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When Mental Healthcare Goes AWOL
Sep 03, 2007
America must quit treating its National Guardsmen and reserves like second-class soldiers.
To an unprecedented extent, President Bush has been relying on the men and women of our National Guard to help fight his war in Iraq. Today, they make up approximately 20 percent of the force, down from a high of 48 percent during the summer of 2005. More than 425,179 guardsmen and reservists have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of citizen-soldiers killed in Iraq is more than four times the number that died in Vietnam, a fact that President Bush did not mention when he recently compared the two wars.
Those weekend warriors who return from Iraq alive do not get the crucial services they need -- especially mental healthcare. Many of them were never given post-combat mental health evaluations and are no longer eligible for treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Some have to wait more than two years to get it.
Active-duty troops can get year-round mental healthcare, but Guard members, once demobilized, "have virtually no access to healthcare," according to Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, Washington National Guard, who testified at a recent hearing held by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
This hearing took place one day after the Pentagon revealed that 99 Army soldiers committed suicide last year -- the highest rate in more than 25 years. Failed suicide attempts outnumbered suicides by almost 10 to one, according to the Pentagon's report. That report did not include Marines, airmen or soldiers who killed themselves after separating from service, or citizen-soldiers.
Nearly half of all members of the National Guard vets are exhibiting post-combat mental health problems, according to the Pentagon's Mental Health Task Force.
National Guard Spc. Brandon Jones, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, testified about one of his buddies: "My friend was medevac'd because of the stresses of combat. He was supposed to be on suicide watch. He was supposed to have been receiving counseling and medication. He was sent home alone! He put a gun to his head and took his own life."
Active-duty troops participate in post-deployment follow-up for three months, and their regular contact with fellow soldiers facilitates decompression and reintegration. By contrast, guardsmen typically have no follow-up in the first three months post-deployment and no formal contact with their unit.
Jones, who suffers from mental injuries as the result of his combat deployment to Iraq in 2003-04, recounted being told that certain resources were "strictly for active-duty soldiers." He said he was made to feel that counseling services "were a favor" and that "we were taking up a resource meant for active-duty soldiers."
When combat trauma is exacerbated by this neglect and disregard, the sense of betrayal can set the stage for suicide.
We cannot continue to rely on our National Guard to take on the burdens of warfighting only to abandon them -- and their families -- when they are demobilized.
The men and women of the National Guard who have been fighting in Iraq know the terrible toll this war is taking on their hearts and minds. They shouldn't have to fight for the care that this nation promised them when they get home.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
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Stacy Bannerman
Stacy Bannerman is the author of Homefront 911: How Families of Veterans Are Wounded by Our Wars (2015), and When the War Came Home (2006). She was a charter board member of Military Families Speak Out, has testified before Congress three times, and spearheaded the passage of two bills. Her website is www.stacybannerman.com
America must quit treating its National Guardsmen and reserves like second-class soldiers.
To an unprecedented extent, President Bush has been relying on the men and women of our National Guard to help fight his war in Iraq. Today, they make up approximately 20 percent of the force, down from a high of 48 percent during the summer of 2005. More than 425,179 guardsmen and reservists have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of citizen-soldiers killed in Iraq is more than four times the number that died in Vietnam, a fact that President Bush did not mention when he recently compared the two wars.
Those weekend warriors who return from Iraq alive do not get the crucial services they need -- especially mental healthcare. Many of them were never given post-combat mental health evaluations and are no longer eligible for treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Some have to wait more than two years to get it.
Active-duty troops can get year-round mental healthcare, but Guard members, once demobilized, "have virtually no access to healthcare," according to Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, Washington National Guard, who testified at a recent hearing held by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
This hearing took place one day after the Pentagon revealed that 99 Army soldiers committed suicide last year -- the highest rate in more than 25 years. Failed suicide attempts outnumbered suicides by almost 10 to one, according to the Pentagon's report. That report did not include Marines, airmen or soldiers who killed themselves after separating from service, or citizen-soldiers.
Nearly half of all members of the National Guard vets are exhibiting post-combat mental health problems, according to the Pentagon's Mental Health Task Force.
