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Alarming Rate of Suicide Among Servicewomen and Female Vets

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female veteran

By Debbie Gregory.

Female military veterans run a 250% higher risk than civilian women for suicide, a startling finding that experts say poses disturbing questions about the backgrounds and experiences of women who serve in the armed forces.

Though suicide has become a major issue for the military over the last decade, most research by the Pentagon and the Department of Veterans Affairs has been focused on men.

Research regarding women in the military, especially in combat roles, is still a new and emerging area. Though the U.S. military has long provided camaraderie and a sense of purpose to men, it has been a harsher place for women.

Risk factors for female servicemember/veteran suicide may include: deployments in hostile environments, exposure to extreme stress, physical or sexual assault while in the service and service related injuries. In addition, there are also general risk factors such as alcohol or substance abuse, homelessness, financial problems, relationship issues.

The VA’s currently has the following suicide prevention initiatives and resources for women veterans in place:

  • Regional and national residential inpatient programs that either provide treatment to women only or have separate tracks for women and men.
  • Outpatient mental health services through VA medical centers, Vet Centers, community-based outreach clinics and partnerships with other local treatment providers across the country.
  • Evidence-based therapies for PTSD that have been shown to decrease suicidal ideation, available at every VA medical center.
  • Support for treating the effects of military sexual trauma.

Establishing mental health programs that are effective for women veterans will go a long way in ensuring they are receiving the best care possible, hopefully turning this issue around.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

The Long Road Home, a Must-See Miniseries

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long road

By Debbie Gregory.

The National Geographic miniseries “The Long Road Home,” based on a book of the same name by ABC News Correspondent Martha Raddatz, is the true story of the 2004 deployment of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment out of Fort Hood, Texas to Sadr City, Iraq.

This is the story of the eight-hour battle in Sadr City on April 4, 2004, that followed the ambush of the newly-arrived American platoon. The soldiers, many of them young and inexperienced, were on a peacekeeping mission and weren’t expected to face heavy combat. Told in real time through the eyes of untested soldiers in combat for the first time, the series gives viewers an intimate and unforgettable portrait of what it’s really like to go to war.

The eight part mini-series tells the story of the ambush and the three heroic rescue missions launched to save the platoon. It also focuses on the home front, as wives and mothers waited anxiously for word and drew support from one another.

Instead of it being the low-key peacekeeping mission they were expecting, the deployment ended up being a series of a deadly ambushes and brave rescues, spread out over 80 days of fighting.

The day that came to be known in military annals as “Black Sunday” claimed the lives of eight troop members and injured 60 others.

“The courage I witnessed, the heartache and the survival of spirit both on the battlefield and the homefront, is something I wanted to share with as many people as possible,” said Raddatz.

The series was shot at Fort Hood. Aaron Fowler and Eric Bourquin, who had both been part of the deployments, served as technical advisers.

“The Long Road Home” premiered on November 7th on the National Geographic Channel.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Veterans Transplant Coverage Act Will Save Lives

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By Debbie Gregory.

The House has passed the Veterans Transplant Coverage Act of 2017, which requires the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to provide organ transplants to veterans from a live donor, regardless of whether or not that donor is a veteran.

Introduced by Texas Congressman John Carter, the bipartisan legislation guarantees that no veteran is denied transplant coverage.

“No Veteran should be denied a life-saving procedure due to bureaucratic red tape under the VA Choice Program,” said Rep. Carter. Current VA policy has excluded non-Veteran live donations from coverage under the VA Choice Program.

The Veterans Transplant Coverage Act also allows veterans to receive transplant operations at any VA or non-VA facility convenient for them.

The legislation has been supported by the American Legion, AMVETS, Got Your 6, Military Order of the Purple Heart, Paralyzed Veterans of America, and Veterans of Foreign Wars, among others.

Rep. Carter represents Texas District 31, which includes Fort Hood, the largest active duty armored military installation. He serves as Chairman of the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Appropriations, co-chairman of the Congressional Army Caucus, is on the Subcommittee for Commerce, Justice and Science and the Defense Appropriations Subcommittee.

The bill was co-sponsored by Michael McCaul, R-TX 10th; Doug LaMalfa, R-CA; Ted Poe, R-TX 2nd; Elise Stefanik, R-NY 21st; and Sanford Bishop Jr., D-GA 2n.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Marine General Sentenced to 21 Days for Contempt

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By Debbie Gregory.

Marine Brig. Gen. John Baker has been sentenced to 21 days confinement and a $1,000 fine for contempt by Air Force Col. Vance Spath, the USS Cole case judge. The death-penalty case is against suspected USS Cole attacker Abd al Rahim al Nashiri.

Baker, who had been in charge of the war court defense team representing Nashiri, was found guilty of contempt for sanctioning the defense team’s resignation. Baker, a 28-year career officer, is now the second-highest-ranking lawyer in the Marine Corps.

Nashiri is accused of plotting al-Qaida’s 2000 suicide bombing of the warship off Aden, Yemen, which took the lives of 17 U.S. sailors and injured dozens more.

