emotional resiliency you say?

1. i don't know if some weekly 90 minute classes will help but it SURE CAN'T HURT. we have to take care of our heroes. we're not in a lot of cases. it's our DUTY as citizens of the united states of america. they protect us WE MUST PROTECT THEM WHEN IT'S THEIR TURN
   

Mental Stress Training Is Planned for U.S. Soldiers
By BENEDICT CAREY

PHILADELPHIA — The Army plans to require that all 1.1 million of its soldiers take intensive training in emotional resiliency, military officials say.

The training, the first of its kind in the military, is meant to improve performance in combat and head off the mental health problems, including depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide, that plague about one-fifth of troops returning from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Active-duty soldiers, reservists and members of the National Guard will receive the training, which will also be available to their family members and to civilian employees.

The new program is to be introduced at two bases in October and phased in gradually throughout the service, starting in basic training. It is modeled on techniques that have been tested mainly in middle schools.......

because we can't forget iraq

and we sure as shite can't forget we still have people there AND we have veterans and civilian contractors back home who were effected by being in iraq.

and unlike the previous story i posted the link to, i sure as shite am NOT surprised to find the name kbr (or halliburton) bandied about

Did toxic chemical in Iraq cause GIs' illnesses?

By SHARON COHEN
AP National Writer

Larry Roberta's every breath is a painful reminder of his time in Iraq. He can't walk a block without gasping for air. His chest hurts, his migraines sometimes persist for days and he needs pills to help him sleep.

James Gentry came home with rashes, ear troubles and a shortness of breath. Later, things got much worse: He developed lung cancer, which spread to his spine, ribs and one of his thighs; he must often use a cane, and no longer rides his beloved Harley.

David Moore's postwar life turned into a harrowing medical mystery: nosebleeds and labored breathing that made it impossible to work, much less speak. His desperate search for answers ended last year when he died of lung disease at age 42.

What these three men - one sick, one dying, one dead - had in common is they were National Guard soldiers on the same stretch of wind-swept desert in Iraq during the early months of the war in 2003.

These soldiers and hundreds of other Guard members from Indiana, Oregon and West Virginia were protecting workers hired by a subsidiary of the giant contractor, KBR Inc., to rebuild an Iraqi water treatment plant. The area, as it turned out, was contaminated with hexavalent chromium, a potent, sometimes deadly chemical linked to cancer and other devastating diseases.............

another tragedy

that's been brought to light before. yet nothing is done. i don't even understand why people still enlist in the military these days. the treatement we afford our veterans (ALL veterans actually, not just those from iraq and afghanistan) is shameful. the care we dole out is at the very least lacking. at the very most a crime
AP Scoop: War Veterans Make Up Half of Suicides At Hom
WASHINGTON National Guard and Reserve troops who have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan make up more than half of veterans who committed suicide after returning home from those wars, according to new government data obtained by The Associated Press.A Department of Veterans Affairs analysis of ongoing research of deaths among veterans of both wars -- obtained exclusively by The AP -- found that Guard or Reserve members were 53 percent of the veteran suicides from 2001, when the war in Afghanistan began, through the end of 2005.The research, conducted by the agency's Office of Environmental Epidemiology, provides the first demographic look at suicides among Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who left the military -- a situation that veterans and mental health advocates worry might worsen as the wars drag on.Upon learning of the VA's findings on Tuesday, the Veterans of Foreign Wars called for the Pentagon and the VA to combine their efforts to track suicides among those who have served in those countries in order to get a clearer picture of the problem.''We're very concerned for the overall well-being of our military men and women as well as our veterans and want to know, is there a growing problem that needs to be addressed by both the (Defense Department) and the VA?'' said Joe Davis, the VFW's public affairs director. ''To fix a problem, you have to define it first.''Military leaders have leaned heavily on Guard and Reserve troops in the wars. At certain times in 2005, members of the Guard and Reserve made up nearly half the troops fighting in Iraq.Overall, they were nearly 28 percent of all U.S. military forces deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan or in support of the operations, according to Defense Department data through the end of 2007.............

this is reassuring

NOTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT (but we really didn't need the article, we KNEW this already)
'Appalling Gap' Found in Homeland Defense Readiness
National Guard, Reserve Forces Lack Sufficient Personnel, Training to Respond to Crisis in U.S., Report Says

By Ann Scott Tyson Washington Post Staff Writer
The U.S. military is not prepared to meet catastrophic threats at home, and it is suffering from an "appalling gap" in forces able to respond to chemical, biological and nuclear strikes on U.S. soil, according to a congressional commission report released yesterday.
The situation is rooted in severe readiness problems in National Guard and reserve forces, which would otherwise be well-suited to respond to domestic crises but lack sufficient personnel and training, as well as $48 billion in equipment because of deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, according to a report by the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves.
Guard readiness has continued to slide since last March, when the panel found that 88 percent of Army National Guard units were rated "not ready," said retired Marine Maj. Gen. Arnold L. Punaro, the commission chairman. ..........

wonder how long lt general blum

is going to keep his job? he appears to speak the truth. the king doesn't like that much

U.S. National Guard chief says funds lagging risks

By Kristin Roberts
MUSCATATUCK, Indiana (Reuters) - The National Guard is likely to see an unprecedented level of new funds to fix or replace equipment worn out in Iraq and Afghanistan, but that's still not enough to make the force ready for homeland missions, its chief said.
"The president's budget is unprecedented in the history of the Guard in providing money to the Army National Guard to reequip," said Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau.
But still, it leaves equipment gaps, especially in the area of Humvees, trucks and other transport gear, that do not match the level of risk Blum said he sees.............

another problem for our deployed reserve service members

just when you think you've heard it all. you haven't. now, some in the reserves, are having their children taken from them.

this shouldn't be happening. NONE of this should be happening. yet, NO ONE suffers more than your president and i (according to laura 'i'm not of this world' bush)

Deployed troops battle for child custody

By PAULINE ARRILLAGA, AP National Writer

She had raised her daughter for six years following the divorce, handled the shuttling to soccer practice and cheerleading, made sure schoolwork was done. Hardly a day went by when the two weren't together. Then Lt. Eva Crouch was mobilized with the Kentucky National Guard, and Sara went to stay with Dad.
A year and a half later, her assignment up, Crouch pulled into her driveway with one thing in mind — bringing home the little girl who shared her smile and blue eyes. She dialed her ex and said she'd be there the next day to pick Sara up, but his response sent her reeling.
"Not without a court order you won't."
Within a month, a judge would decide that Sara should stay with her dad. It was, he said, in "the best interests of the child."
What happened? Crouch was the legal residential caretaker; this was only supposed to be temporary. What had changed? She wasn't a drug addict, or an alcoholic, or an abusive mother............