THE SAGA OF THE AMERICAN GI

THE SAGA OF THE AMERICAN GI

http://www.progressiveavenues.org/The_GI_Saga.html

Join the Army – Kill Overseas – Become a "Hero"­ and then Kill Yourself

December 14, 2010
By Marti Hiken and Luke Hiken

"More than 1,000 troops have killed themselves over the past five
years in a suicidal wave. The steepest hikes have been in the Army
and Marine Corps, the two services providing most of the troops for
nation's two wars. A recent independent report ordered by Congress
found the Pentagon's suicide prevention efforts inadequate."
-- MARK THOMPSON, "Top Admiral: Military Suicides Will Keep Rising,"
Time Magazine, 9-30-10
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/09/30/top-general-military-suicides-will-keep-rising/

Given the high number of military suicides, it is important to
understand the context for these tragic deaths.

The holidays frequently evoke symptoms of depression and an
escalating sense of hopelessness with marital, economic, or other
personal problems. So, as the holidays approach, a joyous time of
year with family gatherings, Chanukkah candles, dreidels, Christmas
trees, snow falling, wreaths, and Kwanzaa celebrations, reflect on
the fact that it is also the time of year when more Americans and
especially American service members and veterans commit suicide than
any other time of the year. The numbers of those who will end their
lives this season will be high as Americans face foreclosures, high
rents, loss of jobs, recession, no food, and strong consumer sale
pitches to spend, spend, spend.

THE ROLE OF THE U.S. MILITARY IN CREATING PTSD

The U.S. military, of course, is directly responsible given that the
service members are under its jurisdiction and command. The U.S.
military also is responsible to its veterans for providing the needed
care because the vets suffering the PTSD are a result of what
happened to them during the wars. Ultimately, however, it is
Congress, the ever-conservative judiciary and President who are
responsible for the suicides. Every death should be laid at the feet
of our elected representatives and the appointed judges. If the wars
are so unpopular and disturbing to the point that self-inflicted
death becomes the standard, then there is something incongruous and
pathetic about the fact that American soldiers are being told they
are "heroes" for murdering Muslims throughout the Middle East.

"War is hell" remains the common command justification for the high
suicide. Don't buy it. The suicide rate is higher with the wars from
this decade than during any other war, including Vietnam.

"Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was
talking of the military's ability to fight future wars Wednesday when
he suddenly changed gears. 'We had five suicides in the Army last
weekend,' the nation's top military officer abruptly volunteered.
And, he warned, such horrors are only going to grow."

"All of the pathologies of war – PTSD, crime, domestic violence,
suicide – are tolls that must be paid long after troops have left the
battlefield. It has become obvious that mere billions of taxpayer
dollars cannot really blunt war's psychic trauma. It's almost painful
to watch senior military leaders -- so used to prevailing -- try, and
fail, to defeat this latest scourge. And warning it is only going to
get worse."
-- MARK THOMPSON, "Top Admiral: Military Suicides Will Keep Rising,"
Time Magazine, 9-30-10
http://swampland.blogs.time.com/2010/09/30/top-general-military-suicides-will
keep-rising/

PTSD SYMPTOMS

Even those who have not engaged in direct combat suffer from PTSD
symptoms. They have killed by missiles dropped by remote-controlled
drones, in hand-to-hand combat; they have engaged in varied forms of
training and combat; they have seen members of their units killed
before their eyes; they have killed civilians, including children;
they have raped and tortured; and, they have been pushed to the limit
by stop-loss, by regulations, fragos [in the military, a (hasty or
sudden) change or amendment to a previous operational order] and directives.

PTSD grabs hold of an individual with its tenacious tentacles,
encircling not only the individual, but also the family, the loved
ones and the extended support group, if the sufferer is lucky enough
to have one. PTSD has symptoms that don't go away; on the contrary,
they hide and surface at unexpected and vulnerable times. Something
moves, the light changes, a memory escapes from the depth of the soul
and grabs hold of the mind and switches it back to another time. A
world is brought forth where the experiences meld into the present,
but not completely because the mind is in limbo with dangerous and
violent remedies that are out of place.

I have witnessed the immediate aftermath of a GI's suicide. I was too
late to stop it. Everyone was too late to stop it. The GI suffered
from PTSD and wasn't able to bring together the reality of the moment
with the crimes of the war. He was fragile and he had a very sharp
knife that was his constant companion.

What I saw and focused on was the blood spewed everywhere. It was on
the walls, on the rug, in the bathroom, under the chairs, and on his
wife's blouse and jeans. It was the color of red – the same color of
the bright ribbons that adorn so many presents wrapped for Christmas.
The same red color as the blood he had seen when he had cut the neck
of a small boy in a small town in a small country.

He was dead, but the rest of us, including his wife, will never be
able to wash the blood off.

PTSD can erupt as early as Basic Training when an individual is
subjected to the arbitrary and brutal abuse associated with that
stage of training. It sometimes endures a lifetime. While the
military acknowledges the lack of control and remedies for suicide,
allocating a miniscule number of programs for it, it still refuses to
take responsibility for it by giving service members straightforward
medical discharges rather than giving them personality disorder
discharges and discharging them for various sorts of misconduct
(which are an inevitable outcome of PTSD).

