The Arlington is christened at the Pascagoula, Mississippi shipyard. Arlington is one of three ships built to honor the heroes and victims of Sept. 11, 2001.
A new study commissioned by the Defense Department affirms many of the suicide-prevention efforts being made within DOD and the military services and recommends ways to strengthen them. In preparing “The War Within: Suicide Prevention in the U.S. Military,” the Rand National Defense Research Institute examined data on military suicides, identified what scientific literature and leaders in the field consider the best prevention strategies and recommended ways to ensure existing programs reflect the state of the art, officials said.
“This is a very thorough effort,” Dr. Mark Barnes, director of the resilience and prevention directorate at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said of the report. “Rand interviewed each of the services and went outside the military to look at suicide-prevention practices and identified gaps for the way ahead [and] recommendations for the military suicide-prevention programs.”
The study’s findings track closely with those in the Defense Department’s own DOD Suicide Task Force Report, Barnes told military health care professionals attending the first Armed Forces Public Health Conference held here this week.
“There is no disagreement. They are very complimentary in what they are recommending,” he said. “So we have a nice resource here with quality information that our suicide-prevention folks can refer to as we move forward with the task force recommendations.”
Navy Capt. Paul Hammer, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, called the Rand report an important tool in helping the Defense Department better confront an issue it takes “very seriously.”
“The Rand study helps us to identify areas that need improvement so that we can continue to provide the most comprehensive health care for our service members –- from the inside out,” he said.
The study, written for health policy officials and suicide-prevention program managers, recognized critical factors in a comprehensive prevention program. These include:
-- Raising awareness and promoting self-care;
-- Identifying people at high risk, including screening for mental health problems;
-- Eliminating actual or perceived barriers to quality behavioral health care;
-- Providing high-quality mental health treatment and specific interventions focused on suicide when needed;
-- Restricting access to firearms and other lethal means, with attention to how lethal medications are packaged and how door hinges and shower rods are constructed; and
-- Responding appropriately when suicides occur.
Evaluating the Defense Department’s suicide prevention programs, the study cited the potential benefit of a new DOD-wide surveillance program being used to track suicides and suicide attempts. The DOD Suicide Event Report replaced each service’s individual suicide-reporting system, Barnes explained, helping to ensure “apples to apples” comparisons as information is shared across the services.
“This is a data issue,” he said. “We need good data. The data informs us in how to be effective with prevention and health promotion. So we are continually improving our data systems.”
Rand also called for an evaluation of existing suicide prevention programs, along with a requirement that any new initiatives include an evaluation plan. Barnes acknowledged the challenge of assessing programs’ effectiveness, but called closer collaboration and information sharing across the Defense Department and services a positive step toward sharing best practices and determining what works.
The Rand study recognizes most military suicide-prevention programs’ focus on raising awareness, including telling people where to get help and helping them recognize peers in distress. However, it emphasizes the importance of also teaching military members how to recognize their own problems and refer themselves if needed to a behavioral health professional or chaplain.
“Raising awareness and promoting self-care is something we do and we can do better,” Barnes said, noting the value of resilience campaigns. “The ideas is to give people skills,” and know how to recognize signs of risk in themselves as well as others, and to know what to do.
The report also identified the importance of partnerships between agencies and organizations responsible for mental health and substance use and other known risk factors for suicide.
“We do fairly well in terms of partnerships,” Barnes said. “One area we are looking at is, on an installation, how well do all the different partners work together in the suicide [prevention] mission? Because often times you have … one person who is the suicide prevention person on an installation. They are not going to be able to check in on everybody. It is really the whole installation that needs to be on board to be effective with this.”
The study also cited the need to ensure there’s no gap in services provided during military members’ transitions -- between military bases, between commands or between active and reserve status.
“Ensuring a continuity of services and care is really important,” Barnes said. “One of the times of increased vulnerability is during transitions. … And we need to be covering all the gaps like this proactively for our service members and their families.”
The study called for formal guidance for commanders so they know how to respond to suicide and suicide attempts. It recognized the lack of any direct policy within the services and the risks of handling these situations improperly.
