july 2013 web version

July 2013

From the

Director From a personal perspective I have a couple of announcements.

First, if you are reading this newsletter by printed version, please be aware that the October edition, which comes out in late September, will be the last printed version. If you provide us an email address you will continue to receive the newsletter via email. Secondly, I am retiring as the Director in September. The replacement process has just begun with advertising the position. If you or someone you know is interested in applying for this position, please have them contact the Alachua County Human Resources Department

immediately to learn more.

Yes, it’s official, America is 237 years young; Happy Birthday America! Our nation was founded on a set of ideals that stands as the beacon for those in the world who desire freedom. Blood, sweat and tears have been shed from the initial colonization of this continent to present day to establish and maintain a free nation. We have much to appreciate and even more to defend. It is through the selfless service of our mothers and fathers, aunts and uncles, brothers and sisters, sons and daughters and our own neighbors who have served and continue to serve in her armed forces to help maintain our free republic. Make no mistake that our freedom is under attack on a daily basis. Whether it is from openly hostile nations and terrorists or from internal clandestine groups and yes, our own government; the freedom we cherish is

From the Director 1

Interesting facts about July 4th 2

PTSD Awareness Month highlights 3

VA processes nearly all disability

claims pending over 2 years 4

VA starts campaign to raise PTSD

awareness 5

Less drugs, more pain

management 5

Gainesville Fisher House Walk of

Courage and Healing Garden 6

Organizational Meetings Calendar 7

Stolen Valor Update 8

TeleHealth and Vet Centers 9

NF/SG Veterans Health System

hires 45 new mental health

professionals

9

Retiree funeral honors 10

Army initiates collaborative effort

on TBI, PTSD 11

Inside this issue:

constantly under attack. A little over 100 years ago America had no federal tax and was the most prosperous nation on the planet. We currently are taxed by hundreds of ways from local to state to national level and have an economic system that is in debt far above what any country should be and more than most people can even fathom. So, while we celebrate this nation’s birth this year, let’s remember those who have died in her defense and stand strong to preserve those freedoms upon which this nation was founded against “all enemies, foreign or

domestic”.

~ Have you helped a veteran today?

Replacing the monthly Military Trivia this month are

interesting facts about the 4th

of July 2013

Did you know?

There are 316.2 million people living

in the US on this July Fourth.

There were 56 signers to the

Declaration of Independence.

∗ Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, Thomas

Jefferson, Roger Sherman and Robert R. Livingston comprised the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration. Jefferson, regarded as the strongest and most eloquent writer, wrote most of the

document.

It's also worth noting that:

∗ John Hancock, President of the Second

Continental Congress, was the first signer. This merchant by trade did so in an entirely blank space making it the largest and most famous signature - hence the term John Hancock, which is still used today as a synonym for signature. There are 7,354,043

businesses with paid employees in the U.S., according to the 2011 County

Business Patterns.

∗ Benjamin Franklin (age 70), who

represented Pennsylvania, was the oldest of the signers. Franklin County, Pa., had an estimated population of 151,275 as of July 1, 2012. Edward Rutledge (age 26), of

South Carolina, was the youngest.

∗ Two future presidents signed, John Adams

(second President) and Thomas Jefferson (third President). Both died on the 50th anniversary of signing the Declaration (July 4, 1826). There are 12 counties nationwide named Adams and 26 named

Jefferson.

∗ Robert Livingston, who represented New

York, was on the Committee of Five that drafted the Declaration of Independence but was recalled by his state before he could sign it. Livingston County, N.Y., was home to an estimated 64,810 people as of

July 1, 2012.

∗ Representing Georgia in 1776 were Button

Gwinnett, Lyman Hall and George Walton. Gwinnett County, Ga. (842,046), Hall County, Ga. (185,416) and Walton County, Ga. (84,575) were named for these

signers.

∗ Charles Carroll, who represented

Maryland, was the last surviving member of the signers of the Declaration. He died in 1832 at the age of 95. Carroll County, Md., named for him, had an estimated

population of 167,217 as of July 1, 2012.

∗ Roger Sherman, who worked as a land

surveyor and lawyer, represented Connecticut. Today, there are an estimated 30,445 surveyors, cartographers and photogrammetrists employed full time, year-round, and 840,813 lawyers employed full time, year-round nationwide, according to the 2011

American Community Survey.

∗ Nelson County, Va. (14,827) and Wythe

County, Va. (29,251) were named for two of the six signers who represented the state of Virginia - Thomas Nelson Jr. and George

Wythe.

