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BATTLE STRESS MAY LEAD TO MISCONDUCT --
The Marines have a plan to help these troops
but not the resources to implement it.
Story here...
http://www.usatoday.
com/news/washington/2007-0
7-01-marine-stress_N.htm
Story below:
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Battle stress may lead to misconduct
By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Battle stress may cause
combat-hardened Marines with clean records to get into trouble after
they return home, according to new Marine Corps research.
The Marines have a plan to help these troops but not the resources to
implement it, said a leading mental health expert with the Corps.
Stress-related misconduct can involve drug and alcohol abuse and may
result in dismissal from the service and the denial of Department of
Veterans Affairs services.
In the first four years of the Iraq war, 1,019 Marines were dismissed
with less-than-honorable discharges for misconduct committed after
overseas deployments, said Navy Capt. William Nash, who coordinates the
Marines' combat stress program. At least 326 of the discharged Marines
showed evidence of mental health problems, possibly from combat stress,
according to the Marine study.
Nash said he urges that "any Marine or sailor who commits particularly
uncharacteristic misconduct following deployment … be aggressively
screened for stress disorders and treated."
He said the screening results could be used to ease the tough military
prosecution of misconduct in cases involving post-traumatic stress
disorder. USA TODAY reported in November that veterans with
less-than-honorable discharges are usually denied health care services
by the VA. Nash's mental health study was conducted after that article
was published.
"If a Marine who was previously a good, solid Marine — never got in
trouble — commits misconduct after deployment and turns out they have
PTSD, and because of justice they lose their benefits, that may not be
justice," Nash says.
The Marine Corps and Navy, which provides medical services to the
Marines, have not started screening because they don't have the mental
health workers to provide it, Nash said. His proposal has been pending
since early this year.
The chronic shortage of military mental health caregivers is highlighted
by several recent task force investigations, including one by the
Defense Mental Health Task Force created by Congress last year.
Co-chaired by Navy Surgeon General Donald Arthur, the task force report
released last month called military mental health staffing "woefully
inadequate" and complained of a continuing stigma within the military
toward PTSD.
When he presented his research results June 19 in a public forum, Nash
said Marines are responsible for their actions but stress can damage
areas of the brain that influence right and wrong decisions. "It can be
very, very hard for them to really care even about obeying the rules,"
he said.
The Marine Corps had no information about whether the 326 Marines who
received less-than-honorable discharges and suffered mental health
problems were denied VA health care services.
Marine Pvt. Cody Miranda, a 16-year veteran, was demoted from staff
sergeant this year for behavior that included alcohol-related disorderly
conduct. The Camp Pendleton-based Marine is a former reconnaissance
specialist who fought in the Persian Gulf War and during the Iraq
invasion. Diagnosed with PTSD, he faces a court-martial for
disrespectful behavior. His lawyer, Marine Capt. Bart Slabbekorn, will
argue at trial that PTSD influenced Miranda's behavior.
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Larry Scott --