“It is really about our leadership,” Barnes said. “We need to empower our leadership, because they set the example. They set the tone. So we have to give them the tools. We need to give them the information, the data, so they know what is going on, where we think is the right direction to go, and then get behind them.”
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
“This is a very thorough effort,” Dr. Mark Barnes, director of the resilience and prevention directorate at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, said of the report. “Rand interviewed each of the services and went outside the military to look at suicide-prevention practices and identified gaps for the way ahead [and] recommendations for the military suicide-prevention programs.”
The study’s findings track closely with those in the Defense Department’s own DOD Suicide Task Force Report, Barnes told military health care professionals attending the first Armed Forces Public Health Conference held here this week.
“There is no disagreement. They are very complimentary in what they are recommending,” he said. “So we have a nice resource here with quality information that our suicide-prevention folks can refer to as we move forward with the task force recommendations.”
Navy Capt. Paul Hammer, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, called the Rand report an important tool in helping the Defense Department better confront an issue it takes “very seriously.”
“The Rand study helps us to identify areas that need improvement so that we can continue to provide the most comprehensive health care for our service members –- from the inside out,” he said.
The study, written for health policy officials and suicide-prevention program managers, recognized critical factors in a comprehensive prevention program. These include:
-- Raising awareness and promoting self-care;
-- Identifying people at high risk, including screening for mental health problems;
-- Eliminating actual or perceived barriers to quality behavioral health care;
-- Providing high-quality mental health treatment and specific interventions focused on suicide when needed;
-- Restricting access to firearms and other lethal means, with attention to how lethal medications are packaged and how door hinges and shower rods are constructed; and
-- Responding appropriately when suicides occur.
Evaluating the Defense Department’s suicide prevention programs, the study cited the potential benefit of a new DOD-wide surveillance program being used to track suicides and suicide attempts. The DOD Suicide Event Report replaced each service’s individual suicide-reporting system, Barnes explained, helping to ensure “apples to apples” comparisons as information is shared across the services.
“This is a data issue,” he said. “We need good data. The data informs us in how to be effective with prevention and health promotion. So we are continually improving our data systems.”
Rand also called for an evaluation of existing suicide prevention programs, along with a requirement that any new initiatives include an evaluation plan. Barnes acknowledged the challenge of assessing programs’ effectiveness, but called closer collaboration and information sharing across the Defense Department and services a positive step toward sharing best practices and determining what works.
The Rand study recognizes most military suicide-prevention programs’ focus on raising awareness, including telling people where to get help and helping them recognize peers in distress. However, it emphasizes the importance of also teaching military members how to recognize their own problems and refer themselves if needed to a behavioral health professional or chaplain.
“Raising awareness and promoting self-care is something we do and we can do better,” Barnes said, noting the value of resilience campaigns. “The ideas is to give people skills,” and know how to recognize signs of risk in themselves as well as others, and to know what to do.
The report also identified the importance of partnerships between agencies and organizations responsible for mental health and substance use and other known risk factors for suicide.
“We do fairly well in terms of partnerships,” Barnes said. “One area we are looking at is, on an installation, how well do all the different partners work together in the suicide [prevention] mission? Because often times you have … one person who is the suicide prevention person on an installation. They are not going to be able to check in on everybody. It is really the whole installation that needs to be on board to be effective with this.”
The study also cited the need to ensure there’s no gap in services provided during military members’ transitions -- between military bases, between commands or between active and reserve status.
“Ensuring a continuity of services and care is really important,” Barnes said. “One of the times of increased vulnerability is during transitions. … And we need to be covering all the gaps like this proactively for our service members and their families.”
The study called for formal guidance for commanders so they know how to respond to suicide and suicide attempts. It recognized the lack of any direct policy within the services and the risks of handling these situations improperly.
“It is really about our leadership,” Barnes said. “We need to empower our leadership, because they set the example. They set the tone. So we have to give them the tools. We need to give them the information, the data, so they know what is going on, where we think is the right direction to go, and then get behind them.”
By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service
03/22/2011
Slightly more than half of all Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans treated by the Veterans Affairs Department received care for mental health problems, roughly four times the rate of the general population, according to statistics compiled by the advocacy group Veterans for Common Sense based on data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.