There will be 65.9 million of hogs and pigs on March 1, 2013. Chances are that the pork hot dogs and sausages consumed on the Fourth of July originated in Iowa. The Hawkeye State was home to 20.3 million hogs and pigs. North Carolina (8.9 million) and Minnesota (7.8 million) were also homes to large numbers of

pigs.

And, lest we forget, our nation is 237 years

old. Happy birthday America!

Source: US Census Bureau, Facts for Features: The

Fourth of July 2013

PTSD Awareness Month Highlights

The purpose of PTSD Awareness Month is to raise public awareness of PTSD and its effective treatments so that everyone can help people

affected by PTSD.

Throughout June explore weekly features

at www.ptsd.va.gov.

“Ten Steps to Raise PTSD Awareness” provides links to materials that foster greater

understanding of trauma, PTSD and treatment. It offers practical suggestions for the public to

raise PTSD awareness in their own community.

For continued involvement, please sign up for the PTSD Monthly Update. Stay up on new information about PTSD and trauma year

round.

On June 3, VA announced it had hired a total of 1,607 mental health clinical providers to meet the goal of 1,600 new mental health professionals outlined in the President’s Aug. 31, 2012, Executive Order. Additionally, VA had hired 2,005 mental health clinical providers to fill existing vacancies, as well as 318 new peer specialists towards the specific goal of 800 peer specialists by Dec. 31, 2013 as outlined in the

Executive Order.

Throughout the summer, VA will hold mental health summits at each of its 152 medical centers across the nation to establish and enhance positive working relationships with their community partners. The summits will help encourage community engagement in order to better address and understand the broad mental health care needs of veterans

and their families.

For more information about PTSD, professionals and the public can go to The National Center for PTSD Web site at www.ptsd.va.gov.The site offers resources such

as:

PTSD Coach mobile app, this award-winning app provides symptom-management strategies

and it’s always with you when you need it.

Continuing education opportunities for providers, including PTSD 101 courses, on the best practices in PTSD treatment (CEs/CMEs

offered).

AboutFace: An online video gallery of Veterans talking about PTSD and how

treatment can turn your life around. Source: Office of Public and Intergovernmental Affairs, June

24, 2013

VA Processes Nearly All Disabil-

ity Claims Pending Over 2 Years, Moves to Complete

Those Older Than 1 Year

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced today that as a result of the initi-ative launched in April to expedite disability compensation claims decisions for Veterans who have a waited a year or longer, more than 65,000-claims – or 97 percent of all claims over two years old in the inventory –

have been eliminated from the backlog.

Veterans Benefits Administration (VBA) staff will now focus their efforts on complet-ing the disability claims of Veterans who have been waiting over one year for a deci-sion, while completing the final batch of old-

est claims in progress.

“Over the past two months, VA has been dedicated to providing earned benefits to the Veterans who have waited the longest,” said VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki. “Thanks to our hard-working VBA employees, we have com-pleted nearly all claims that have been pend-ing two years or longer. We’ve made great progress, but know much works remains to

be done to eliminate the backlog in 2015.”

“The success of this phase of the effort was due in part to the implementation of mandatory overtime for the Veterans Bene-fits Administration’s (VBA) claims processing staff, as well as the dedicated support of physicians from the Veterans Health Admin-istration (VHA), who expedited exams to provide medical evidence needed to rate these pending claims,” said Under Secretary

for Benefits Allison A. Hickey.

The remaining two-year-old claims will be finalized in the coming days except for those that are outstanding due to unique circum-stances, such as the unavailability of a claimant for a needed medical exam, military

service, vacation, or travel overseas.

In May, VA announced that it was man-dating overtime for claims processors in its 56 regional benefits offices to increase pro-duction of compensations claims decisions, which will continue through the end of FY 2013. Today, VA has the lowest number of claims in its inventory since August 2011 and has reduced the number of claims in the VA backlog – claims pending over 125 days – by

10 percent since the initiative began.

Under this initiative, VA claims raters may make final or provisional decisions on the oldest claims in the inventory, which will al-low Veterans to begin collecting compensa-tion benefits more quickly, if eligible. Veter-ans are able to submit additional evidence for consideration a full year after the provi-sional rating before VA issues a final deci-sion. If no further evidence is received within that year, VBA will inform Veterans that their ratings are final and provide information on the standard appeals process, which can be found at www.bva.va.gov/. If a Veteran disa-grees with a final decision and chooses to appeal, the appeal is entered into the appel-late processing system, and is not reflected

in the claims inventory.

VA continues to prioritize disability claims for homeless Veterans, those experiencing extreme financial hardship, the terminally ill, former Prisoners of War, Medal of Honor re-cipients, and Veterans filing Fully Developed Claims, which is the quickest way for Veter-ans to receive a decision on their compensa-

tion claim ( www.benefits.va.gov/fdc/ ).

