VFA in the Media

Unfit for duty

Toledo Blade

IN ANOTHER alarming indication of how dangerously stretched the U.S. military has become by simultaneously fighting two wars, Pentagon records reveal that thousands of soldiers have been sent into combat despite having been classified as medically unfit before deployment.…

Unfit for combat?

Las Vegas Sun

U.S. soldiers should not be deployed unless they are physically and mentally fit

U.S. Military: Combat-unready

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Here’s a surefire sign that our government doesn’t really care about what sort of war we’re fighting, just as long as we’re fighting: According to USA Today:

“More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat…

U.S. deploys more than 43,000 unfit for combat

Gregg Zoroya, USA Today

WASHINGTON — More than 43,000 U.S. troops listed as medically unfit for combat in the weeks before their scheduled deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan since 2003 were sent anyway, Pentagon records show.

This reliance on troops found medically…

New Policy Urges Soldiers to Seek Mental Health Care

PBS: The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer

In a bid to encourage veterans to get needed counseling, the Pentagon said Thursday that most military and civilian employees will no longer be required to disclose mental health treatment when applying for government jobs.…

Personnel Costs

George C. Wilson, the National Journal’s CongressDaily

Congress was right and Army leaders were wrong in the argument that raged from President Bush’s invasion of Iraq in 2003 onward about how many troops were needed to fight two wars at once…

Fort Drum calls for more psychiatrists to help deal with stresses of Iraq war

Hart Seely, the Post-Standard (Syracuse, NY)

It’s not every day that a fellow stands up in public and asks for a shrink.

Wednesday, Roger Ambrose said he’d take a dozen.

“We need to get psychiatrists to come to the North Country,” said Ambrose, director…

Bush embraces halt in U.S. troop withdrawals

Richard Wolf, USA Today

WASHINGTON — President Bush’s decision Thursday to give his top commander in Iraq “all the time he needs” before proposing any further troop reductions sets up a battle later this month over the next $108 billion funding…

Bush to Cut Army Tours to 12 Months

Peter Baker and Jonathan Weisman, the Washington Post

President Supports Suspending Pullout Of Forces in Iraq

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Iraq vets suffer mental health woes

Samuel Loewenberg, the Politico

A week before Army Gen. David Petraeus updates Congress on the war in Iraq, two new studies have found that soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from especially high rates of post-combat psychological problems, exacerbated by…