Take Jeff Lane. He isn't contemplating suicide, or at least, not
much; he's not contemplating running somewhere, because running
conjures thoughts of being alone and running down a long tunnel into
an unwelcoming void. He's not about to pick up his gear and walk to
the base or even to ask the counselors to drive him; instead, he has
taken all his medals and pinned them up on the wall beside his bed.
He has taken great care and gone to great strides to do this just
perfectly. He placed each one in the order that he had received them.
He stares at each medal as he remembers the valour, courage, and
fortitude that he had shown. Indeed, for each action, he had been
rewarded with a ribbon, some metal, and as a result, great pride took
over his heart. He had saved the life of more than one of his buddies
and he had shot and killed people who didn't wear a uniform.

Then the evil thoughts begin; the ones that drag him down. He doesn't
want to go there, but his mind won't release him. The pride begins to
lose control and he freezes up. He hears a car go by the window and
he wants to get up to look at it, but he is unable to. The medals
become a blur.

She was a young woman inside the house. He felt like a robot with all
his gear on and given what he was carrying. Her parents had already
been killed. It was she and he in the room, alone. He didn't want to
shoot her, but what purpose was there in leaving her to face all that
had happened -- that he had caused. If he killed her, and he looked
into her eyes stricken with fear, he wouldn't have to make judgment.
She would just be dead and he could forget about her. It was the easy
way out. Her eyes closed, ready for the death that would come.

On to the next medal as Jeff tries to focus: there is no meeting of
the two worlds, the one of war and the other of the present. Jeff
realizes that he is slipping into the vague world of the battle
between the memory of it all and the present. It is as though he is
drowning and he knows he is slipping into the tunnel that takes you
to the place of the void where there is nothing.

He listens to the gunshots ringing everywhere around him. He wants to
save his medals – the ones that envelope his pride and valor. He
looks up at them, grasping for them as they were the life buoy that
would bring him to safety. But, they are an illusion riding high in
his mind. He sees blood on his legs and hands. His hands have been
gouging rivers in his legs. He wants to feel the pain, but he can't,
no matter how hard he tries. He sees rivers of blood. He wants to
drip the water from the rivers on his medals and he stands on his bed
to perform the ceremony. He suddenly stops, similarly as his dreams
always end. He is unable to mutilate his medals. They are he; they
are one. He can't touch them and he is to be the only sacrificial lamb today.

Jeff Lane collapses onto his knees, grabs the pillow, and cries,
sobbing into its comforting softness as he folds into a fetal
position on the bed.

THE U.S. MILITARY RENEGES ON ITS RESPONSIBILITY

The military needs the cannon fodder, although it certainly doesn't
need the support of the American people to wage the wars. And, if the
result is that suicides kill a greater percentage of our soldiers, so be it.

Bill heard the bell ring and immediately rose from his work to run to
the counseling room. He joined Dan who was counseling and evaluating
a vet who had retuned from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and who been
inside Iran for a while. Dan knew both territories well – the
geographical and mental ones -- but in such cases when a counselee
became violent, reinforcements per program rules were required immediately.

He sized up the situation quickly. Not good. The counselee had
returned to the war zone. He was being shot at. His buddies were in
danger or dead. He was probably wounded, shot. Maybe he had gone
through an IED or sniper situation. Maybe he had killed innocents.

"I killed them all, you know!" he yelled. His eyes were wild, glazed over.

"We gotcha covered," Dan yelled.

"I'm over here," Bill yelled. "We're safe here," he yelled, coming up
behind. He knew that Dan was more able to physically get the guy
under control. Another counselor entered the room.

"I killed all the motherfuckers. I got 'em. I had to kill 'em, you
know. What could I do? Everyone of them." He circled the room, his
eyes darting every which way. His arms were in front of him as though
he were looking for something to grab, maybe weapons or someone to
fight. His feet were doing a dance like a boxer. He was wild and it
was a dangerous situation. He tried to edge past Dan, trying to push
him aside. That was a mistake. Dan grabbed his farthest arm, swung
him around, twisted and locked his arm against his lower back, and
grabbed him around the neck from behind with his other arm. He had
control of the guy's entire body. The guy was kicking and stomping,
trying to throw Dan over his shoulder. Dan was too firmly rooted for
that and he was braced against the wall. The guy turned his head and
looked up at the ceiling as though he expected bullets to be coming
from the buildings at any moment. Bill and the other counselor were
on the guy in another split minute. The guy was screaming bloody
murder. "You're all going to die. Don't you see. I had to do it. I
gotta save ya. I had to do it."

"Calm down, Tony! We're taking you out to the back room where you can
simmer down," Bill said. "You're at our office here in the city.
You're with friends." "When he's okay, take him out to Livermore
facility," he said to the counselor.

THE MILITARY MAKES IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR THE GI TO HOLD ONTO HIS/HER HUMANITY

The fact that the military establishment is trying very hard to deal
with the high suicide rate just doesn't pass muster, and it must be
held responsible for each and every death of its service members.
Unpopular wars are unpopular for a reason. The strategies and
tactics, the training or lack of it, in which the U.S. military
engages lead its members to rot in hell due to their cruelty and
disdain for human life. Drone warfare and house-to-house searches
create more enemies and more problems, and it is inevitable that the
casualties will be those who directly and indirectly inflict the wounds.