The data show that among the 625,834 Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans enrolled in the VA health care system as of December 2010, 313,670 were treated for mental health conditions.
Lee Igel, a psychologist and assistant professor at New York University, said the numbers were "staggering" when compared to the general population.
The National Institute of Mental Health reported in 2008, the latest data available, that 13.4 percent of adults in the United States received treatment for mental health problems.
Read the entire Broken Warriors series.Sonja Batten, assistant deputy chief patient care services officer for mental health at the Veterans Health Administration, agreed the data obtained by Veterans for Common Sense showed that a "significant number" of veterans from the current wars were receiving mental health care. She told Nextgov these were provisional diagnoses that could be revised downward by as much as one-third.
Data VA subsequently provided to Nextgov showed that the department cared for 386,497 Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans in fiscal 2010, and out of that number, 161,794 -- or 41.9 percent -- received a primary diagnosis of a mental health condition, a rate three times higher than that of the general population. Data compiled by Veterans for Common Sense included Afghanistan and Iraq veterans treated at VA facilities from 2002 through 2010, whereas the numbers VA provided Nextgov reflect 2010 data only.
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said VA is trying to downplay the mental health problems of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans.
The data Sullivan's group obtained under the FOIA request were categorized according to diagnostic codes used by VA clinicians, Sullivan said. The numbers showed that 122,175 veterans were diagnosed with depression, 102,767 with neurotic disorders and another 72,952 with a combination of depression, anxiety and mood swings. More than 78,000 were diagnosed with a variety of other conditions, including alcoholism and drug abuse.
The data also showed that 182,147, or 29 percent of all Afghanistan and Iraq veterans treated by VA, sought care for post-traumatic stress disorder, Sullivan said. This is almost double the rate of PTSD for Vietnam War veterans, which is 15.2 percent, and more than double the rate of PTSD among Gulf War veterans, which is 12.1 percent, according to a fact sheet from VA's National Center for PTSD.
The data Veterans for Common Sense obtained from VA does not include any information on veterans who sought help from clinicians outside the Veterans Health Administration, Sullivan said. As such, he believes Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans' mental health problems actually are underreported.
Barbara Van Dahlen, founder and president of Give an Hour, a Bethesda, Md.-based nonprofit that arranges free counseling services with private practitioners for veterans, agreed. She said 67 percent of Vietnam veterans sought help outside VA, and expects many current veterans to do so, particularly in areas that do not have a VA hospital or clinic.
Tom Vande Burgt, an Army National Guard veteran who served in Iraq and runs the Lest We Forget PTSD peer-support group in Charleston, W.Va., with his wife, Diane, also believes the data obtained by Veterans for Common Sense likely underreports mental health problems because many veterans do not fully understand their benefits.
In addition, Vande Burgt said many veterans do not seek mental health care, preferring to "hide out in the basement, playing video games until there is some sort of triggering event."
Effects of Multiple Deployments
VA's Batten, mental health professionals outside the department and veteran advocates all agree the large numbers of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans seeking mental health care reflects the cumulative effects of multiple deployments during the past decade. As deployments increase, "the population in need grows," she said.
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said he is concerned that troop cuts recently proposed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates "will only increase the burden of deployment on an increasingly smaller force." Miller, in an e-mail statement, added that the Defense Department "must ensure that our soldiers have adequate dwell time between deployments and that we are not relying too heavily on a fewer number of troops."
Miller, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said Defense needs to demonstrate that "the number and length of deployments are not having an effect on the mental health of service members."
Diane Vande Burgt, echoing the views of mental health experts interviewed by, said, "There is no doubt in my mind that multiple deployments are the biggest reason for the high numbers. Stress levels are probably through the roof. When someone is overloaded on stress and gets no relief they begin to suffer both mentally and physically."
The fact that so many Afghanistan and Iraq veterans have sought help from VA for their mental health problems stands out as good news among otherwise grim statistics, experts and advocates agreed. Igel said the data show the current crop of veterans have overcome the stigma that felt by Vietnam veterans.
Miller agreed. "We're doing a much better job encouraging service members to come forward and seek treatment than at any other time in our nation's history, and that is one of many reasons for the high numbers. Some of our service members and veterans have experienced severe mental anguish, and I am thankful that they are seeking treatment," he said.