Attorneys Rick Kammen, Rosa Eliades and Mary Spears quit the case due to a secret ethics dilemma. They had significant reason to believe the U.S. government was listening to their communications with Nashiri, a violation of attorney/client privilege.

Spath rejected Baker’s decision, saying that only Spath has the power to excuse an attorney of record in his court. Spath ordered the attorneys to come to Guantanamo to litigate. They refused.

“Based on the advice of my lawyers, their analysis of the law and our analysis of the circumstances we’d be facing in Virginia, we made the decision that we would not go,” Kammen said.

The ACLU has called Baker’s confinement “unlawful and an outrage” and said the Spath’s decision needs to reversed and Baker released.

Baker has become an outspoken critic of the military-federal justice system set up after 9/11.

“Put simply, the military commissions in their current state are a farce,” Baker said. “Instead of being a beacon for the rule of law, the Guantánamo Bay military commissions have been characterized by delay, government misconduct and incompetence, and even more delay.”

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Pay Raise in 2018 for the Troops

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2018 pay raise

By Debbie Gregory.

House-Senate conferees have announced a deal on a massive defense bill, which will result in a pay raise of 2.4 percent for servicemembers. The $700 billion plan will also cover retention pay and bonuses, increasing troop size, repairs to the two Navy ships recently involved in deadly crashes, fund new ships and aircraft, and authorize new spending on missile defense.

The proposed pay raise would be the biggest increase for the military since 2010. The plan has already cleared several hurdles and now faces a vote before both chambers. After that comes the challenge of how to fund the plan.

Conferees rejected senators’ call to cut housing allowances for dual service couples with children. Under the Senate plan, one member no longer would have been eligible for Basic Allowance for Housing at the higher “with dependents” rate.

Married military members will both continue to receive BAH, with one spouse receiving the “without dependents” BAH rate, while the higher-ranking spouse receives the “with dependents” rate.

Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), chairman of the House Armed Services Committee and leader of House Republican conferees, said all conferees had “the welfare of service members foremost in our minds. Some of that is pay and benefits but also, (considering) recent naval accidents and air accidents, it’s making sure they have equipment that works.”

Conferees did accept the Senate’s approval of a DoD plan to raise prescription drug fees, while encouraging greater use of generic drugs, on-base pharmacies and mail order pharmacy services. Survivors of members who die on active duty and retired disabled servicemembers would be exempt from the drug copay increases.
Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Millions in Settlements Paid to Problem Employees by VA

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Togus

By Debbie Gregory.

You wouldn’t think doctors, nurses, and other medical workers would be classified as “problem employees.” But many former medical professional employees have cost the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) over $6 million.

A recent investigation has uncovered that the VA, the nation’s largest employer of healthcare workers, has concealed the mistakes and misdeeds of its staff for years.

Examples include a VA radiologist who had misread dozens of CT scans at a VA hospital in Washington State, and a podiatrist who had 88 cases where mistakes that harmed veterans at the Togus hospital in Maine were made.

Citing inadequate performance, hundreds of VA employees were fired or forced into early retirement. But they fought back in the legal arena.

In just those two years, 230 settlement deals were made to pacify problem employees. These settlements were withheld from the public. In some of those cases, the employees receiving the settlements were whistle-blowers, or were wronged by the VA. But in the remaining cases, the employees were the problem.

Because the settlements were reached in secret, there is no official word as to why the VA determined that the employees should be fired or forced to resign.

According to the VA website, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs wants to demonstrate accountability and transparency regarding settlements with employees. To that end, on July 7, 2017, Secretary Shulkin announced that he is requiring approval by a senior official of any monetary settlement with an employee over the amount of $5,000.

Any settlement above this amount will require the personal approval of the Under Secretary, Assistant Secretary or equivalent senior-level official within the organization in which the dispute occurs.

“We’re changing to a culture of accountability at VA, and this is an important step in that direction,” Shulkin said.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Slain In Texas Church Shooting

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By Debbie Gregory.

Retired Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Robert Corrigan was killed when former airman Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire in a Sutherland Springs church on November 5th.

Corrigan and his wife, high school sweetheart Shani, were two of the 26 parishioners murdered while attending church services. They had joined First Baptist Church in 2015.

No strangers to tragedy, the couple lost their son, Forrest Corrigan, in November of last year. At the service for Forrest, Pastor Frank Pomeroy asked God to give comfort in a time of death, trial and confusion. He told the assembled parishioners, “… it’s friends and family coming together through the help of the lord, the strength of the lord, that those that are left behind can continue on.”

Little did the pastor know that one year later, the friends and families of so many parishioners would need to come together to mourn this unbelievable loss of life.

Chief Master Sgt. Corrigan represented everything we expect from our military servicemembers:  a loving and devoted husband and father as well as an exceptional officer who treated his fellow airmen like family.

Debra Bentley, Corrigan’s supervisor at WellMed Medical Management, where he began after retiring from the Air Force, said “He was incredibly bonded to his family, his community and service to his community.”