It was late at night -- too late to be standing and crouching outside
the modest home. The soldiers were hunched over, weapons in their
hands. It was a dark night and the soldiers waited in anticipation.
They had their orders; they just waited for the command. It came.
They rushed the door. The second in line kicked it down, not wavering
for a second. The noise woke the family. The father reached for the
gun beside his bed. He was too late. One of the soldiers kicked it
across the room that served as a living room, dining room, kitchen
and bedroom. The wife started to scream and ran toward their baby.
The two older children cried. They looked toward their parents for
directions as to what their emotions should be. All the faces showed fear.

The soldier shouted that they should get on the floor, face down.
They did as they were told. Their arms were roughly brought to their
backs and tied. The mother tried to pull down her nightgown. Two of
the soldiers noisily and roughly went through the room, knocking over
what scarce furniture there was. They searched the chests, through
the kitchen pots, breaking the dishes, throwing clothes around and
rustling through papers. The father yelled, begging the soldiers not
to kill his family. The soldier kicked him in the side. Blood ran out
of his mouth. The elder brother's eyes turned from fear to anger; he
would seek revenge. The other child tried to squirm to the corner as
though that would hide her from the ugliness. Her father's eyes told
her to remain quiet.

The soldier in command asked him where the papers were; they pulled
him to his feet roughly and butted him in the stomach. His legs
collapsed. The mother screamed that there were no papers or weapons
other than the one weapon. The soldiers talked among themselves. One
by one they took the family outside and threw them against the side
of the small house. They threw out names, one after the other, and
the father replied that he didn't know who they were asking about.
The soldiers hit him in the head. One of the soldiers began slowly to
hike the nightgown up to the thighs on the wife. The soldier in
command eyed him viciously and ordered that the father accompany them
as they pulled him away from the house and his family. The wife
screamed and screamed to no avail holding the baby to her body. The
middle child wailed. The older boy was silent.

The location was Boston in the 1770s and Iraq and Afghanistan in the
2000s and, as John Adams stated, that with blanket search warrants:
"then and there the child Independence is born." House-to-House
searches, whether in times of war or occupation or against dissidents
and their supporters, and since before the Magna Carta, are not games
that wise citizens should allow their kings to play.

PERMANENT WAR ENSURES CONTINUED SUICIDES

The only way to prevent the current high rate of suicides and PTSD is
to end the wars. A reasonable foreign policy would alleviate the
deaths that too many American families are facing. There are many
support groups available, yet, you, the soldiers and veterans must
take the first step – to live. To save your lives, and to end these wars.
--

SUICIDE RESOURCES:

•INDEPENDENT VOTER NETWORK (IVN)

http://www.caivn.org/article/2010/05/12/us-military-besieged-record-suicide-rate

"the toll of military suicides last year was the worst since records
began to be kept in 1980."

"The surge in suicides, which have risen five years in a row, has
become a vexing problem for which the Army's highest levels of
command have yet to find a solution despite deploying hundreds of
mental-health experts and investing millions of dollars."

"Military suicides make up about 20% of all suicides in the U.S.,
suggesting that the problem is worse among the armed forces than in
the general population since veterans make up only about 7.6% of the
population."

"The suicide rate among soldiers who have deployed to [war zones] is
higher than for soldiers who have never deployed"

"For every death, at least five members of the armed forces were
hospitalised for attempting to take their life."

•WORLD SOCIALIST WEBSITE

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2010/jan2010/suic-j06.shtml

•BAY CITIZEN

http://www.baycitizen.org/veterans/story/after-service-veteran-deaths-surge/

More than 1,000 veterans in California under 35 died after returning
home from Iraq and Afghanistan between 2005 and 2008 - three times as
many California service members who were killed in conflict overseas,
according to a recently published Bay Citizen report.

•Kennedy, Kelly, Army Times," Study finds 'hidden epidemic' of female
vet suicides," 12-2010: Female veterans commit suicide at a rate
three times higher than women who never served, accord­ing to a new study.
--

Marti Hiken is the director of Progressive Avenues. She is the former
associate director of the Institute for Public Accuracy and former
chair of the National Lawyers Guild Military Law Task Force. She can
be contacted at info@progressiveavenues.org, 415-702-9682.

The Progressive Avenues website, www.progressiveavenues.org, is
updated regularly in the "What's Added, What's New" link on the Home
page, at http://www.progressiveavenues.org/Whats_New_Added.html

Luke Hiken is a former supervising attorney at the California
Appellate Project, and has engaged in the practice of criminal,
immigration, and appellate law.

.

More sex assaults reported at military academies

More sex assaults reported at military academies

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101216/ap_on_re_us/us_military_sexual_assaults

Dec 15, 2010

DENVER – Sexual assault reports at the three U.S. military academies
rose 64 percent in the 2009-10 academic year, but many more victims
probably didn't come forward, the Defense Department said Wednesday.

A total of 41 sexual assaults involving students were reported to
authorities at West Point, the Naval Academy and the Air Force
Academy in 2009-10, the department said in its annual report on
sexual harassment and violence.

In the previous academic year, 25 were reported.

Officials point to a survey of students at the three academies taken
last spring as well as statistics from the civilian population as
indicators that the reported sexual assaults represent fewer than 10
percent of all types of unwanted sexual contact, ranging from
fondling to intercourse.

It wasn't immediately clear what percentage of the respondents had
reported behavior that would qualify as a sexual assault.

Sexual offenses are "one of the nation's most underreported crimes,"
said Kaye Whitley, director of the Defense Department's Sexual
Assault Prevention and Response program, which issued Wednesday's report.