National Guard Spc. Brandon Jones, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, testified about one of his buddies: "My friend was medevac'd because of the stresses of combat. He was supposed to be on suicide watch. He was supposed to have been receiving counseling and medication. He was sent home alone! He put a gun to his head and took his own life."
Active-duty troops participate in post-deployment follow-up for three months, and their regular contact with fellow soldiers facilitates decompression and reintegration. By contrast, guardsmen typically have no follow-up in the first three months post-deployment and no formal contact with their unit.
Jones, who suffers from mental injuries as the result of his combat deployment to Iraq in 2003-04, recounted being told that certain resources were "strictly for active-duty soldiers." He said he was made to feel that counseling services "were a favor" and that "we were taking up a resource meant for active-duty soldiers."
When combat trauma is exacerbated by this neglect and disregard, the sense of betrayal can set the stage for suicide.
We cannot continue to rely on our National Guard to take on the burdens of warfighting only to abandon them -- and their families -- when they are demobilized.
The men and women of the National Guard who have been fighting in Iraq know the terrible toll this war is taking on their hearts and minds. They shouldn't have to fight for the care that this nation promised them when they get home.
Stacy Bannerman
Stacy Bannerman is the author of Homefront 911: How Families of Veterans Are Wounded by Our Wars (2015), and When the War Came Home (2006). She was a charter board member of Military Families Speak Out, has testified before Congress three times, and spearheaded the passage of two bills. Her website is www.stacybannerman.com
America must quit treating its National Guardsmen and reserves like second-class soldiers.
To an unprecedented extent, President Bush has been relying on the men and women of our National Guard to help fight his war in Iraq. Today, they make up approximately 20 percent of the force, down from a high of 48 percent during the summer of 2005. More than 425,179 guardsmen and reservists have been deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan. The number of citizen-soldiers killed in Iraq is more than four times the number that died in Vietnam, a fact that President Bush did not mention when he recently compared the two wars.
Those weekend warriors who return from Iraq alive do not get the crucial services they need -- especially mental healthcare. Many of them were never given post-combat mental health evaluations and are no longer eligible for treatment from the Department of Veterans Affairs. Some have to wait more than two years to get it.
Active-duty troops can get year-round mental healthcare, but Guard members, once demobilized, "have virtually no access to healthcare," according to Maj. Gen. Timothy Lowenberg, Washington National Guard, who testified at a recent hearing held by Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash.
This hearing took place one day after the Pentagon revealed that 99 Army soldiers committed suicide last year -- the highest rate in more than 25 years. Failed suicide attempts outnumbered suicides by almost 10 to one, according to the Pentagon's report. That report did not include Marines, airmen or soldiers who killed themselves after separating from service, or citizen-soldiers.
Nearly half of all members of the National Guard vets are exhibiting post-combat mental health problems, according to the Pentagon's Mental Health Task Force.
National Guard Spc. Brandon Jones, a veteran of Operation Iraqi Freedom, testified about one of his buddies: "My friend was medevac'd because of the stresses of combat. He was supposed to be on suicide watch. He was supposed to have been receiving counseling and medication. He was sent home alone! He put a gun to his head and took his own life."
Active-duty troops participate in post-deployment follow-up for three months, and their regular contact with fellow soldiers facilitates decompression and reintegration. By contrast, guardsmen typically have no follow-up in the first three months post-deployment and no formal contact with their unit.
Jones, who suffers from mental injuries as the result of his combat deployment to Iraq in 2003-04, recounted being told that certain resources were "strictly for active-duty soldiers." He said he was made to feel that counseling services "were a favor" and that "we were taking up a resource meant for active-duty soldiers."
When combat trauma is exacerbated by this neglect and disregard, the sense of betrayal can set the stage for suicide.
We cannot continue to rely on our National Guard to take on the burdens of warfighting only to abandon them -- and their families -- when they are demobilized.
The men and women of the National Guard who have been fighting in Iraq know the terrible toll this war is taking on their hearts and minds. They shouldn't have to fight for the care that this nation promised them when they get home.
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