News Analysis

News Analysis: June 16, 2009

Drug abuse problems for our over-deployed, over-stressed troops are soaring. So too are suicides, and the Army has a new approach to help prevent this tragedy from becoming even deeper.

Diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury following three tours of…

News Analysis: June 15, 2009

Combat trauma is taking a deep and deadly toll on our troops — the men and women who are our mothers, fathers, neighbors and friends who serve us all in war, regardless of the politics. Suicides are rising, and we…

VFA News Analysis: June 12, 2009

The Army suicide rate, compounded by stress and multiple-deployments, too little pre- and post-deployment care and a stigma against seeking help, leapt even higher in May — more than doubling April’s rate of suicides. At least 17 suicides were reported…

News Analysis: June 11, 2009

Our combat veterans face a crisis returning from war. We owe them all the help they require to become well again. How many times must we hear of young veterans returning from war only to end their own lives? We…

News Analysis: June 10, 2009

PTSD and pill-popping: the Pentagon’s advanced research agency is probing the potential of psychology and pills to stop battlefield stress before it begins. Meanwhile, the Army is closing some warrior transition units. It’s not just Fort Campbell that is suffering beneath…

News Analysis: June 9, 2009

Our troops are beyond stressed, after years of ongoing deployments to two war zones. In the wake of last month’s horrible shooting rampage on a US base in Iraq, officers are finding troops weary, stressed and suffering low morale. Sadly,…

News Analysis: June 8, 2009

President Obama honors the veterans of D-Day.

A bill to make it easier for veterans to receive benefits and immediate care for their post-traumatic stress disorder advances in the US House. The nation needs to work hard to ensure all of its…

News Analysis: June 5, 2009

Chris Scheuerman’s son committed suicide in his barracks in Iraq in 2005, not long after the unlicensed psychologist sent to Iraq by the Pentagon diagnosed Pfc. Jason Scheuerman as “capable of claiming mental illness” in order to manipulate superiors and…

News Analysis: June 4, 2009

It’s not just our military that is “tired and stressed.” Entire military communities are struggling, requiring our nation’s deepest commitment to help them become whole again. “Families are stretched and stressed. I often refer to them as the most brittle…

News Analysis: June 3, 2009

Even now, years after the start of two wars that continue to strain our troops, and after years of data pointing to a horrible rate of psychological trauma in the ranks, the stigma over combat-related trauma “continues to be an…