Whitley said improved reporting of sexual assaults is one of the
department's key goals.

The report calls the increase in assault reports "concerning," but
Whitley said she was encouraged that more people came forward. She
said the increase in reports doesn't necessarily mean that more
people were assaulted.

The Air Force Academy, in Colorado Springs, Colo., had the largest
increase in reported sexual assaults, from eight in 2008-09 to 20 the
next year, a jump of 150 percent.

West Point ­ officially, the U.S. Military Academy, in West Point,
N.Y. ­ reported 10 assaults in 2009-10, an increase of one.

The Naval Academy, in Annapolis, Md., reported 11 assaults in
2009-10, an increase of three.

Air Force Col. Reni Renner said the eight reported at the Air Force
Academy in 2008-09 may have been unusually low. In 2006-07, 19 were
reported, and in 2007-08, it was 24.

Renner said she doesn't know the reason for the low number in
2008-09, but some at the academy have speculated that a sexual
assault case that was dismissed instead of going to trial may have
discouraged some victims to report.

Renner said she also doesn't know why the Air Force Academy has more
reports than the other two schools but said it could stem from the
confidence students have in the academy's sexual assault response coordinator.

The survey showed 47 percent of female respondents and the same
percentage of males at the Air Force Academy regarded the coordinator
as a valuable resource to "a large extent."

At the Naval Academy and West Point, the percentages for the same
answer ranged from 14 percent to 19 percent for female and male respondents.

The report outlines each academy's efforts to improve sexual assault
prevention training and reporting and to improve the "climate of
victim confidence" to encourage victims to report attacks.

Whitley said the survey of students indicated the message of the
training is getting through, with more than half indicating they
thought the training was effective in reducing assaults.

She said statistical verification that the programs are reducing
assaults is elusive.

"Prevention is the most difficult program to measure because you
never know how many sexual assaults your program prevented," she
said. "There are no models out there" to do that.

She also said research shows it takes about 10 years to change
cultural attitudes, and the military is five years into its campaign
to reduce sexual assaults.

The report says the Pentagon wants to develop a standardized process
for evaluating progress at all three academies, and that Department
of Defense officials will visit each campus as part of the next
evaluation process.

Whitley said the Defense Department also plans to launch a sexual
assault hot line in March that would allow servicemen and women to
communicate by phone, online chat or text messages 24 hours a day.

"That's going to help us increase reporting," she said.

The Service Women's Action Network, which advocates for women in the
military, issued a statement criticizing the report for the absence
of policy changes.

Anuradha Bhagwati, a former Marine captain and now director of the
group, said in a written statement the report "signals a lack of any
real dedication by our military leadership to change an environment
that is weakening our military."
--

Online:

Report on Sexual Harassment and Violence at the Military Service
Academies and Service Academy Gender Relations Survey: http://www.sapr.mil

.

Arrest made in plot to blow up military recruiting center

Arrest made in plot to blow up Baltimore-area military recruiting center

http://www.timescolonist.com/news/Arrest+made+plot+blow+Baltimore+area+military+recruiting+center/3947177/story.html

By Justin Fenton and Tricia Bishop
December 8, 2010

BALTIMORE - A 21-year-old Baltimore man has been arrested for
attempting to blow up a military recruitment center in Catonsville,
Md., with a fake bomb supplied by federal agents.

Federal authorities say Antonio Martinez, also known as Muhammad
Hussain, attempted to detonate what he thought to be a vehicle bomb
Wednesday morning at the Armed Forces Career Center.

Court records paint Martinez as obsessed with jihad and intent on
punishing the military. He praised Nidal Hassan, the U.S. Army major
who killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Texas, and discussed obtaining
weapons and shooting up military installations, records show.

In November, he was observed on a public computer viewing videos of
Osama bin Laden and an Iraqi martyrdom. He discussed in public
postings on his Facebook page how the "reign of oppression is about 2 cease."

It was through the social networking site that he communicated at
times with an FBI informant, saying he wanted to go to Pakistan or
Afghanistan and join the ranks of the "mujahideen."

He told the confidential source that if the military continued to
kill Muslims, "they would need to expand their operation by killing
U.S. Army personnel where they live," records show. They discussed
attacking military installations and the possibility of using gas or
propane tanks.

The White House said in a statement that President Obama had been
informed of the operation prior to the arrest and that the
investigation "underscores the necessity of remaining vigilant
against terrorism here and abroad and why we have been focusing on
addressing the challenge posed by domestic radicalization."

At an afternoon court hearing, Martinez wore an untucked white
T-shirt with jeans. He had wild curly hair and his face was unshaven,
and he looked down as U.S. Magistrate Judge James K. Bredar read the charges.

Martinez said he worked construction and was married, and gave an
address in Baltimore. According to his Facebook page, he graduated
from Laurel High School in 2005.

He is charged with attempted murder of federal employees and
attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction against U.S. property.
He faces life in prison.

The judge issued a temporary order of detention for Martinez and set
a hearing for Monday afternoon.

Deputy Federal Public Defender Joseph Balter was appointed to handle his case.

"It's very, very early," Balter said after the hearing. "We really
hope that nobody jumps to any judgments" about his guilt. Balter
declined to comment further.

On Oct. 29, his discussions with FBI informants focused on the
military recruiting center. Martinez said he knew of someone who
could provide weapons and detailed how he could enter the facility
from the roof and then "shoot everybody in the place."