But Margaret Stone, co-founder and chairwoman of the Veterans Healing Initiative, which provides funding to treat veterans who suffer from substance abuse and PTSD in nongovernment facilities, said, "The stigma associated with mental health [and] substance abuse remains pervasive throughout the military and society and so we still see a lag time between the time a vet returns and when he or she ultimately receives care."
Miller said a number of factors could explain the increase in the number of recent veterans seeking mental health care from VA. "Better education on mental health and reducing stigma associated with asking for help are contributors. I also believe this increase can be attributed to outreach by VHA and increased access to VA health care enrollment.... Health care professionals are also better now at diagnosing mental health conditions both in the field and in VA and DoD medical facilities," he said.
The data on the mental health treatment of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans indicate that more resources are needed to treat these veterans, Stone said. In particular, she said VA must do a better job serving veterans who don't live or work near the department's hospitals and clinics.
Vande Burgt agreed, and noted National Guard and reserve troops have been hit hard by multiple deployments and are more likely to live in rural communities poorly served by VA.
Veterans Affairs should consider opening more rural clinics and contracting with outside services to reach underserved areas, she said.
This is the eighth story in an ongoing series.
The data show that among the 625,834 Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans enrolled in the VA health care system as of December 2010, 313,670 were treated for mental health conditions.
Lee Igel, a psychologist and assistant professor at New York University, said the numbers were "staggering" when compared to the general population.
The National Institute of Mental Health reported in 2008, the latest data available, that 13.4 percent of adults in the United States received treatment for mental health problems.
Read the entire Broken Warriors series.Sonja Batten, assistant deputy chief patient care services officer for mental health at the Veterans Health Administration, agreed the data obtained by Veterans for Common Sense showed that a "significant number" of veterans from the current wars were receiving mental health care. She told Nextgov these were provisional diagnoses that could be revised downward by as much as one-third.
Data VA subsequently provided to Nextgov showed that the department cared for 386,497 Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans in fiscal 2010, and out of that number, 161,794 -- or 41.9 percent -- received a primary diagnosis of a mental health condition, a rate three times higher than that of the general population. Data compiled by Veterans for Common Sense included Afghanistan and Iraq veterans treated at VA facilities from 2002 through 2010, whereas the numbers VA provided Nextgov reflect 2010 data only.
Paul Sullivan, executive director of Veterans for Common Sense, said VA is trying to downplay the mental health problems of Afghanistan and Iraq war veterans.
The data Sullivan's group obtained under the FOIA request were categorized according to diagnostic codes used by VA clinicians, Sullivan said. The numbers showed that 122,175 veterans were diagnosed with depression, 102,767 with neurotic disorders and another 72,952 with a combination of depression, anxiety and mood swings. More than 78,000 were diagnosed with a variety of other conditions, including alcoholism and drug abuse.
The data also showed that 182,147, or 29 percent of all Afghanistan and Iraq veterans treated by VA, sought care for post-traumatic stress disorder, Sullivan said. This is almost double the rate of PTSD for Vietnam War veterans, which is 15.2 percent, and more than double the rate of PTSD among Gulf War veterans, which is 12.1 percent, according to a fact sheet from VA's National Center for PTSD.
The data Veterans for Common Sense obtained from VA does not include any information on veterans who sought help from clinicians outside the Veterans Health Administration, Sullivan said. As such, he believes Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans' mental health problems actually are underreported.
Barbara Van Dahlen, founder and president of Give an Hour, a Bethesda, Md.-based nonprofit that arranges free counseling services with private practitioners for veterans, agreed. She said 67 percent of Vietnam veterans sought help outside VA, and expects many current veterans to do so, particularly in areas that do not have a VA hospital or clinic.
Tom Vande Burgt, an Army National Guard veteran who served in Iraq and runs the Lest We Forget PTSD peer-support group in Charleston, W.Va., with his wife, Diane, also believes the data obtained by Veterans for Common Sense likely underreports mental health problems because many veterans do not fully understand their benefits.
In addition, Vande Burgt said many veterans do not seek mental health care, preferring to "hide out in the basement, playing video games until there is some sort of triggering event."
