Frequent encounters with live fire or casualties the veteran may have witnessed are all subjects of debriefing. Extended family members, employers and friends do not have the benefit of this training and information.

For returning troops, horses can help rehabilitate

WASHINGTON - Max Brewer can't pinpoint the exact moment his body began to degrade while serving in Iraq, but the physical rigors of war took their toll and left him partially paralyzed by 2009.

"I was expected to be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life," the 47-year-old says.

"I'm not the only one. There's a lot of soldiers who have had issues with their knees, their backs, their hips, because of the equipment."

Brewer served in Iraq for the entirety of 2005. During that time he suffered nerve damage in his spinal cord that he thinks was exacerbated by unknown pre-existing issues. Although he hoped to remain in active duty after returning home, his condition continued to deteriorate, requiring three major surgeries that left him bedridden for weeks.

Amy Hunter

http://www.wtop.com/?nid=149&sid=2675971

Veteran's best friend: Trained dogs help soldiers with disorder

Columbia's 1st Sgt. Will Roberts, a U.S. Army paratrooper, has been deployed into combat seven times with the elite 173rd Airborne Brigade Combat Team. 


Kosovo. Bosnia. Two deployments to Iraq. Three to Afghanistan.


 Each of those deployments involved intense, front-line fighting with Roberts leading some of the nation's most hardened soldiers: Army Rangers. 


"I lived for that war stuff," said Roberts, 45. 


Today, Roberts is one of the estimated 20 percent of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). And with the Iraq war winding down - the last U.S. troops are leaving that country this month - more and more service members are returning home. Many are returning with injuries, including psychological trauma, and many are in the Midlands.


By JEFF WILKINSON


http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/12/19/2860381/trained-dogs-help-soldiers-with.html

Crisis hot line saves suicidal war veterans

Canandaigua, New York (CNN) -- Suicide continues to plague the American military, with an estimated 18 war veterans in the United States ending their lives each day. One of the last resorts for veterans struggling with the return to civilian life is a suicide-prevention hot line based in upstate New York.

The humble offices of the Veterans Crisis Line in Canandaigua, New York, are like any other office space: desks, computers, telephones. But as you walk past each cubicle, you begin to hear extraordinarily disturbing conversations.

"I have a .45 pointed at my head," one caller says.

"Can you put that knife away for a bit while we talk? Can you do that for me? Can you hold off just for a little bit?" a hot line worker asks.

"What sort of weapons do you have?" another calmly responds.

The men and women who answer the Veterans Crisis Line phones are on the front lines of an all-out war on suicide. Each speaks to the caller with a very clear purpose: keep the person on the phone long enough to get help.

By Christina Ginn

http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/18/us/war-veterans-suicide-hot-line/?hpt=us_t2

VA issues guidelines for handling sexual trauma

In light of a Veterans Affairs Department study showing that one-third of female Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder report being raped, sexually assaulted or harassed, and one in 100 military men say they’ve experienced unwanted sexual contact, VA issued guidelines to regional offices Dec. 2 on assessing claims for PTSD caused by military sexual trauma.

Most VA disability claims require a statement from the veteran, along with objective documentation such as a doctor’s statement or evidence of a traumatic event, a diagnosis or participation in combat for supporting a claim.

The sexual trauma guidelines encourage examiners to look for evidence that an assault or harassment occurred, including requests for reassignment, pregnancy tests, seeking treatment for depression and other signs that something happened in addition to considering statements from the veteran.

“VA is aware that, because of the personal and sensitive nature of the [military sexual trauma] stressors in these cases, it is often difficult for the victim to report or document the event when it occurs,” the guidelines state.

By Patricia Kime

http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2011/12/military-ptsd-sexual-trauma-120811w/

Maine top soldier says help is available for PTSD

AUGUSTA, Maine (NEWS CENTER) - Soldiers returning from the war in Iraq and Afghanistan may suffer a variety of problems adjusting to civilian life--- and some of those may be serious problems. 

