Pre and post deployment support

[ODB]

First let me say I do think there are those that truely need help, have come across some of the finest fighting men in the world who have reached there mental limits and broke. On the other hand I see this as the new exit strategy for anyone who does not want to truely earn their paycheck and that ever so popular college money.

In my opinion this doesn't need to be addressed by outside organizations as an all encompassing answer. Nothing pisses me off more than having to get off a plane only to get on a bus to take me to get some screening before I can go home to the family. To many this is a cause of issues more than what they experienced during their deployment. The responsibility truely lies on every single one of us in the service today. It is our responsibility to know our peers, subordinates, and superiors. Only when you know those around you can you tell when something is not right. We are afterall only human and some things affect us differently than others and we all have a breaking point. To think these mental health types can figure some of us out is the best comedy I have come across. An example of this is the fact that a majority of those I work with including myself fail every psychological exam we take, why is this? Am I a sociopath? Ask my wife and she will most definately tell you yes, yet I am not out running around killing people in my spare time. Simple answer is do I have the capability to things many others do not, yes but also do I have a clear cut line drawn on when to use that capability and when not to, yes. I have done it for years, who I am at work is not who I am at home.

I have seen a few who have "broke", the unit moved them into a different position for a while to get their mind right, to come to terms with what they were dealing with, and they are back in the fight as I type this. Unfortunately too many organizations and individuals have their hidden agendas and thus we end up with what we have now.

Just my .02 from what I have experienced.

[Ken White]

...I have seen a few who have "broke", the unit moved them into a different position for a while to get their mind right, to come to terms with what they were dealing with, and they are back in the fight as I type this. Unfortunately too many organizations and individuals have their hidden agendas and thus we end up with what we have now.

Good units fix their problems. Unfortunately, for the last 30 plus years, the Army has failed to push that philosophy and punish those who fail and has instead elected to punish everyone for the failures of a few...

Blanket 'remedies' almost never work.

[reed11b]

I have seen a few who have "broke", the unit moved them into a different position for a while to get their mind right, to come to terms with what they were dealing with, and they are back in the fight as I type this. Unfortunately too many organizations and individuals have their hidden agendas and thus we end up with what we have now.

Just my .02 from what I have experienced.

Sounds like the Army tenets of combat stress control. PIE, Proximity, Immediacy, and Expectancy. They are key to army stress control for a reason, there success rate is high. But not 100%. We still owe it to those that it does not work for to have effective readjustment programs in place.
I also agree that blanket solutions do not work, but there is a lack of awareness by the chain-of-command about many non-medical social service programs available for there troops. Blanketing individual troops w/ briefing after briefing IS counter productive ( I have been a participant on both ends of many a "briefing too far" myself) but awareness needs to be there. ACS is a start, but they should be developing connections w/ the units and I have not seen them do that at the bases that I work with. As I have stated earlier, I feel the key is training leaders in a professional and respectful manner (i.e. NOT by power point briefing) how to recognize possible warning signs and to what resources are available. I say this because I still meet Co. level leadership and higher that does not realize that soldiers can see Vet Center counselors as well as Army Behavioral Health and that Vet Center records are not shared w/ the DOD. Again, thanks for the feedback and please keep it coming, even if only to say you do not like or trust my chosen field.
Reed