Getting help for ptsd vs. your military career.

[EmandNsmom]

Good morning and happy tuesday everyone! Ok, I know that I myself wasn't actually the soldier envolved here, but I have noticed something. Ya'll please tell me why a soldier must choose between getting help for his issues or mess up his military career. I joined a military wives group online, and asked the question about their hubbies being deployed to Iraq, etc... One woman's response was this,"He won't get help because of what it will do to his career so he continues to get more frustrated and down everyday." :angry: That really angers me. These soldiers go overseas, put their behinds on the line, only only to have to choose between getting help or their job.. If I'm this hacked off, I can only imagine how actually soldier himself feels about that. Talk about being put in between a rock and hard place. just my 2centswort

Have a blessed day!
Steph

[Pointman69]

I've herd the same frustration from other Iraqi Vets. Am not familiar with the "military" view on emotional issues while in the service. I tried to bury everything until I couldn't do it anymore just a few years ago. It sounds like the military doesn't want, or doesn't know how to deal with emotional issues within their medical structure - on their dime. It is a sad comentary that the military hasn't figured out a way to treat and continue to utilize the skills they have paid so much for. I see the frustration but I don't see the answer.

I thought I would have to talk to an Army shrink to get off line in Vietnam. I had been suffering anxiety attacks after ten months of walking point, but someone took me off line without the embarrassment or risk of a medical discharge. I was so bad for me that I would have gone through anything that would resolve my anxiety - God made it easy for me.

[Don Dodson]

I wrote somewhere else at this site that the military industrial complex (as former General of the Army and President Dwight D. Eisenhower called it) has too much invested in the expendible labor called Soldiers, Marines, Sailors, etc. If the people who send us off to war actually had to pay for the totality of the damage done, there would be a lot less of these political "sort of wars" like Vietnam and Iraq. If we are going to war, then MAKE WAR! Do it and let's get home.

So the bosses in the military have to pretend that there is no such thing as PTSD. In my day, most of the top people were full blown alcoholics; that was "OK" in their minds. The military now is a volunteer operation with very competitive processes for promotions above certain ranks. The slightest hint that someone has some perceived flaw sinks their promotability. Look here at this website at the pain our brothers have expressed in leaving their military careers. I have heard from Iraq returnees that unless you are planning to get out (e.g. "short") you can't be honest with the debriefing team or a Chaplain. Is that the way it should be? NO! But "follow the money." Who is the real "customer" for military assistance staff: the military. That is not to say for one second that there are not some true Angels working in the military and VA! But operational readiness is the key concern, and anyone who appears un-ready is held or dropped.

And then we could talk about the effective budget CUTS for Department of Veterans Affairs, but that is another story.

That is why I think there needs to be Point Man International Ministries everywhere. To allow confidential, peer-to-peer sharing of experiences, heart aches, successes and failures; in the context of God's grace, mercy and healing.

GOD BLESS YOU ALL! WELCOME HOME!

Don "Oboeman" Dodson
Vietnam 1969-1970