Major general John "Bill" Libby, commander of the Maine National Guard, says he wants to help all returning service members, regardless of their branch of the military, to make sure they get the help they need. 

Libby says he knows the problem first hand. He is a combat veteran of Vietnam and says he came home in 1969 suffering from post traumatic stress disorder. 

Libby says it hasn't prevented him from being successful in life, but he says he has needed to seek help from time to time. 

Written by

Krister Rollins

http://www.wcsh6.com/news/article/181792/2/Maine-top-soldier-says-help-is-available-for-PTSD

Expert: U.S. health care must better serve vets - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

The Pentagon and Veterans Affairs Department have appropriate protocols for treating service members and veterans with mental health problems but the departments — and the health care system nationwide — must beef up programs so troops are guaranteed access now and in the coming years, says a Rand Corp. researcher who oversees the Washington think tank’s Center for Military Health Policy Research.

Center Director Terry Tanielian wrote in an AcademyHealth blog posting on Monday that the Defense Department and VA must take steps to ensure care, including hiring more mental health care professionals, reducing the stigma and adverse career consequences of seeking treatment, and providing mental health treatment wherever service members or veterans live.

Part of the solution, Tanielian said, is to expand cooperation with civilian providers and train the civilian system to accommodate former service members.

“Improving access to mental health services for veterans will require reaching beyond DoD and VA health care systems to ensure quality care in the civilian world as well. Too often, policy decisions have focused on expanding capacity without attention to the quality of service being offered,” she wrote.

The assessment comes at a time when veterans and service members are seeking help in record numbers. In fiscal 2010, 408,167 veterans diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder were treated at VA health facilities, up from 254,930 in fiscal 2006. About 1.2 million veterans received mental health care from the VA in fiscal 2010. Yet according to Rand, that still accounts for only about half of those diagnosed with PTSD or major depression. And half of those who do seek care don’t complete treatment, according to a survey of VA health providers.

Tanielian is to moderate a panel on the future of military and veterans health care at the 2012 National Health Policy Conference scheduled for February in Washington. She was a main contributor to the Rand report, The Invisible Wounds of War.

By Patricia Kime

Expert: U.S. health care must better serve vets - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

After Farmington shooting, experts say more can be done to prevent PTSD-triggered violence

LEWISTON, Maine — Bruce Morris, an Iraq War combat veteran with 21 years in the Maine National Guard, is a little on edge these days.

So are dozens of his brothers and sisters in arms as they ponder the circumstances that led to the death of Justin Crowley-Smilek, who was shot by a police officer last month in Farmington.

Crowley-Smilek, a U.S. Army Ranger who was disabled in Afghanistan in a 30-foot fall from a helicopter was bipolar and — according to his friends and family — suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.

He was shot and killed by Farmington police officer Ryan Rosie on Nov. 19 after Crowley-Smilek confronted Rosie with a knife outside the Farmington police station, police have said.

By Scott Thistle

http://bangordailynews.com/2011/12/04/health/after-farmington-shooting-experts-say-more-can-be-done-to-prevent-ptsd-triggered-violence/

The Military Medical Technologies Month that was

Medical information technology is moving at such as a rapid pace, we sometimes fail to stop and look around. This month is often observed asMilitary Medical Technologies Month, a perfect time to highlight some of the work our partner organizations are doing to merge science and technology for deployable Soldiers.

Check out what Telehealth and Technology (T2) is up to. Aside from developing and fielding some award winning apps, like the Mood Tracker and Mild Traumatic Brain Injury (mTBI) Pocket Guide, they’re actively involved in delivering capabilities to improve behavioral health downrange.

T2 also has a hand in the new capability being released by Military Pathways to assist Soldiers with mental health and alcohol concerns. They’ve launched a new web-based tool called Video Doctors that provides Soldiers with helpful information on risk factors associated with these health concerns.

In the past several weeks we’ve been highlighting telehealth. If you haven’t had a chance yet, I recommend reading Col. Ron Poropatich’s blog about expanding telehealth in Afghanistan. As the deputy director for the Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC), he and his group remain at the forefront of new technology and will be blogging on The Gateway more regularly, so stay tuned.

