SgtSloppy's blog: "Veteran's Issues and Rights"

Female veterans slam VA citing lack of services Sex abuse, PTSD among problems By Michael Gisick It happened at a Christmas party on a U.S. air base in Germany in 1990. Christin McKinley was a 20-year-old military police officer with the U.S. Air Force, six months out of boot camp and eager to prove herself. In a few weeks, her country and its allies would launch the first Gulf War. She wanted, she says, to be one of the boys. That night, one of the boys, a staff sergeant who was also one of her supervisors, pulled her into a bathroom. She told him no, she says, but he covered her mouth, pinned her down and raped her. Among the growing ranks of female veterans, McKinley, an Albuquerque resident, is disturbingly far from alone. About 3,000 sexual assaults were reported in the military last year, a 24 percent increase over 2005, according to a Department of Defense report issued in mid-March. Of 188 women now being treated through a clinic for post-traumatic stress disorder at the Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Albuquerque, between 80 and 90 percent report some kind of sexual trauma while in the military, the clinic's director, Diane Castillo, says. But McKinley, who works as a veterans employment representative with the state Department of Labor and is president of New Mexico Women Veterans, said the VA system remains poorly equipped to address the needs of women, pointing to scaled-back services at a women's clinic at the Albuquerque VA hospital. "There are some good programs and some good people," she said. "But when you find a lump (in your body) and you have to wait six months for an appointment, it tells you something is wrong." Although state officials say they're trying to help fill the void, the Legislature this session failed to pass a bill that would have funded a study on the needs of female vets. Meanwhile, women are serving in the U.S. military like never before. One in seven Americans deployed to Iraq is a woman. More than 450 women have been wounded and 71 killed, more than the combined total for women in Korea, Vietnam and the first Gulf War. Most studies on PTSD have focused on two groups - civilian women who have been sexually assaulted and male troops who've seen combat. Little research has been done on a group Castillo sees emerging from the ranks of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans - women who've seen combat and been sexually traumatized. The military's definition of sexual trauma includes harassment, but Castillo said even women who haven't been assaulted can suffer serious psychological consequences, likely accounting for a higher rate of PTSD among female vets than among men. "Imagine being out there in a war zone, worrying about the enemy, and then also having to worry about being raped by your own comrades. It's a double stressor," Castillo said. "There's nowhere to turn." Echoing accounts from elsewhere in the country, Castillo said she's talked to female vets who told her they took a gun to the latrine while in Iraq because they were so fearful of sexual assault. Others said they never went to the latrine at night, or would only go in groups. McKinley related this comment from a friend who just deployed for a second tour in Iraq: "She said as soon as she gets there, she's going to find an officer to hook up with so she'll have protection." More help, but not enough The military has launched several initiatives aimed at sexual assaults, including a Web site that allows people to anonymously report attacks and harassment, and the local VA says it's working to expand programs aimed expressly at women. But five times more male New Mexicans are enrolled in the VA system, and McKinley said it remains an unpleasant and often unresponsive option for many women. Like others, she says the closure two years ago of a segregated, full-service women's clinic at the hospital was a step in the wrong direction. Gerry Oakland, the business manager for primary care at the VA hospital, said the decision to cancel the clinic came amid struggles to find steady staffing. Women can still go to the clinic for ob-gyn care, though they now go through the same primary care network as men. Oakland said a nurse practitioner has just been hired for the clinic in an effort to expand services. But McKinley said she's "not buying" the VA's explanation. "I don't think staffing was the issue, I think it was mismanaged. Now they're telling us it was a budgetary issue," she said. "We're seeing an expanding number of female vets, and other states are opening women's clinics. We're closing ours, and that's not acceptable." Castillo, whose women's trauma clinic for PTSD patients is separated from male programs, acknowledged the importance of having separate areas for women, especially those who've suffered sexual trauma. "It can be very difficult for women who've been through that to sit in a waiting area with a bunch of men," she said. Barbara Goldman, director of the Santa Fe Rape Crisis and Trauma Treatment Center, said many women are hesitant to seek care through the male-dominated VA system even when programs for women exist. "There's an understandable reticence to look for help within the same military culture in which you were victimized in the first place," she said. The Rape Crisis Center is one of several New Mexico organizations outside the VA