Burning the building, he said, would "instill fear" and send a
message that "whoever joins the military, they will be killed."

Court records show Martinez attempted to recruit multiple
individuals, all who declined to participate. According to a law
enforcement source, one of the friends "thought he was kidding or
nuts and told him to stop talking about jihad."

Officials said no one was in danger because the FBI was monitoring Martinez.

"There was no danger to the public as the explosives were inert, and
the suspect had been carefully monitored by law enforcement for
months," the office said in a statement.

There was also no evidence that the plot was tied to recent shootings
at military recruiting centers in the Washington area, officials said.

The case appeared similar to a recent bomb plot in Portland, Ore. The
day after Thanksgiving, a Somali-born teenager was arrested there
after using a cell phone to try to detonate what he thought were
explosives in a van, authorities said. He thought he was going to
bomb a crowded downtown Christmas tree-lighting ceremony.

Like the Baltimore County case, it turned out to be a dummy bomb plot
put together by FBI agents. Mohamed Osman Mohamud, 19, was arrested
after authorities said he planned the details of the plot, including
where to park the van filled with explosives to hurt the most people.
Mohamud allegedly believed he was receiving help from a larger ring
of jihadists as he communicated with undercover agents.

Court records show Martinez saw reports of the Oregon case and became
agitated, fearing that he was being set up. He and the confidential
source had a meeting on Nov. 27, where he advised that he still
wanted to go forward. The source told him to sleep on it and call him
the next day.

On Nov. 28, Martinez phoned the source and said: "I'm just ready to
move forward."

Earlier, they had discussed how a bomb could be constructed so it
would blast into the recruiting station. Martinez pointed out that
others who had attempted explosions and tried to flee had been caught
boarding planes, and the confidential source offered that they could
travel into Canada before proceeding into Europe and eventually Afghanistan.

Martinez also said that he wanted to learn how to build a bomb so he
could teach the "next 'young brother' who decided to fight," records show.

His mother disapproved of his life choices, according to records.
"She wants me to be like everybody else, being in school, working,"
he told the informant. "Glad I am not like everyone else my age _
going out having fun, be in college, all that stuff. That's not me. .
. . That (sic) not what Allah has in mind for me."

At the shopping center where Martinez was arrested Wednesday morning,
Will Eckenrode, manager of Car Quest Auto Parts, said he heard a loud
bang, then saw FBI agents in technical gear in the parking lot this
morning between 9:30 a.m. and 10 a.m.

"It's scary," he said. "This is close to home."

While there are always people coming in and out of the recruiting
center, Eckenrode said it's generally a quiet area.

The recruiting center is in a strip mall that also houses a nail
salon and beauty supply store.

In the window of the recruiting office, a sign listed its hours as 9
a.m. to 18:00 hours. However, the center appeared to not have been
open at all Wednesday.

U.S. authorities have disrupted or uncovered at least 15 homegrown
terrorist conspiracies over the last two years, often by penetrating
the scheme at an early stage and carefully orchestrating the results.

In addition to the Oregon case, some of the more recent incidents
include the Sept. 19 arrest Sami Samir Hassoun, who planted a
backpack containing fake explosives in a sports bar near Wrigley
Field in Chicago. A Lebanese citizen living in the city, Hassoun got
the faux bomb from undercover FBI agents who befriended him after
being tipped off to his intentions a year earlier.

FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Grant said Hassoun "was unhappy
with the way the city was running. He was also unhappy with things
that were happening in other parts of the world."

The attempted attack on a recruiting station in Catonsville also
stirred memories of a very different plot in 1968 that attracted
national attention.

On May 17, 1968, the Catonsville office of the Selective Service _
the draft board _ was raided by a group of nine anti-war protesters
led by the Rev. Daniel Berrigan and his brother Philip, a Josephite priest.

Shouting, "You're murderers!," the Berrigans and their band scuffled
with board employees, causing minor injuries to one. They managed to
gather up and burn a pile of several hundred draft records, mostly
those of men whom Selective Service officials later said were 4-F _
deferred from military service for medical reasons.

"There was no special significance to Catonsville," said Dean Pappas,
a Baltimore physics teacher who helped plan the draft office raid and
spread the word after it happened. "It was just a target of opportunity."

The "Catonsville 9," as the conspirators were called, were arrested,
tried in federal court and sentenced to a collective total of 18
years in prison and $22,000 in fines. Five of the nine have since died.

.

Growing mental health problems in military

Report:
Growing mental health problems in military

http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/12/09/military.mental.problems/index.html?hpt=T2

From Charley Keyes
12/9/10

Mental problems send more men in the U.S. military to the hospital
than any other cause, according to a new Pentagon report.

And they are the second highest reason for hospitalization of women
military personnel, behind conditions related to pregnancy.

The Defense Department's Medical Surveillance report from November
examines "a large, widespread, and growing mental health problem
among U.S. military members."

The 31-page report says mental disorders are a problem for the entire
U.S. population, but that sharp increases for active duty military
reflect the psychological toll of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"Most notably in this regard, the rate of incident diagnoses of
post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) increased nearly six-fold from
2003 to 2008," the report says.

And new outreach and screening, as well as the military's efforts to
reduce the stigma attached to seeking treatment also contributed to
higher numbers, according to the report.