Lt. Col. William E. Geesey

http://www.govhealthit.com/blog/military-medical-technologies-month-was

Rise in PTSD cases from two wars strains resources

Ten thousand combat veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder flooded into VA hospitals every three months this year, pushing the number of patients ill with the disorder above 200,000 and straining resources, Department of Veterans Affairs data to be released today show.

The increase is more than 5% per quarter, according to data obtained by USA TODAY, and it occurs as the VA struggles to move veterans quickly into therapy. New mental health patients at about a third of VA hospitals wait longer than the department's goal of 14 days or less, according to a USA TODAY analysis published this month.

"Demand for mental health care is only going to continue to grow as thousands more troops return home," said Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., chairwoman of the Senate Veterans' Affairs Committee. "The VA still has work to do to decrease wait times, … reduce the stigma around seeking care and to provide access to care in rural areas."

STORY: Study: Guilt may be a top factor in PTSD

Although the VA said it has enough staffing to handle the increase in patients, "we take these requirements seriously and are continuously monitoring … access to mental health," press secretary Josh Taylor said.

By Gregg Zoroya

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/story/2011-11-29/PTSD-cases-rise/51476604/1

Backed by retired Lt. Gen., 'Not Alone' helps veterans from all wars deal with PTSD

People meeting retired Lt. Gen. Hugh Smith for the first time likely get the impression of a tough, no-nonsense man who does not suffer fools gladly.

They would be right.

They also might get the impression of a hard-nosed combat veteran who would tell a soldier claiming to suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) to "suck it up, drive on and stop whining."

They would be dead wrong.

If the general has one message for PTSD sufferers, it is this: "You are not alone."

By way of getting that message out, Smith has become a leading advocate of an organization that puts the message up-front in its name.

Written by Philip Grey

http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20111127/NEWS08/111270331/Backed-by-retired-Lt-Gen-Not-Alone-helps-veterans-from-all-wars-deal-PTSD?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|FRONTPAGE

Mission: Family: 2 well-known nonprofits expanding aid to military children - Navy Community, Navy Spouse and Family Resources - Navy Times

The Sesame Workshop and Boys & Girls Clubs — two nonprofit organizations whose work has provided tangible benefits for military children — are expanding their reach.

Sesame Street’s efforts for military families have grown beyond the preschool crowd, through a joint venture with The Electric Company to provide new resources for elementary school-age children and their families.

Boys & Girls Clubs will focus on youths’ mental health issues as their parents return from war. They will help distribute “Military Families Near and Far” materials produced by Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit education organization behind Sesame Street and The Electric Company.

Sesame Workshop’s “Talk, Listen, Connect” series has helped military families with preschool children talk to each other and understand deployments, homecomings and when a parent comes home changed because of injury, as well as coping with the death of a loved one.


By Karen Jowers


Mission: Family: 2 well-known nonprofits expanding aid to military children - Navy Community, Navy Spouse and Family Resources - Navy Times

New Mobile App Helps Troops to Self-Manage Behavior, Stress

Most of us know what a mobile application is—chances are if you own a smartphone, you have downloaded not one, but multiple apps and for various purposes. I, for example, depend on my weather app to know if I should grab my umbrella, or leave it at home.

Standing apart from weather, music and game apps are a new genre of smartphone programs specifically designed for troops and health care providers. These apps, developed by National Center for Telehealth and Technology (T2), a center of Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE), address a more serious matter: psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI).

I spoke with Dr. Nancy Kao Rhiannon, a T2 psychologist and mobile application program manager, about some of these new apps (soon to hit the market) and how specifically the military community can benefit from using them.