Effects of Multiple Deployments
VA's Batten, mental health professionals outside the department and veteran advocates all agree the large numbers of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans seeking mental health care reflects the cumulative effects of multiple deployments during the past decade. As deployments increase, "the population in need grows," she said.
Rep. Jeff Miller, R-Fla., said he is concerned that troop cuts recently proposed by Defense Secretary Robert Gates "will only increase the burden of deployment on an increasingly smaller force." Miller, in an e-mail statement, added that the Defense Department "must ensure that our soldiers have adequate dwell time between deployments and that we are not relying too heavily on a fewer number of troops."
Miller, who serves on the House Armed Services Committee, said Defense needs to demonstrate that "the number and length of deployments are not having an effect on the mental health of service members."
Diane Vande Burgt, echoing the views of mental health experts interviewed by
The fact that so many Afghanistan and Iraq veterans have sought help from VA for their mental health problems stands out as good news among otherwise grim statistics, experts and advocates agreed. Igel said the data show the current crop of veterans have overcome the stigma that felt by Vietnam veterans.
Miller agreed. "We're doing a much better job encouraging service members to come forward and seek treatment than at any other time in our nation's history, and that is one of many reasons for the high numbers. Some of our service members and veterans have experienced severe mental anguish, and I am thankful that they are seeking treatment," he said.
But Margaret Stone, co-founder and chairwoman of the Veterans Healing Initiative, which provides funding to treat veterans who suffer from substance abuse and PTSD in nongovernment facilities, said, "The stigma associated with mental health [and] substance abuse remains pervasive throughout the military and society and so we still see a lag time between the time a vet returns and when he or she ultimately receives care."
Miller said a number of factors could explain the increase in the number of recent veterans seeking mental health care from VA. "Better education on mental health and reducing stigma associated with asking for help are contributors. I also believe this increase can be attributed to outreach by VHA and increased access to VA health care enrollment.... Health care professionals are also better now at diagnosing mental health conditions both in the field and in VA and DoD medical facilities," he said.
The data on the mental health treatment of Afghanistan and Iraq veterans indicate that more resources are needed to treat these veterans, Stone said. In particular, she said VA must do a better job serving veterans who don't live or work near the department's hospitals and clinics.
Vande Burgt agreed, and noted National Guard and reserve troops have been hit hard by multiple deployments and are more likely to live in rural communities poorly served by VA.
Veterans Affairs should consider opening more rural clinics and contracting with outside services to reach underserved areas, she said.
Female veterans still face significant frustration getting medical care, even in Veterans Affairs facilities with female-specific services, according to a new survey released by the American Legion on Tuesday.
One in four female veterans said the availability of gender-specific health care was poor within the VA system, and more than half felt the sexual trauma services at those facilities were inadequate, according to the report.
Legion officials said those perceptions could discourage other females from using the VA system — or from seeking medical help at all.
“Too many times, women veterans who seek help at a VA hospital are mistaken as civilian wives,” said Jimmie Foster, commander of the American Legion. “Too many people still think that veterans are men and not women.”
Legion officials noted that the 1.8 million female veterans in America today make up just under 8 percent of the total veteran population, but that percentage is increasing
.
According to Defense Department statistics, women make up about 12 percent of the 2.2 million troops who have been deployed in support of the recent conflicts overseas. Females make up 14 percent of the current overall active-duty force.
Since 2001, 108 women have been killed in Iraq and 24 killed in Afghanistan, according to statistics from icasulaties.org. Defense Department officials said more than 750 women have been wounded in action in the two wars.
The Legion’s report surveyed more than 3,000 female veterans. In addition to the dissatisfaction found with other aspects of care, the research found that nearly one-third of female veterans surveyed were unhappy with the work of their Women Veterans Program Manager, assigned to VA facilities to deal with gender-specific issues and questions.
Verna Jones, director of the Legion’s rehabilitation commission, said the results show a combination of a lack of understanding about available services and a lack of awareness of women veterans needs at the veterans hospitals.
Foster said VA leaders need a culture change to address the issue, saying that the department has already begun outreach efforts but needs to speed that process.