Lisa Schmidt, a WellMed vice president, said of Corrigan, “The two most important things to Bob were his unwavering faith and his family. He always put others first without hesitation.” She added, “He and Shani were a compassionate couple who cared deeply for others.”

The couple is survived by two sons, both on active-duty. We extend our heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims of this horrible, senseless act of violence.

We are also hoping for a full recovery for the injured.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Marine Colonel Arrested In Massive Prostitution Sting

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By Debbie Gregory.

Marine Colonel Kevin Scott was among the 300 individuals arrested by the Polk County Sheriff’s Office in a prostitution sting.

Scott, 51, allegedly approached an undercover detective on October 14th and offered to pay for sex. He was among 277 people charged in the sting.

On temporary duty to U.S. Central Command when he was arrested, Scott works in the joint force directorate of the Joint Staff in Suffolk, Virginia. He has served in the Marine Corps since 1984.

The sting involved undercover officers posing as prostitutes and customers, and the posting of fake ads and profiles on social media sites.

Scott was charged with a misdemeanor count for soliciting a prostitute and was released on $500 bail.

The pre-Halloween sting, called “Operation No Tricks, No Treats” demonstrates that the sheriff’s office has slightly skewed sense of humor.

Scott rented a car and drove to the location where he met the undercover detective. Sheriff Grady Judd of the Polk County Sheriff’s Office had the unfortunate job of calling the government to say, “Hey would you like to come get your leased car ’cause your colonel is on the way to the county jail.” That’s right, Scott used a government credit card to pay for the car rental!

The scandal is the most recent in a string of incidents involving high-ranking officers. But Scott did try to keep his Marine status out of the scandal.

“He said he was retired and he was no longer in the Marine Corps,” according to Sheriff Judd. “That’s not true.”

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Federal Judge Rules DOD can’t Block Immigrant Recruits’ Citizenship Applications

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By Debbie Gregory.

U.S. District Judge Ellen S. Huvelle has ordered the Department of Defense not to block fast-tracked citizenship applications for some 2,000 foreign-born U.S. Army Reserve soldiers.

Foreign-born military recruits who possessed skills urgently needed in U.S. military operations were promised a quicker route to citizenship in their enlistment contracts.

The federal judge also said that the members of the military in an on-going lawsuit will more than likely be able to prove that the crackdown on immigrant recruits were “arbitrary and capricious.”

Huvelle said the DoD action threatens a delay for soldiers’ citizenship applications by years, upends their lives, blocks their careers and potentially exposes them to deportation.

“Plaintiffs live in constant fear that they will lose their work or student visas, or be discharged, deported, and subject to harsh punishment in their country of origin for joining a foreign military,” Huvelle wrote.

The judge decided to grant provision class-action status to some of the affected soldiers. The lead plaintiffs are Mahlon Kirwa, Santhosh Meenhallimath and Ashok Viswanathan.

At issue is a program in which the Pentagon approved requests for an “N-426” form, certifying the active-duty or Selected Reserve status of qualified enlistees in the Military Accessions Vital to the National Interest (MAVNI) program. The MAVNI program has allowed recruits with critically needed skills, such as certain health care professionals and experts in certain languages to apply for citizenship when they begin training if they agreed to eight years of military service.

What was previously a quick application process at enlistment recently ended when the Pentagon began requiring additional screening of program participants.

Huvelle said the delays were “not justified by any national security concerns” because U.S. immigration authorities are holding all applications pending completion of military screening.

Citizenship can be revoked if recruits are not honorably discharged.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.

Ms. Veteran America: More than a Beauty Contest

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Lyndsey Guiterrez

By Debbie Gregory.

The Ms. Veteran America competition highlights more than the strength, courage, and sacrifice of our nation’s military women, but also reminds us that these women also serve their families as mothers, daughters, sisters and wives.

Women have been serving in the military as early as the Revolutionary War, and their roles have evolved from cooks and nurses to current combat roles. The woman named Ms. Veteran America is also a role model, teaching and empowering young women and girls to support, inspire and lift-up one another.

The role that female veterans play is often overshadowed, and the Ms. Veteran America competition is more of a movement than a pageant, working to change that narrative, while addressing the issue of homelessness among female veterans.

“I don’t think there are stereotypes as much as being afraid of what women can accomplish…we’ve had three 3-star generals, we’ve had women that have completed the Army ranger course so at this point I don’t know what a stereotype is,” said Jas Boothe, a U.S. Army Veteran and founder of the Ms. Veteran America competition.

Twenty-five finalists representing each service branch as well as National Guard and Reserve Units compete in evening gowns, talent, and a push-up competition.

“We definitely need to work on legislation and how we treat female service members, we need to take a look at their unique needs, we need to get the perspective of women,” said Lindsay Gutierrez, the current Ms. Veteran America.

To date, the competition has raised more than $330,000 dollars and provided more than 12,000 days of transitional housing for over 3,600 women veterans and their children.

Military Connection salutes and proudly serves veterans and service members in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, Guard and Reserve,  and their families.


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