“In the military, there’s a certain demographic that uses mobile applications regularly—around 60 percent of service members download apps on their smartphones,” said Rhiannon. “We saw that we could leverage this technology to help improve their psychological health.”

by Robyn Mincher

http://www.dodlive.mil/index.php/2011/11/new-mobile-app-helps-troops-to-self-manage-behavior-stress/

Half of Vets Returning From Iraq and Afghanistan Need Medical Attention

More than half of America's former warriors are returning home from Iraq and Afghanistan with medical and mental problems that need treatment, according to new statistics from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

"These are unprecedented numbers," said Dr. Sonja Batten, assistant deputy chief of patient services care for the VA Mental Health Division.

But they're surprising numbers, in some ways.

While they bear out the controversial 2008 Rand Report that one soldier in three will return home with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), major depression and/or traumatic brain injury (TBI), the TBI component is dramatically less than predicted.

By last June, Batten said, 1.3 million of the two million-plus soldiers serving in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2002 had left military service and were eligible for VA health care. About 700,000 of them (53 percent) have sought health care from the VA.

by: Eric Newhouse, Truthout

http://www.truth-out.org/half-vets-returning-iraq-and-afghanistan-need-medical-attention/1321369149

Wife of suicidal Iraq veteran seeks better support

It has been two weeks since a 23-year-old Iraq war veteran slammed his car into a Sutherlin railroad crossing arm at more than 90 mph in a highly visible suicide attempt. 

Billy Canfield, formerly a member of the Army National Guard's Charlie Company, survived the crash but broke five vertebrae in his back. He was scheduled to be released from the Roseburg Veterans Affairs Medical Center this afternoon.

Less than a week before the crash, Canfield attempted to take his own life by overdosing on his prescription medications, according to his wife, Cassandra Canfield. 

She said the mental health services available locally were not adequate to help her husband. She said she hopes his story will inspire new programs and other means of support for those struggling to readjust to civilian life. 


Heather Morse

http://www.nrtoday.com/article/20111115/NEWS/111119881/1063/NEWS&ParentProfile=1055

Helping veterans and their families overcome post-traumatic stress

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) can have a crushing impact on the lives of veterans. But worse, it is often contagious. The negative psychological and emotional traumas of a vet’s past can spread to his or her family members and other caregivers—with nightmarish consequences. Research shows that parents, spouses and children of returning soldiers with combat PTSD are particularly vulnerable to the stress that inevitably comes from living with a loved one suffering from the aftermath of war.

This video of Julia George and her son, David, a veteran of the war in Iraq, reveals the deep stresses that are all-too-often experienced by veterans and their family members. It also shows how the practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique not only helps veterans, but also relieves the intense stress experienced by their loved ones.

by MARIO ORSATTI

http://www.tm.org/blog/video/veterans-and-families/

The hurt locker (room) bond

The soldier athlete. The athlete warrior.

Though their worlds are disparate, soldiers and athletes are alike in seeking physical and psychological perfection as ways to defeat their challengers. Conquering — in combat or on the playing field — is at their competitive core.

A less glorious common bond? The confounding concussion.

“People say ‘mild’ concussion, but I don’t think there really is such a thing,” NHL star Sidney Crosby said after he was checked into the boards during a Jan. 5 game and later diagnosed with a concussion. “I think it’s a serious thing.”

Crosby hasn’t played an NHL game in 11 months.

Better known in the medical community as traumatic brain injury (TBI), a concussion, in its milder forms, defies easy detection and treatment. It’s a so-called “invisible” injury, the secrets to debilitating symptoms such as headache, dizziness and inattention buried deep within brain tissue.

Sport and military researchers have stepped up concussion studies over the last decade — propelled by neuroscience breakthroughs and better scanning techniques, such as ultrasensitive Magnetic Resonance Imaging — within their specific populations.

Athletic-related concussions typically come from the head striking a solid object or having it whipped from the side. The majority of military personnel returning from Afghanistan with TBIs were wounded by supersonic shock waves emanating from improvised explosive devices. The brain is rocked when shock waves enter the body and create pressure that drives through the skull.