“VA health care needs to be more reliable, responsive and competent in its treatment of women,” he said. “Women need to feel welcome, to feel comfortable, in any VA facility across America.”
VA officials said they’ve made efforts in recent years to address female veterans issues but acknowledged more work needs to be done. In a blog post last week, Patricia Hayes, the VA’s chief consultant for women veterans health, said officials recognize that more needs to be done in areas such as maternity care and sexual trauma response.
“Every time I see articles in the news or on the Internet about how something didn’t go well for a woman veteran I think about all the women veterans who need health care, who don’t have insurance or can’t find or afford care,” she wrote. “I want them to try VA. And I want them to know that we are working as fast as we can to make positive changes and will continue to improve.”
ByLeo Shane III
One in four female veterans said the availability of gender-specific health care was poor within the VA system, and more than half felt the sexual trauma services at those facilities were inadequate, according to the report.
Legion officials said those perceptions could discourage other females from using the VA system — or from seeking medical help at all.
“Too many times, women veterans who seek help at a VA hospital are mistaken as civilian wives,” said Jimmie Foster, commander of the American Legion. “Too many people still think that veterans are men and not women.”
Legion officials noted that the 1.8 million female veterans in America today make up just under 8 percent of the total veteran population, but that percentage is increasing
.
According to Defense Department statistics, women make up about 12 percent of the 2.2 million troops who have been deployed in support of the recent conflicts overseas. Females make up 14 percent of the current overall active-duty force.
Since 2001, 108 women have been killed in Iraq and 24 killed in Afghanistan, according to statistics from icasulaties.org. Defense Department officials said more than 750 women have been wounded in action in the two wars.
The Legion’s report surveyed more than 3,000 female veterans. In addition to the dissatisfaction found with other aspects of care, the research found that nearly one-third of female veterans surveyed were unhappy with the work of their Women Veterans Program Manager, assigned to VA facilities to deal with gender-specific issues and questions.
Verna Jones, director of the Legion’s rehabilitation commission, said the results show a combination of a lack of understanding about available services and a lack of awareness of women veterans needs at the veterans hospitals.
Foster said VA leaders need a culture change to address the issue, saying that the department has already begun outreach efforts but needs to speed that process.
“VA health care needs to be more reliable, responsive and competent in its treatment of women,” he said. “Women need to feel welcome, to feel comfortable, in any VA facility across America.”
VA officials said they’ve made efforts in recent years to address female veterans issues but acknowledged more work needs to be done. In a blog post last week, Patricia Hayes, the VA’s chief consultant for women veterans health, said officials recognize that more needs to be done in areas such as maternity care and sexual trauma response.
“Every time I see articles in the news or on the Internet about how something didn’t go well for a woman veteran I think about all the women veterans who need health care, who don’t have insurance or can’t find or afford care,” she wrote. “I want them to try VA. And I want them to know that we are working as fast as we can to make positive changes and will continue to improve.”
ByLeo Shane III
Stars and Stripes
Published: March 22, 2011
shanel@stripes.osd.mil
U.S. Northern Command is coordinating Operation Pacific Passage - the voluntary return of military families to the U.S. from Japan following the quake and tsunami more than one week ago.
VIEW VIDEO>>
VIEW VIDEO>>
| TRICARE military health plan beneficiaries affected by the situation in Japan will continue to have health care benefits, even if they relocate, TRICARE Management Activity officials said. Overseas Program Prime beneficiaries may still access their benefit, and retirees and beneficiaries who are not command-sponsored will continue to have the Standard benefit, officials said. For emergency care, beneficiaries should go to the nearest emergency care facility. After receiving care, Prime enrollees should call the TRICARE Overseas Program call center at 1-877-451-8659 the next business day. For urgent, routine or specialty care, those enrolled in Overseas Prime who have relocated near a military treatment facility may contact that facility for appointments. In other areas, beneficiaries should contact the call center to arrange care. Overseas Prime beneficiaries needing replacement or refill medications may contact any military treatment facility. The TRICARE Pharmacy Operations Center at 1-866-275-4732 can assist those needing to fill prescriptions from network pharmacies. The TRICARE Assistance Program and Military OneSource have counselors available to help people with stress-related issues. For more information about the assistance program, visit http://www.tricare.mil/triap, and to contact Military OneSource, call 1-800-342-9647 or visit http://www.militaryonesource.com. Officials recommend checking http://www.tricare.mil/tsunami for ongoing updates. |
| Related Sites: TRICARE Military Health Plan TRICARE Updates Related to the Situation in Japan TRICARE Assistance Program Military OneSource |
About 200 military family members arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport in Washington state today after leaving Japan voluntarily, U.S. Army North officials said.
