Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq

[jefferson_dem]

Source: NYT

April 6, 2008

Army Worried by Rising Stress of Return Tours to Iraq
By THOM SHANKER

WASHINGTON — Army leaders are expressing increased alarm about the mental health of soldiers who would be sent back to the front again and again under plans that call for troop numbers to be sustained at high levels in Iraq for this year and beyond.

Among combat troops sent to Iraq for the third or fourth time, more than one in four show signs of anxiety, depression or acute stress, according to an official Army survey of soldiers’ mental health.

The stress of long and multiple deployments to Iraq is just one of the concerns being voiced by senior military officers in Washington as Gen. David H. Petraeus, the senior Iraq commander, prepares to tell Congress this week that he is not ready to endorse any drawdowns beyond those already scheduled through July.

President Bush has signaled that he will endorse General Petraeus’s recommendation, a decision that will leave close to 140,000 American troops in Iraq at least through the summer. But in a meeting with Mr. Bush late last month in advance of General Petraeus’s testimony, the Joint Chiefs of Staff expressed deep concern about stress on the force, senior Defense Department and military officials said.

Among the 513,000 active-duty soldiers who have served in Iraq since the invasion of 2003, more than 197,000 have deployed more than once, and more than 53,000 have deployed three or more times, according to a separate set of statistics provided this week by Army personnel officers. The percentage of troops sent back to Iraq for repeat deployments would have to increase in the months ahead.

The Army study of mental health showed that 27 percent of noncommissioned officers — a critically important group — on their third or fourth tour exhibited symptoms commonly referred to as post-traumatic stress disorders. That figure is far higher than the roughly 12 percent who exhibit those symptoms after one tour and the 18.5 percent who develop the disorders after a second deployment, according to the study, which was conducted by the Army surgeon general’s Mental Health Advisory Team.


Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/washington/06military.html?hp=&pagewanted=print

[MasonJar]

1. I am astonished that it is not 4 in 4. In reality it probably is.

[WHEN CRABS ROAR]

2. This is what war does to people. Peace be with them.

[jimshoes]

3. What better way to support the troops

than to keep them fighting forever. Yeah War, USA, USA, USA!

Oh, and just in case :sarcasm: :sarcasm: :sarcasm:

[mike3121]

4. Look what the REPUBLICANS think of the vets

Here's a link to a well known Republican think tank where PTSD does not exist to them. Veterans benefits to them are one of those nasty "entitlements" that has to be cut drastically. These Iraq/Afgan vets, because of multiple tours, are coming home with extensive PTSD problems. Yet the Republican (and a few Democrats) are in the biggest farm subsidy give away in history. Hey, this money isn't going to Ma and Pa Kettle, it's going to well healed factory farms. Let the troops suffer.

I know Hillary is veteran friendly how does Obama stand on these issues?

<http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfFEB08/nf022708-1.htm>

[libodem]

5. When these poor guys

go nuts and slaughter Iraqi civilians I guess they can get their mental health care in the brig. The Armed services is playing with fire. These fighting men and women will be dangerous to unleash on society once they return. Expect lots of family disruption and drunken public brawls in the future of American daily life. These soldiers have been expected to suppress all emotion while running over little kids in the way of convoys, kicking in doors and killing all the military aged men over 12, tossing puppies over cliffs. And then they are sent back to do it over and over again. I am so sorry for these kids. Bless their broken hearts and souls. My nephew is due to come home for a short visit from his second deployment, in a few days. This is personal to me. I gotta dog in this fight.

[SammyWinstonJack]

6. Bad Voodoo's War. I watched part of this on pbs the other day. It's worth a look.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/badvoodoo/ Some of these troops are on their fifth deployment. And some are not happy about it.

[libodem]

13. I did watch it

and I just heard my nephew's voice on the phone. He's in town.

[SammyWinstonJack]

14. Good news!

:-)

[SammyWinstonJack]

7. So worried about them that they keep sending them back.

The Army's concern is overwhelming. :sarcasm:

[Elspeth]

8. Try watching this

http://smedleyvfp.org/page27/page28/page28.html

The last guy testifying tried to commit suicide and was still considered a criminal by the army for not going back to Iraq under stop loss.

[SammyWinstonJack]

9. I did watch that. Saved it to pass around. This is beyond f'd up!

I guess it is up to us too get the word out on how the troops are being screwed over! The corprat owned media won't tell their story.

[Elspeth]

15. The M$M would be shown for their complicity if they did

Amazing video. And even more amazing that it was ignored.

[annabanana]

10. NOW they're voicing their concerns?

NOW?!?

[SammyWinstonJack]

11. It's an election year?

:eyes:

[Jazzgirl]

12. Main reason they got rid of Fallon.

n/t

[defendandprotect]

19. And how many before him? What kind of people could be left--???

[The Backlash Cometh]

16. Oh, NOW they're worried about.

I say we build a veteran's hospital near Crawford, Texas.

[eppur_se_muova]

17. Doesn't that deserve the all-time, lifetime-of-the-Universe, "No shit, Sherlock" award? nt

[defendandprotect]

18. American's don't seem to get it that troops are simply the fodder for war --- !!!

FODDER ---
2. people considered as readily available and of little value: cannon fodder.


Every other nation's people understand that quite well . . . it seems --- ???

[DainBramaged]

20. Booshe broke the fucking military, and if I hear one more Repuke claim Clinton did

.................................