By Mary Ormsby

http://www.thestar.com/news/insight/article/1085969--the-hurt-locker-room-bond

Wounded Warrior shares his story to help others

MARION - Sgt. Adam Widner returned from his tour of duty in Afghanistan with a spinal cord injury and a traumatic brain injury, but his wounds ran far deeper than the physical pain.

Widner was on hand Saturday to receive a $25,000 check from Ashley Furniture Homestore for the Wounded Warrior Project, an organization that helps wounded servicemembers acclimate to civilian life.

A somber tone was set at the beginning of the event as a rifle volley provided by the United Veteran Council honor guard boomed and echoed off the nearby buildings. Folks lining the parking lot bowed heads and held hands over hearts as Bob Rinnert of VFW Post 7201 played a mournful taps on his bugle before heading inside to hear Widner speak.

http://www.marionstar.com/article/20111113/NEWS01/111130321/Wounded-Warrior-shares-his-story-help-others?odyssey=nav|head

Teaming up to help military families stay connected

Sesame Street and The Electric Company unveiled a new collection of resources for military families. The innovative materials are designed to help elementary school-aged children and families stay connected and communicate during times of tremendous change and uncertainty.

Both Sesame Street and The Electric Company are productions of Sesame Workshop, which designed the materials for the program. The new resources are being provided to military families in cooperation with the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury.

The Electric Company Extended Learning Program - afterschool tools for educators, filled with literacy and math-based lesson plans, games, activities and tips. 
Content will be distributed beginning in mid-November through multiple military channels, including Department of Defense Education Activity Educational Partnership Program, Boys & Girls Clubs of America-affiliated Youth Centers and other programs that support military families.

http://www.rbr.com/media-news/teaming-up-to-help-military-families-stay-connected.html

Back In the Game: Hunting trips aimed at healing combat veterans' spirits

RAYMONDVILLE — On a recent day in South Texas, a fresh-faced Marine from Kemp, Texas, sits at a local rancher’s dining room table, talking about hunting and fishing.

Sitting in a wheelchair, he also recounts in his steady Texas drawl how he lost his legs June 27. Lance Cpl. Jeff Knight, 23, was on his second tour in Afghanistan when the blast from an improvised explosive device sheered off both legs at the knee.

It was just two months before his birthday, and Knight, a combat engineer, had been sweeping for mines during a patrol.

The recounting is one of the few moments in the conversation in which his hint of a smile fades and his tone becomes serious.

Dina Arevalo

http://www.themonitor.com/news/members-56380-raymondville-aimed.html

Soldier: The Doctors Will See You Now!

The public-health gurus of the American Public Health Association – all 13,000 of them – are meeting in Washington this week to figure out how we can all lead more healthy lives. It's a noble pursuit, to be sure. Some of the studies and sessions investigate issues of interest to the nation's troops. They may sound pretty grim, but here's a rule of thumb that serves me well: the bad news in military-personnel studies tends to be as exaggerated as the good news in military-weapons-development pitches.

Bottom line: our troops are better than the research indicates, and our weapons aren't as good as the research suggests (then, consider the source: the APHA boasts both a peace caucus and a socialist caucus, but no military caucus or troops caucus that I can find).

One thing's for sure: after a decade of war, here's plenty of work for these folks to do. What follows are the titles and excerpts from the summaries of some of the research they're detailing this week:

Read more: http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/11/01/soldier-the-doctors-will-see-you-now/#ixzz1clAzzVaT


http://battleland.blogs.time.com/2011/11/01/soldier-the-doctors-will-see-you-now/

Sleep disorders plague vets with head trauma or PTSD

HONOLULU (Reuters Health) - New research shows high rates of sleep disorders among veterans of America's wars in Iraq and Afghanistan who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or head injuries.

The study conducted at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, found that among some 300 soldiers with PTSD, head injuries or both, more than half had sleep apnea -- a serious interruption of breathing during sleep -- and nearly half had insomnia.

"Sleep complaints were universal," wrote Dr. Jacob Collen and his colleagues in their research summary. Collen's team presented their findings this week at the annual meeting of the American College of Chest Physicians in Honolulu.