The Army was hit hardest by the most common and long-lasting problems
-- post-traumatic stress disorder, major depression, bipolar
disorder, alcohol dependence and substance dependence, according to the report.

"The Army was relatively most affected (based on lost duty time) by
mental disorder-related hospitalizations overall; and in 2009, the
loss of manpower to the Army was more than twice that to the Marine
Corps and more than three times that to the other Services," the report says.

"The Army has had many more deployers to Afghanistan and Iraq and
many more combat-specific casualties; it is not surprising,
therefore, that the Army has endured more mental disorder-related
casualties and larger manpower losses than the other services."

While most new diagnoses of mental illness were in the Army, the
fewest were in the Air Force.

"The only exceptions to this observation were in 2007, 2008, and the
first two quarters of 2010 when the incidence rates of new diagnoses
of alcohol dependence in the Marine Corps were the highest of all the
Services," the report said.

But overall, the Marines were found to have fewer overall mental
problems than the Army, Air Force and Navy with 4.3 percent of
Marines versus 6.4-percent of the overall pool of active duty military.

Researchers call for additional study, and admit that tracking mental
problems can be a moving target, as treatment and attitudes change.

"There are real and perceived barriers to seeking and accessing care
for mental health disorders among military members. These barriers
include shortages of mental health professionals in some areas and
the social and military stigmas associated with seeking or receiving
mental health care," the report says. "The nature and effects of
these barriers to care have likely changed."

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Soldiers use extreme methods to meet military weight rules

Study:
Soldiers use extreme methods to meet military weight rules

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2010-12-06-military-weight_N.htm

12/6/10
By Lance M. Bacon, Army Times

Soldiers are dangerously starving themselves, gobbling diet pills and
laxatives ­ even resorting to costly liposuction surgery ­ all to
meet the Army's weight standards and avoid losing their careers,
according to military personnel who spoke to Army Times.

Health experts say the number of soldiers using extreme weight-loss
methods may closely resemble results of a recent study by two
officers attending the Naval Post Graduate School. The study found
that nearly one in three Marines have gone to such measures to lose
weight. The Army doesn't keep data on the likely numbers of soldiers
taking these risks, but dozens of soldiers responded to a question
from Army Times, many saying they use starvation, dehydration, pills
or laxatives, and some have used ­ or are considering using ­ liposuction.

Additionally, more than a third of men in uniform do not meet height
and weight standards, according to a separate 2009 report.

"Liposuction saved my career ­ laxatives and starvation before an
(Army Physical Fitness Test) sustains my career," a soldier told Army
Times in an e-mail. "I for one can attest that soldiers are using
liposuction, laxatives and starvation to meet height and weight
standards. I did, do and still do," wrote the soldier, a medium
helicopter repairer.

"Six years ago, I spent $4,500 on liposuction while on (permanent
change of station) leave. As a crewmember, our mission is to keep
those aircraft in the air, and time for PT is not available," he
wrote. "I was blessed with a very slow metabolism and an insatiable appetite."

Soldiers know they will face the dreaded "tape" if they exceed
height/weight standards. The tape measurements are used to determine
body fat percentage, with limits set by age group and gender.

Soldiers are afraid of those limits, knowing that if they cross that
line they won't be promotable. Further, they cannot be assigned to
leadership positions and they are not authorized to attend
professional military schools. Their career is over if they don't
make satisfactory weight loss in two months ­ typically six to 16 pounds.

The danger to careers is real.

About 24,000 soldiers were discharged between 1992 and 2007 for
failure to comply with weight standards outlined in Army Regulation
600-9, according to the 2009 Military Services Fitness Database
report, which was published in the journal Military Medicine. In
comparison, the Army discharged less than a tenth of that number ­
2,342 soldiers ­ for failing the physical fitness test between 1999 and 2007.

To save their careers, some soldiers turn to excessive, unnatural and
unhealthy measures.

Extent of practice not known

With 35% of male soldiers failing the weight standards, and 6% of men
and women exceeding body fat standards, according to the 2009 report,
how many of them will turn to extreme solutions is hard to say, as
empirical data on this practice does not exist ­ a fact bemoaned by
the medical experts interviewed by Army Times.

"I don't think we have a clear understanding how widespread this
problem is," said Col. George Dilly, Medical Command's chief
dietician and a consultant to the Army surgeon general. "Soldiers are
hiding the fact they are doing this because they don't want the
problem exposed."

Dilly said the typical scenario is well known. As a soldier
approaches his semi-annual weigh-in, he may use diuretics and
laxatives to reduce fluid and lower his weight. But this can be a
deadly decision, Dilly said, because it causes dehydration, and the
loss of essential electrolytes can lead to cardiac arrest. Worse yet,
this approach has no effect on the individual's body fat.

"This is not a long-term strategy," he said. "In fact, it's a very
dangerous short-term strategy."

Second Lt. Lane Stover knows this all too well. The 5-foot-4-inch
quartermaster said she went to extreme measures to keep the weight off.

"When I ate more than I thought I should, I would purge, and punish
myself by heading to the gym or out on a late-night run," she said in
an e-mail to Army Times. "I would often take laxatives, in excess of
the prescribed amount, and knew exactly how long it would take for
them to go into effect. It was a disgusting and dangerous practice
that I thought would help me.

Stover said she entered therapy and went to support groups to fix her
problem, but said one problem remains.