seeking to expand services for New Mexico's estimated 15,000 female veterans. This year's Legislature approved $375,000 for the center to begin work on a statewide outreach program for female veterans. But a bill that would have tabbed $469,000 for a pilot program to study the needs of female vets stalled in the House. "There's a clarion call to do something about this now, and I was shocked that bill didn't pass," Goldman said. State Rep. Jim Trujillo, a Santa Fe Democrat who sponsored the bill, said he was unable to revive it after it stalled in the House Appropriations and Finance Committee. "Sometimes you can't convince people of the need, but I was convinced," Trujillo said. "Those ladies come out of the service having to deal with not only the war issues, but the sexual abuse, which is pretty widespread." State Veterans Services Secretary John Garcia said the Legislature appropriated money to hire five new veterans service officers across the state. Two of those, including one in Albuquerque, will be women, he said. The department is also holding a conference on women's issues in June, he said, and is supporting the formation of a women's honor guard team. The department helped form New Mexico Women Veterans. Few options for escape Stepped-up efforts to care for female veterans only deal with the end-result of the problem, and McKinley said she's dispirited by the continued prevalence of sexual assault in the military. She hears the question: Should women serve alongside men? "I turn that around," she said. "This isn't women's fault. It's the men who are doing this. They're the ones who need to change." Though The Tribune's general policy is not to identify victims of sexual assault, McKinley said she wanted to talk about the attack to help bring to light a problem faced by many of the female veterans she knows. She said she never reported her rape, but finally did report the harassment that followed. She said another sergeant taped condoms to her door and sent her threatening letters, saying she was sleeping with everyone else and accusing her of refusing to sleep with him because he was black. One day, she overheard several other men taking bets on who would be the first to sleep with her. "That was really the low point," she said. "The rape was just one person, but this was five or six. It was like, no matter how hard I tried to be taken seriously and show what I could do, it didn't matter." Castillo said female service members face immense peer pressure not to report assaults and few options for escape. "It's not as if they can move to a different city or change jobs," she said. "They might be raped by a superior officer, and they have to continue serving under them." Despite more than a decade of sexual abuse scandals, Castillo said the military still has far to go in confronting dangerous basic attitudes toward women. "In military culture, women are pushed into one of two roles - either you date men and you're a whore, or you don't and you're a dyke," she said. "That's still true to some extent of society as a whole, but it's much more true of the military."

As Iraq war continues, two men work to send a message that the nation cares. by Craig McKee ST. ALBANS -- The fourth anniversary of the Iraq war recently passed. With it, a number of images from across the country and the world showed people protesting the war and disagreeing with American policy. But now two veterans who served in separate wars want to remind citizens that there is a line between support for the war and support for the men and women in uniform. "The citizens there in Los Angeles airport literally picked up garbage out of the trash cans and threw at us," said Vietnam era veteran Brad Morgan. Returning from overseas during the Vietnam War, Brad Morgan, like so many other veterans, was met with disdain... Now Morgan and his fellow veteran, Walter Durbin, who served during the Korean War, are concerned that the nation is beginning to go down a familiar path where anti-war becomes anti-service member. "Their message is construed is that the guys that used to love me back home don't care for me no more, they don't want me because I'm over here fighting in someone else's war," Durbin said. Reading what sounds like a grocery shopping list, Morgan is developing an idea, taken from the pages of the American Legion magazine. He wants to create a way to let the troops know that despite protests and flip-flop comments on Capitol Hill, that there actually is an anti-anti-war campaign. "It's not about the politicians, it's not about the war. It's about our men and women who are serving our country," Morgan said. He's already receiving preliminary support from Kmart and Wendy's, and he now hopes other area groups, churches and former veterans will help create mini care packages to those serving overseas. "For those people on the battlefield with the big guns," Morgan recalled from his time of service, "they're fighting several things – two main ... the war itself the enemy and the missing of family members." And while these Morgan and Durbin can't do anything about the fight on the ground, they're hoping they can redefine the line between it and those who serve. "We're not here to judge why these soldiers are defending their country; we're here to support them in every possible way we can," Durbin said. You can contact Brad Morgan via email, abmorgan@suddenlink.net.