The researchers studied 135 soldiers with PTSD, 116 with traumatic brain injury and 66 with both conditions.

by Rob Goodier

http://www.healthnews.com/en/news/Sleep-disorders-plague-vets-with-head-trauma-or-PTSD/3zmRbtxPT0CAxTEDiUY4D3/

Coming Together to Fight for a Troubled Veteran

Staff Sgt. Brad Eifert circled through the woods behind his house here, holding a .45-caliber pistol. The police were out there somewhere and, one way or the other, he was ready to die.

He raised the gun to his head and then lowered it. Then he fired nine rounds.

“They’re going to take me down, they’re going to finish me off, so,” he remembers thinking, “finish me off.”

Leaving his weapon, he ran into the driveway, shouting, “Shoot me! Shoot me! Shoot me!” The police officers subdued him with a Taser and arrested him. A few hours later, he sat in a cell at the Ingham County Jail, charged with five counts of assault with intent to murder the officers, each carrying a potential life sentence.

By ERICA GOODE

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/18/us/18vets.html?pagewanted=all

New Defense Department Leaders Get Psychological Health, Traumatic Brain Injury Training

Psychological health and traumatic brain injury (TBI) were hot topics at the Defense Department APEX senior executive service orientation last month. Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE) subject matter expert, Dr. Miguel Roberts, presented an executive overview to new military leaders addressing Department of Defense initiatives to reduce the impact of psychological health conditions and TBI for service members. The September workshop integrated psychological health and TBI training content for the first time.

“It is vital that leaders are aware that psychological health and TBI issues are real and negatively impact readiness when left untreated,” said Roberts, DCoE chief of clinical guidelines for psychological health. “Leaders who are well educated on these topics are better prepared to foster a culture that encourages early assessment and detection, which may ultimately reduce the impact of psychological health and traumatic brain injury, for our military members.”

The executive overviewhighlighted projects likeRESPECT-Mil, which provides training to primary care managers; DCoE sponsored Real Warriors Campaign, which encourages service members to seek help; and afterdeployment.org, which provides service members, veterans and families anonymous assessments and treatment information for psychological health- and TBI-related issues.

Also included in the overview were other programs such as Army Comprehensive Soldier Fitness Program; Marine Corps Combat Operational Stress Control; Navy Operational Stress Control; Air Force Landing Gear; and Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program – all focused on making service members more resistant to the stressors of military life

By Corina Notyce

http://www.homelessvetprovidertac.net/2011/new-defense-department-leaders-get-psychological-health-traumatic-brain-injury-training/

Iraq War veterans need US support

By now almost everyone has heard that more 40,000 of our men and women in uniform will be home from Iraq by Christmas.

Many are celebrating, but a New Mexico group that helps veterans get re-adjusted to life after war is worried the nation isn't ready.

Jim Stanek remembers the uncertainty, confusion – even the fear he felt trying to adjust to life back home after three tours in the Middle East.

But that was years ago - before the Great Recession and political turmoil changed the nation.

"It's hard enough for your average citizen to find a job, now you have combat vets coming back with physical injuries, PTSD...how are they supposed to find that job," said Paws and Stripes founder, Jim Stanek.

By: Eddie Garcia

http://www.kob.com/article/stories/S2339875.shtml?cat=516

More women falling into ranks of homeless veterans

Reporting from Fayetteville, N.C— 

As a soldier, Ruth Donaldson was an accomplished ammunition specialist. As a civilian, she became a stressed-out single mother struggling to find a job and raise her child.

After a five-year stint in the Army, Donaldson lost her job at a gas station. She couldn't pay her rent. She and her 6-year-old son ended up living in a Pontiac Grand Am, hungry, homeless and exhausted.

Women make up a growing number of homeless veterans, a group usually associated with combat-hardened men unable to cope with civilian life. Homelessness among female veterans of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars has increased every year for the last six years — from 150 in 2006 to 1,700 this year — according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.

