President Obama recently announced in his weekly radio address new rules governing the care our veterans receive for PTSD that are designed to make the claim process easier and faster.
"Our veterans and wounded warriors," Obama stated, "will be provided the care and benefits they have earned when they come home."
This measure is in response to a long standing argument that the information requested by the Veteran's Administration requiring soldiers to prove they took part in events that could lead to PTSD be proved with documentation. President Obama stated:
I don't think our troops on the battlefield should have to take notes to keep for a claims application. I've met enough veterans to know that you don't have to engage in a firefight to endure the trauma of war.
Mr. President, I hear from military families' everyday as they grasp for help in dealing with these and other issues. Most recently, I learned of an active duty soldier whom you have not met. Army PFC Lindsay Bailey is just 21 years old. She has served in Iraq as a gunner and almost anyone will tell you this job provides a soldier microscopic views of the carnage of war. In addition, she once came upon a vehicle destroyed by an IED explosion and discovered friends and fellow comrades dead and dismembered.
Not long after this event, PFC Bailey began having terrible anxiety and trouble sleeping. To add to her trauma, she was allegedly sexually assaulted by a fellow soldier and became pregnant. When she advised her superiors of the situation, she was treated in a hostile manner and given extra and dangerous work detail while waiting to be returned to her base at Ft. Richardson, Alaska.
The torment did not end there. Upon her return to Alaska, she suffered a miscarriage and the result was an arsenal of medications prescribed to help her cope. Her mother, Robin Bailey of West Virginia, estimates there were between 10-12 different varieties of medications prescribed to her daughter. PFC Bailey eventually overdosed on these medications, and near death, was placed in an intensive care unit.
"Nobody called me to tell me what had happened to my child." Robin says. "Lindsay called after she was alert and able to make calls and that's how her Dad and I found out."
The Bailey's were then shocked to learn their daughter was not going to be given any continuing treatment. She was going to be sent back to the base after leaving intensive care because her superiors had already made plans to give her a Chapter 14 discharge. A Chapter 14 is issued for soldier misconduct when it appears "rehabilitation is impracticable." Not understanding the Army's position and receiving no answers, her mother took it a step further and contacted West Virginia's Senator Rockefeller, Representative Shelly Moore Capito and the now late Senator Byrd to request intervention and a congressional investigation. Within 2 weeks, PFC Bailey had received a diagnosis of PTSD and was on her way to a private hospital in Colorado Springs for a 40 day treatment program.
Nevertheless, as she cleared airport security in Alaska, her irate Sergeant called demanding that she be returned to the base immediately. He didn't want her taken to a civilian hospital; he wanted her sent to an Army hospital in Georgia instead. But it was too late.
PFC Bailey seems to be responding well to the treatment program in Colorado. But there is a problem: Her military orders only allow her a stay 28 days after which she is supposed to return to the base in Alaska, not to resume her duties, but to be kicked out with the Chapter 14.
PFC Bailey's parents are fighting for an extension to allow their daughter time to complete the program. Hospital personnel have made several attempts to contact the army for permission but to date they have not responded to the request.
Robin Bailey fears the army wants her daughter to leave the hospital no later than July 14 so they can issue the Chapter 14 discharge prior to PFC Bailey's completion of 2 years of military service. If that happens, the VA will never have to pay her a dime of military benefits of any kind. The completion date is July 17, 2010.
So, President Obama, will your new PTSD rules help PFC Bailey and others like her who are fighting an uphill battle for the care they deserve? Is it fair for PFC Bailey to endure everything she has endured only to end up cast aside for life? Will she have to carry around the emotional scars of her service to our nation (not to mention sexual assault) without any help from the people who sent her there?
As you have stated of the new rules, "this is a long overdue step and we won't let them down."
Time will tell.
I feel strongly that PFC Bailey is misleading people.
I have PTSD, its different for everyone but comes with a humorous array of symptoms. Most people do not cope well with PTSD or recover fully. It can be debilitating and stop a normal person in their tracks.
I didnt get PTSD from combat I got it when I returned. Apparently there are different levels of PTSD. Most people associate it with military combat but anyone can get it from a traumatic experience. So few people understand mental illness that it can be misdiagnosed as many other things.