OOORAH! Body: I just wanted to repost so everyone has a chance to see it & repost it, too. It may take you two minutes to read this, but if you do not take the time to read this you are one of the people this post is talking about. You stay up for 16 hours He stays up for days on end. _________________________ You take a warm shower to help you wake up. He goes days or weeks without running water. __________________________ You complain of a "headache", and call in sick. He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward. __________________________ You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends. He still fights for your right to wear that shirt. __________________________ You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket. He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags. __________________________ You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you. He knows he may not see some of his buddies again. __________________________ You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls. He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists. _________________________ You complain about how hot it is. He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow. __________________________ You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong. He doesn't get to eat today. __________________________ Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes. He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean. __________________________ You go to the mall and get your hair redone. He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today. __________________________ You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over. He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months. __________________________ You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight. He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home. __________________________ You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday. He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume. __________________________ You roll your eyes as a baby cries. He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet __________________________ You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything. He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting. __________________________ You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him. He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded. __________________________ You see only what the media wants you to see. He sees the broken bodies lying around him. __________________________ You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't. He does exactly what he is told. __________________________ You stay at home and watch TV. He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat. __________________________ You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable. *** He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long. *** __________________________ You sit there and judge him, saying the world is probably a worse place because of men like him. If only there were more men like him ___________________________ If you support your troops, repost this with a "OORAH!" If you don't support your troops well, then don't repost, it's not like you know the men and women that are dying to preserve your right

http://www.metimes.com/storyview.php?StoryID=20070401-031851-5270r US Iraq vets cheated out of medical care, disability pay Sherwood Ross Middle East Times April 1, 2007 MIAMI, FL, USA -- Over the past six years, some 22,500 soldiers have been discharged on grounds of "personality disorder," a condition that can be claimed as having existed prior to their tour of duty, thereby absolving the Pentagon of its obligation to provide them with medical care and pay for their benefits. Over the course of a six-month investigation published in The Nation magazine for April 9, reporter Joshua Kors learned of "multiple cases" in which "soldiers wounded in Iraq are suspiciously diagnosed as having a personality disorder, then prevented from collecting benefits." According to Kors: "The conditions of their discharge have infuriated many in the military community, including the injured soldiers and their families, veterans' rights groups, even military officials required to process these dismissals." They say the military is purposely misdiagnosing soldiers "to cheat them out of a lifetime of disability and medical benefits, thereby saving billions in expenses." With an average disability payment of about $8,900 a year and a medical cost of about $5,000 per year over a 40-year period per soldier, separating 22,500 of them would save the Pentagon $8-billion in disability pay and $4.5-billion in medical care over their lifetimes, the article says. Specialist Jon Town, of Findlay, OH, was separated on a "personality disorder" diagnosis even though in October, 2004, a 107-millimeter rocket struck 0.6 meters (2 feet) over his head as he stood in the doorway of his battalion's headquarters in Ramadi, Iraq. Town's ears were leaking blood from the blast and rocket shrapnel was removed from his neck. The blast caused substantial deafness, and he also suffers from memory failure and depression. Inexplicably, doctors at Fort Carson, CO, diagnosed Town with "personality disorder," depriving him of disability and medical benefits. Russell Terry, founder of the Iraq War Veterans Organization said that given that each serviceman or woman is screened psychologically when they join the military: "if all these soldiers really did have a severe pre-existing condition, how did they get into the military in the first place?" In the last six years, according to The Nation, the army alone has diagnosed and discharged more than 5,600 soldiers because of personality disorder, and their numbers continue to rise. Between January and November of last year, 1,086 soldiers were discharged on such grounds. One unidentified military official told Kors, "It's like, suddenly everybody [on my base] has a personality disorder. They're saving a buck. And they're saving the VA [Department of Veterans Affairs] money too. It's all about money." In the case of veteran Town, he was told to give back the bulk of his $15,000 enlistment bonus and left Fort Carson owing the government more than $3,000. According to the magazine, Fort Carson psychologist Mark Wexler assured Town he would receive disability benefits, VA medical care, and would get to keep his bonus. When he found out he was being discharged empty-handed, Town said, "It was a total shock. I felt like I'd been betrayed by the army." When asked if doctors at Fort Carson were assuring patients set for a 5-13 pre-existing condition discharge they would receive benefits, Colonel Steven Knorr, Wexler's boss, replied, "I don't believe they're doing that." Other veterans contacted by Kors, however, said military doctors tried to force the diagnosis upon them and turned a blind eye to physical ailments and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms. Army Specialist William Wooldridge said he struck and killed a young girl who was pushed in front of his ammunition truck in Iraq and has heard voices and suffered hallucinations ever since. He was discharged with "personality disorder" but 18 months later, a review board in Memphis voided that 5-13 dismissal, stating his PTSD was so severe he was, in fact, "totally disabled." Another veteran, Chris Mosier, of Des Moines, IA, put a note on the front door of his home saying the Iraqis were after him and then shot himself. His mother, Linda, said her son's problems began in Iraq when a truck in front of his was blown up by a roadside bomb and the men inside were burned alive. "He was there at the end to pick up the hands and arms," she said. "They take a normal kid, he comes back messed up, then nobody was there for him when he came back. They discharged him so they didn't have to treat him," she added. Steve Robinson, director of veterans' affairs at Veterans for America, a Washington, DC-based soldiers' rights group, pointed out military doctors have been facing an overflow of wounded soldiers and a shortage of rooms, supplies, and time to treat them. "By calling PTSD a personality disorder, they usher one soldier out quickly, freeing up space for the three or four who are waiting," he said. A lawyer for Trial Defense Services, an Army unit to guide soldiers through their 5-13 discharge and who was not identified by name, told Kors: "Right now, the army is eating its own. What I want to see is these soldiers getting the right diagnosis, so they can get the right help, not be thrown to the wolves right away. That is what they're doing." As for veteran Town, whose case was brought by Robinson to the attention of Deputy Surgeon General Gale Pollock and others, he says he is doing his best to keep his head in check and that his nightmares have diminished. "I have my good days and my bad days," he said. "It all depends on whether I wake up in Findlay or Iraq." Sherwood Ross is a Miami-based columnist who covers military and political topics. Reach him at sherwoodr1@.... Copyright material is distributed without profit or payment for research and educational purposes only, in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107. Reference: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]