The family members left Yokota, Japan, aboard a government-chartered airplane, Army Col. Wayne Shanks, an Army North spokesman, told American Forces Press Service in a phone interview today.
Shanks stressed that the family members were not forced to flee. Rather, he said, those who decided to leave Japan likely did so as a precaution. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Japan on March 11 and the tsunami that followed devastated the country, including destruction to viable infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants.
"We're providing for Department of Defense families who want to [leave] Japan, and that could be for a number of reasons," Shanks said. "I don't think the radiation threat is the overriding reason, … although it is a concern."
As what officials have called a prudent precaution, the Defense Department is providing eligible family members of department personnel an opportunity to voluntarily leave Japan at government expense.
READ MORE>>
The family members left Yokota, Japan, aboard a government-chartered airplane, Army Col. Wayne Shanks, an Army North spokesman, told American Forces Press Service in a phone interview today.
Shanks stressed that the family members were not forced to flee. Rather, he said, those who decided to leave Japan likely did so as a precaution. The 8.9 magnitude earthquake that struck northern Japan on March 11 and the tsunami that followed devastated the country, including destruction to viable infrastructure, such as nuclear power plants.
"We're providing for Department of Defense families who want to [leave] Japan, and that could be for a number of reasons," Shanks said. "I don't think the radiation threat is the overriding reason, … although it is a concern."
As what officials have called a prudent precaution, the Defense Department is providing eligible family members of department personnel an opportunity to voluntarily leave Japan at government expense.
READ MORE>>
Coalition members fired 110 Tomahawk cruise missiles at Libya’s integrated air and missile defense system today as a precursor to setting up a no-fly zone over the country, Pentagon officials said.
In Brazil, where he is on the first leg of a three-nation trip to South America, President Barack Obama said no U.S. ground troops will deploy to Libya, but that the United States would provide “unique assets” to enforce the United Nations Security Council resolution meant to protect the Libyan people from the forces of Moammar Gadhafi.
Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Joint Staff, briefed reporters at the Pentagon on the launch of “Operation Odyssey Dawn.”
“The goals of these initial operations are essentially twofold: first, to prevent further attacks by regime forces on Libyan citizens and opposition groups, especially around Benghazi, and second, to degrade the regime’s capability to resist the no-fly zone we are implementing under that United Nations resolution,” Gortney said shortly after the attacks were launched.
Most of the targets were on or near the coast and around the Libyan capital of Tripoli, Gortney said. The coalition carefully picked the targets, he added, which either threatened coalition pilots or through use by the regime, posed a direct threat to the Libyan people of Libya.
READ MORE>>
|
Navy Vice Adm. William E. Gortney, director of the Joint Staff, briefed reporters at the Pentagon on the launch of “Operation Odyssey Dawn.”
“The goals of these initial operations are essentially twofold: first, to prevent further attacks by regime forces on Libyan citizens and opposition groups, especially around Benghazi, and second, to degrade the regime’s capability to resist the no-fly zone we are implementing under that United Nations resolution,” Gortney said shortly after the attacks were launched.
Most of the targets were on or near the coast and around the Libyan capital of Tripoli, Gortney said. The coalition carefully picked the targets, he added, which either threatened coalition pilots or through use by the regime, posed a direct threat to the Libyan people of Libya.
READ MORE>>
Traumatic brain injury, often called the signature wound of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, was addressed at an Armed Services hearing on health care Tuesday.
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VIEW VIDEO>>
Join us on May 5, 2011 at the very first Veteran Career Expo/Health Fair in the City of Chester.