"My behaviors aren't the only problem. The Army's weight standard
is," she said. "Until the Army takes a closer look at the weight
regulations and methods for determining body fat, soldiers will
resort to extreme measures to ensure they are within their weight
requirements."

Alejandra Lewis said she had taken laxatives and starved herself "a
couple of times" in preparation for the PT test. She said the problem
was not her weight, but the way the Army measures body fat.

"Every person has a different shape of body; not everyone is the
same," she wrote to Army Times. "When I joined the military I went
down 80 pounds starving myself and (using) laxatives. I had to do it
because even though I had met weight, I have thick thighs. The tape
measure said I was over, so I had to lose even more weight just to
meet the standards. They need to change it because it isn't fair."

The fact that soldiers are taking these steps is no secret in the
cosmetic-surgery community.

Chief Warrant Officer 2 Melissa Gash, based at Fort Riley, Kan., said
she recently saw a poster for liposuction at the post gym.

"The bottom of the poster clearly states that advertisement does not
mean endorsement, but the fact that material like that is even
allowed on post, and more specifically where soldiers go to get fit,
is inappropriate," she said. "It gives the soldier the false
impression that liposuction should even be an option. Americans are
all about fast results and immediate gratification. Whatever happened
to working hard to accomplish a goal and feeling the satisfaction
after earning what you set your sights on?"

But military health professionals say troops should not believe all
the hype ­ and should be aware of the risks involved.

"We want soldiers to look right," said Dr. Thomas Williams, a retired
colonel who heads the Army Physical Fitness Research Institute. "But
they also need to feel right and perform right, and you can't get
that from a pill or a procedure."

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Army Guard Recruit Seeks Better Life

Army Guard Recruit Seeks Better Life

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=61976

By Army Capt. Kyle Key
National Guard Patriot Academy

SAN DIEGO, Dec. 7, 2010 – Daniel J. Sanchez woke up one morning and
knew his day was going to be different than the one before, because
it would be the last day he would wake up on a park bench or worry
where his next meal would come from.

Sanchez's mother was only 17 when she gave birth to him. With no
money, job or support, she put him up for adoption. His adoptive
parents divorced when he was six and ping-ponged Sanchez for the next 11 years.

Even when things were good, Sanchez lived below poverty levels
without running water or electricity in a trailer in Apple Valley, Calif.

When he turned 17, Sanchez's adoptive mother kicked him out of the
house. He went into survival mode, dropped out of high school halfway
through his senior year, and found one dead-end job after another to
make ends meet.

Sanchez wandered from place to place, staying with friends, in
shelters and under the stars.

According to the American Journal for Public Health, 1.5 million
youth experience homelessness over the course of a year nationwide.
In nearby Los Angeles County alone, there are currently an estimated
26,000 homeless youth.

After working as a ranch hand, Sanchez's adoptive father asked him to
come to San Diego. Things didn't work out as he'd planned.

"It's just been really rough," Sanchez said. "My dad couldn't afford
to have me in his house. I stayed at my sister's house, but it was
the same situation."

Health problems and the economic downturn hit his family hard,
forcing Sanchez to go it alone. He hit the streets again.

Determined to make a better life for himself, Sanchez called
California Army National Guard recruiter Sgt. Arkadiy Knopov in
Kearny Mesa in eastern San Diego.

"He was ecstatic when I confirmed everything that he read about GED
[General Equivalency Diploma] Plus," Knopov said. "Part of the reason
why I became his National Guard recruiter is because I want to help
young individuals like Private Sanchez get on the right track in life."

Sanchez did his homework. Only the Army National Guard had a program
to allow him to enlist, get full-time pay, benefits, housing and
three square meals a day while going to school to earn his GED credentials.

"I wasn't taking him seriously at first," Sanchez said. "But when he
told me there actually was a program like this, I really started to
get into it."

Sanchez said the National Guard GED Plus Program at Camp Robinson in
North Little Rock, Ark., sounded like an opportunity for him to
support himself as a citizen and soldier. The resident program lasts
from two to three weeks and prepares new recruits for the GED
examination, administered at the end of the course. Upon successful
completion, recruits depart for basic training.

Sanchez took the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery exam and
scored a 78, well above average, allowing him to select fire support
specialist as his military occupational specialty.

After passing a physical examination and completing paperwork, he
raised his right hand and became Pvt. Daniel J. Sanchez, the newest
recruit in the California Army National Guard. But his problems still
weren't over.

"I was still living on the streets," Sanchez said. "Sergeant Knopov
started working harder and went to extra lengths, from what I
understand, to get me into the GED Plus Program as soon as possible."

Knopov worked quickly to get Sanchez's orders published for Camp Robinson.

Sanchez said Knopov managed to get him shipped out within a couple of
days instead of several months.

Sanchez and other recruits like him not only have a home in the
National Guard program, but they have become part of something even
greater, Army Sgt. Maj. Elizabeth Causby of the GED Plus program said.

"We're changing lives at the National Guard GED Plus Program," Causby said.
"It's not unusual for us to be a source of refuge for young adults
facing hardship, adverse conditions or dangerous situations.

"These warriors," she continued, "know the day they graduate that
they have become a part of a huge family -- the National Guard family
-- and we take care of our family."

Sanchez and 193 of his classmates graduated with GED credentials on
Oct. 29. His graduating class was the largest since the program began in 2006.