"It just seemed like it was one thing after the other, and I got so far down it was hard to come out of it," said Donaldson, who moved last month into a shelter for female veterans in Fayetteville.


By David Zucchino, Los Angeles Times




http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-na-women-vets-20111024,0,7776963.story

Vet meets with Barack Obama over pizza

As an Army bomb disposal specialist, Foxboro native Brian Sullivan swept sites ahead of presidential visits by former Presidents Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.
But he never got to shake his commander in chief’s hand — or share a pizza with the boss — before yesterday.
“It’s an amazing experience to be able to meet the president of the United States,” said still-giddy Sullivan. “Not everybody gets to do it.
Lunch with President Obama and the first lady was not on Sullivan’s agenda yesterday morning, when he arrived at a hotel in Hampton, Va., at the behest of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.
The 41-year-old married father of five, who now lives in Virginia, was one of four veterans who sat down with the Obamas at a Virginia pizza joint after the duo spoke about jobs for military vets at Joint Base Langley-Eustis.
“I would see the president when I was in the Army, but I wouldn’t shake his hand, and today I actually got to shake his hand,” said Sullivan, who did two tours in Afghanistan and was discharged in 2006 after injuring his knee.
Sullivan, who works as a manager for defense contractor BAE Systems, said he got a call Friday night from the nonprofit Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, asking him to take part in a round table discussion with senior White House staffers.



http://bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/2011_1020vet_meets_with_prez_over_pizza

Dog Training Therapy Act to benefit dogs and war veterans

Washington, DC - The House of Representatives unanimously passed a full package of veterans' health care legislation Wednesday specifically including the Veterans Dog Training Therapy Act (H.R. 1988) which promises a pilot program for the training of dogs from rescues and foster homes as a form of therapy for post-traumatic stress disorder for veterans.

Introduced by Representative Michael Grimm, (R-NY) a Marine veteran of Operation Desert Storm, the dogs will aid in the treatment and rehabilitation of veterans with post-deployment issues and other related mental conditions.

The program is designed to help dogs and soldiers. Dogs who have been abandoned or turned into animal shelters will be specially trained to assist veterans - thus saving thousands of canines from euthanization and saving tax payers from the expense of purchasing expensive dogs.

Animal rescuers applaud Representative Grimm for his carefully thought out plan to help both United States veterans and for so many dogs who would otherwise be condemned to death in animal shelters across the nation.

Cheryl Hanna

, Pet Rescue Examiner


http://www.examiner.com/pet-rescue-in-national/dog-training-therapy-act-to-benefit-dogs-and-war-veterans

MILITARY: Pendleton leads way in easing hell of war

The Marine Corps is trying to ease some of the hell of war, ordering that initiatives with roots at Camp Pendleton be put in place across the force to stem troop suicides and reduce combat stress disorder.

One initiative requires that all units returning from the battlefield stay together for 90 days so troops can decompress.

The other mandates "operational stress control and readiness" or OSCAR ---- teams of at least 20 people in every battalion and similarly sized units ---- to help identify Marines and sailors having difficulties that can lead to mental health problems or suicidal behavior.

The initiatives are crucial to maintain overall troop health and reach out to those in trouble, said Maj. Joseph Plenzler, spokesman for the commandant of the Marine Corps, Gen. James Amos.

"One of the commandant's four priorities is keeping faith with our Marines, sailors, and their families, and the OSCAR program is one of the important ways that the Corps carries out the intent," Plenzler said. "General Amos directed the establishment of OSCAR teams in order to prevent, mitigate and manage stress."

Navy Cmdr. Charles Benson, the chief psychiatrist for Camp Pendleton's 1st Marine Division, called the change in Marine Corps attitudes about stress issues "nothing less than phenomenal."

By MARK WALKER

Read more: http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_d426a8d4-8976-5ad0-9f9b-99c63b60ddb0.html#ixzz1bGp3hnTl

http://www.nctimes.com/news/local/military/article_d426a8d4-8976-5ad0-9f9b-99c63b60ddb0.html