- Engage employers that are hiring
- Enroll in a Trade School or College
- Department of Veteran Affairs on-site
- Resume repair on-site
- Crozer Health Fair
- State Department of Military and Veteran Affairs
- DAV
- American Legion
- Tax and Budgeting help
MAY 5, 2011
9:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.
Chester City Hall Building
1 Fourth Street, Chester, PA 19013
An Army official has recommended that Maj. Nidal M. Hasan be tried before a general court martial authorized to consider capital punishment, Fort Hood, Texas, officials said today.
Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5, 2009 attack on troops readying to deploy to Afghanistan.
The commander of the post's 21st Air Cavalry Brigade, Col. Morgan Lamb, has recommended the charges pending against Hasan be sent to a general court martial authorized to consider capital punishment. The colonel's recommendation is non-binding. The convening authority – in this case, 3rd Corps commander Army Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone – will make the final decision in the Hasan case.
Officials at the post released the information after Hasan's defense counsel publicly released the recommendation.
Army lawyers are reviewing the charges and the Article 32 investigation in order to provide legal advice on the case to Cone.
Fort Hood officials said in a news release that under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a general court-martial convening authority has several options upon receipt of charges from a subordinate commander, including but not limited to dismissing the charges, referring them to court martial or sending them to a different convening authority for possible action.
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Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5, 2009 attack on troops readying to deploy to Afghanistan.
The commander of the post's 21st Air Cavalry Brigade, Col. Morgan Lamb, has recommended the charges pending against Hasan be sent to a general court martial authorized to consider capital punishment. The colonel's recommendation is non-binding. The convening authority – in this case, 3rd Corps commander Army Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone – will make the final decision in the Hasan case.
Officials at the post released the information after Hasan's defense counsel publicly released the recommendation.
Army lawyers are reviewing the charges and the Article 32 investigation in order to provide legal advice on the case to Cone.
Fort Hood officials said in a news release that under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, a general court-martial convening authority has several options upon receipt of charges from a subordinate commander, including but not limited to dismissing the charges, referring them to court martial or sending them to a different convening authority for possible action.
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Con artists are targeting women on Facebook in what's becoming an all-too-common ruse: They steal photos of soldiers to set up profiles, profess their love and devotion in sappy messages – and then ask their victims to cut a check.
Army Sgt. James Hursey, 26, discharged and sent home from war in Iraq to nurse a back injury, found a page with his photos on Facebook – on a profile that wasn't his. It was fake, set up by someone claiming to be an active-duty soldier looking for love.
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Army Sgt. James Hursey, 26, discharged and sent home from war in Iraq to nurse a back injury, found a page with his photos on Facebook – on a profile that wasn't his. It was fake, set up by someone claiming to be an active-duty soldier looking for love.
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Before he addressed the crowd that had assembled in the St. Louis Hyatt Regency ballroom last November, Lt. Gen. John F. Kelly had one request. "Please don't mention my son," he asked the Marine Corps officer introducing him.
Four days earlier, 2nd Lt. Robert M. Kelly , 29, had stepped on a land mine while leading a platoon of Marines in southern Afghanistan. He was killed instantly....
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People whose military service was involuntarily extended or whose retirement was suspended between Sept. 11, 2001, and Sept. 30, 2009, have until March 4 to file for retroactive payments of $500 for each month of their extended service under the “Stop Loss” policy.
The deadline ends the second extension for eligible people to apply to receive the retroactive pay.
“This is a timely payment for services already rendered,” said Lernes "Bear" Hebert, the Defense Department’s director of officer and enlisted personnel management. “It’s a no-strings-attached program -- one where they fill out a simple form and attach a few documents [to show] their service.”
Each service branch will work with potential applicants to determine eligibility, he added.
The program also applies to beneficiaries who lost loved ones in the ultimate sacrifice during their service, Hebert said.
The deadline ends the second extension for eligible people to apply to receive the retroactive pay.
“This is a timely payment for services already rendered,” said Lernes "Bear" Hebert, the Defense Department’s director of officer and enlisted personnel management. “It’s a no-strings-attached program -- one where they fill out a simple form and attach a few documents [to show] their service.”
Each service branch will work with potential applicants to determine eligibility, he added.
The program also applies to beneficiaries who lost loved ones in the ultimate sacrifice during their service, Hebert said.
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