Sanchez said he's grateful for a second chance at his education and a
springboard for career opportunities and a better life.

"I want to make my recruiter proud, because he really, really helped
me," he said. "I wasn't doing anything with my life. I haven't worked
as hard as I could have throughout my life. I needed to get out of
there. I needed to get my life straight."

Sanchez reported to Fort Jackson, S.C., for basic training. He'll
move on to Fort Sill, Okla., for his advanced individual training as
a fire support specialist.

When Sanchez returns, he has a mentor waiting for him back in Kearny Mesa.

"My work with him is far from over," Knopov said. "As a National
Guard recruiting and retention non-commissioned officer, I am
responsible for soldiers during their entire career, from the day I
meet them for the first time until they day they leave the military.

"Private Sanchez and I made an agreement than when he completes his
[training] he will use me as a 'go to' person to help him enroll in
college and begin his journey towards higher education," Knopov
continued. "I see a lot of potential in this young individual."

Sanchez has big plans.

"It's good to know that I have a bright future ahead of me," he said.
"Right now, I just really want to support myself."

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US Army Recruiters' Banquet at the Grand Hyatt

US Army Recruiters' Banquet at the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio, Texas:
Military Excess in the Shadow of the Alamo

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cynthia-wachtell/us-army-recruiters-banque_b_789596.html

Cynthia Wachtell
Posted: November 29, 2010

Recently I visited San Antonio, Texas for the first time. I even went
to the Alamo. My taxi driver from the airport, a middle-aged fellow
from Cyprus, warned me against it. He ranks the Alamo as the most
disappointing tourist site in America and considers the historic
standoff that took place there completely implausible. In his
estimation the old mission building -- where Davy Crockett and the
other defenders fought and died in early 1836 -- is too structurally
slight to have withstood a 13 day siege.

Let's just say the grandeur of Texas history was lost on this man.
But as someone who studies America's wars past and present, I
considered the Alamo a necessary stop. To see the site of the most
famous military engagement in Texas history, I hoped would teach me
an intangible something about stoicism, sacrifice, and America's
military past.

What I did not expect was to receive a lesson about America's very
modern military excesses while strolling through the posh lobby of
the Grand Hyatt -- the newest, nicest, tallest hotel in downtown San Antonio.

I was in town for the American Studies Association's annual
conference at the convention center adjacent to the Grand Hyatt.
Among the gathered academics, there was a lot of talk about paradigms
and paradoxes and also a fair amount of grousing about hotels. (One
weary woman had shivered into the wee hours of the morning at the
hotel she had found on Priceline.com, a $69 a night "bargain.")

But frigid and frayed hotels are part of the deal. By and large, we
academics do not expect glitz -- more like Motel 6. Throw in free
coffee and cable, and we are content. Or at least we are content to
dwell on our discontentment. The American Studies Association's
convention theme this year was "Crisis, Chains, and Change: American
Studies for the Twenty-first Century," and that just about says it all.

Still and all, I had thought we might have it better than the US
Army, which is why I did a double-take when I saw the first of the
Army men standing with ramrod posture at the reception desk of the
Grand Hyatt. There is something attention grabbing about the sight of
men in camouflage in a marble lobby, especially when they are
checking in to a five star hotel. A few delicate inquiries revealed
that US Army recruiters were arriving in force for a weekend training
conference.

Now maybe, once we passed the $1 trillion mark on spending for our
wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, there was a tacit understanding among
the powers that be not to sweat the small stuff. What are tens of
thousands of dollars, even tens of millions, when you are counting in
billions? And I can imagine that Army recruiters cannot have an easy
time of it finding volunteers for deployment to Afghanistan, our
longest-ever war. But putting Army recruiters up for a couple of
nights at the Grand Hyatt, where rooms generally go for upwards of
$175 a pop? Don't we have forts and barracks for that?

Saturday late afternoon rolled round and the Army men appeared in the
hotel's lobby spiffed up in their navy blue dress uniforms, neat rows
of military stripes emblazoning their broad chests. Their wives and
girlfriends appeared by their sides in strapless gowns and
form-fitting dresses. (I overheard one pregnant woman asking a man if
he noticed her breasts were getting bigger. But that, I suppose, is
beside the point.) I consulted the Hyatt's daily activities screen,
and there I saw:

US Army Recruiting Battalion
2:00 PM - 10:00 PM Photo Room Crockett Event Room
5:00 PM - 11:00 PM Banquet Dinner Texas Ballroom

So this is what it has come to. We are we throwing banquets for our
Army recruiters in luxury hotels, while the rest of America soldiers on.

I left the Grand Hyatt and walked straight to the Alamo. It was
almost closing time, and I stepped inside as pink clouds filled the sky.

My Cyprian cab driver was not altogether wrong. The Alamo is not
America's most evocative battle site. (Call me a purist, but isn't
there something distasteful about having a big bank of soda and snack
machines inside the walled compound where hundreds died? Can't
tourists wait for their sugar-fix until they reach the Haagen Dazs next door?)

Of the following, though, I am certain. The men that fought and died
at the Alamo were not enjoying "world class catering" or dancing the
night away. And they definitely were not posing for group pictures in
the Davy Crockett Event Room.
--

Cynthia Wachtell is the author of War No More: The Antiwar Impulse in
American Literature, 1861-1914 (www.warnomorethebook.com) and a
research associate professor of American Studies at Yeshiva University.

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