PFC Baily's problem is not PTSD it's her statement that she was raped. If she had no evidence to share with this situation she will be accused of misconduct. She HAD evidence if she was raped, IF she chose to share it. Many females use their sexuality to get out of the service. I've seen it alot. Military life is harsh beyond anything civilians understand. She can address the PTSD over time but the rape statement is forever.
When I was first diagnosed I thought I was having a heartattack so I took some aspirin and rushed to the emergency room. Fast forward 5 months later after I'd taken every possible heart lab test, probe and medicine the universal conclusion was "it was in my head".
So I reluctantly sought a pyschiatrist. After a few sessions she diagnosed me as PTSD.
My symptoms come and go now and are not as frequent but its from alot of work.
My symptoms included:
Sleep deprivation - different from sleeplessness. We're talking three days can pass without me be able to shut an eye lid. Ever see what happens to a human after no sleep for 4 days ? You wont because its against the law to study it. But I can assure you its not fun.
Panic Attacks - imagine yourself falling from an airplane, thinking of your children playing on the freeway at night while your being cooked over an open fire. Thats pretty close to how it feels right before you pass out.
Claustraphobia - small rooms, no windows, lots of people for over an hour is like being renditioned to Poland and tortured. Each symptom leads to the other.
Unable to draw attention to yourself in a crowd of strangers or the desire to meet strangers. I'm getting better at this one but with alot of work.
There's a few other small ones but thats the meat of it.
Yes, there are cases where women who have become pregnant in order to receive a discharge from military service. I've seen that happen, too. Yes, there are situations where people have claimed to have been raped or sexually assaulted as revenge for wrongs or misdeeds or out of simple cruelty. But I can guarantee you those cases are EXTREMELY RARE. So rare as to be not worth mentioning. So rare that I have never heard of a veteran being charged with falsifying testimony against a fellow military member for such a thing. It just doesn't happen. There is nothing that can compel a person to claim sexual assault knowing what sort of scrutiny they are going to endure in order to prove that assault.
It's not right and it's not fair to suggest that a woman or a male military member should decide IN ADVANCE that they cannot handle a combat situation. It's what all military personnel train for and it runs counter to any logic to think that being properly trained would leave one unprepared to participate in the activities that all one's comrades in arms are going to go through.
I am sure that whatever happened to this lady, the military didn’t handle it professionally, because the core of the issue is this: the military won’t address the issue of violence against female service members. The fallout of not dealing with the issue is soldiers like this woman. The military is broken in this way and probably won’t be fixed for a while. It’s been 20 years and it looks the same from my point of view. I am deeply concerned about our soldiers, like this woman, coming back from this war (just like Vietnam) and not getting the help that they will need. If you don’t believe me, ask any Vietnam Vet what it was like coming back home with broken bodies and broken minds and the long-term consequences of war. For whatever reason, to deny this woman medical assistance is wrong.
The military, with the current structure, is not for everyone.
That this girl had the patriotism to want to serve her country and gave a genuine effort to do so, speaks volumes.
Except for what I have read, I do not know this woman or the details of what happened. For the 99% of Americans out there who have not served in the military, I am sure of the following though.
1) The military is not a democracy. Unless it is in direct violation of the UCMJ (Uniform Code of Military Justice – military law), you will do what you are told to do, when you are told to do it, and told how you are going to do it. There is no discussion, there is no debate.
2) No more than 20% of our military can be women. In some fields, it is 1-1, in others, it is 15-1.
3) If you accuse someone of rape and do not have proof of the rape, you are considered the problem (I believe it is still illegal to have sex out of wedlock according to the UCMJ). Because of your illegal actions, you have caused a morale issue and will most likely get an article 15 and a general discharge. No military medical benefits.
Unreported rape is common in the military. Sexual harassment is common in the military. The methods of dealing with reported and unreported rape are archaic and patriarchal and need to change.
This is unconscionable. And the worst part is that this is not an isolated case.
This is exactly why we talked our daughter out of applying to the ROTC program when she was getting ready for college in '99. She wanted to help pay for her college education--we didn't want her to end up paying with her life. When bush started a war, I was very glad we had been able to talk her out of the army.
I wouldn't trust the army. It has used up and thrown away people from every generation in my family.
It was stated that Brig Gen Palumbo "supports making mental health a key component of Army fitness and treatment programs for post traumatic stress." I would be sure to ask him for specifics on what he has done to specifically support treatment for PTSD? They all talk the talk, but most do not walk the walk.