Claims for Wounded Warriors separating from the military for medical reasons will continue to be handled separately and on a priority basis with the Department of De-fense through the Integrated Disability Eval-uation System (IDES). Wounded Warriors separating through IDES currently receive VA compensation benefits in an average of 61 days following their separation from ser-

vice.

VA’s inventory is comprised mostly of supplemental claims from Veterans already receiving disability compensation who are seeking to address worsening conditions or claim additional disabilities. Regardless of the status of compensation claims, Veterans who have served in combat since Nov. 11, 1998, are eligible for five years of free medi-cal care for most conditions from VA. This eligibility was enacted through the National

Defense Authorization Act of 2008.

Veterans can learn more about disability benefits on the joint Department of Defense/VA web portal eBenefits at

www.ebenefits.va.gov. Source: Posted on June 20, 2013 by Donnie La Curan in

Veteran News

VA Starts Campaign to Raise

PTSD Awareness

In observance of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) awareness month, the De-partment of Veterans Affairs National Center for PTSD invites the public to participate in

its “Take the Step” campaign.

“Every day of the year, we should focus on assisting those who have served our Na-tion,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “In June, during PTSD aware-ness month, we take special care to help Veterans with PTSD. va is a leader in providing state-of-the-art, high-quality men-tal health care that improves and saves Vet-erans’ lives. PTSD treatment can help and there is hope for recovery for Veterans who

need mental health services.”

Throughout the month, online at www.PTSD.va.gov, the campaign has high-lighted different topics so visitors can “Take the Step” to: know more about PTSD; chal-lenge their beliefs; explore the treatment op-tions available; and reach out to make a dif-

ference.

VA provides effective PTSD treatment for Veterans and conducts extensive research on PTSD, including prevention of stress disor-ders. Veterans are encouraged to use VA’s PTSD resources so they are able to recognize symptoms and seek help if the need arises. VA also encourages Veterans to share what they learn with someone they know to build

awareness and support systems.

Following exposure to trauma, most people experience stress reactions but many do not develop PTSD. Mental health experts are not sure why some people develop PTSD and oth-ers do not. However, if stress reactions do not improve over time and they disrupt every-day life, VA encourages Veterans to seek help

to determine if PTSD may be a factor.

“Many barriers keep people with PTSD from seeking the help they need,” said Dr. Matthew Friedman, Executive Director of VA’s National Center for PTSD. “Knowledge and awareness, however, are key to overcoming these barriers. For those living with PTSD, knowing there are treatments that work, for example, can lead them to seek needed care. Greater public awareness of PTSD can help reduce the stigma of this mental health prob-lem and overcome negative stereotypes that may keep many people from pursuing treat-

ment.

Less Drugs, More Pain Manage-

ment

14,800. That’s the number of people who die every year from unintentional overdose of opioids, commonly known as painkillers— it’s higher than the number of overdose deaths from cocaine and heroin use combined and higher than the number of automobile deaths. That shocking fact was shared with me as I toured the Minneapolis VA Medical Center to (continued on page 8)

North Florida/South Georgia Fisher House

Walk of Courage and Healing Garden

Done sprucing up your garden for the summertime? Help us with

ours!

The North Florida/South Georgia Fisher

House's living memorials, the Walk of Courage

pathway and the Healing Garden, are in need

of your special touch. Honor a fellow veteran,

active military member or organization with a

personalized brick or paver in our Walk of

Courage, or purchase a beautiful piece of land-

scaping for the Healing Garden.

The following options are available for

your dedication:

Walk of Courage:

Brick- $250, allows 3 lines of inscription,

14 characters per line

Paver- $1,000, allows 5 lines of inscription,

14 characters per line

Healing Garden:

One fountain feature- $25,000

One pond overlook- $25,000

Gathering space I- $15,000

Gathering space II- $10,000

A picnic table/chair set- $5,000

Pathway bench- $2,000

Tree- $1,000

Your tribute will become a permanent part

of the North Florida/South Georgia Fisher

House and will be viewed by thousands of

veterans and their families; it's the perfect

way to ensure your dedicatee's name will live

on forever. Join in on the beautification of

our Walk of Courage and Healing Garden and

take pride in knowing you've made a differ-

ence in the lives of many veterans, active

military members and their families.

Date Organization Meeting Information Time Contact Phone

7/1/13 40 & 8 Voiture 1388First Monday of Month at

American Legion Post 16 6:00 PM Gene Collister 352-367-4630

7/2/13 American Legion Post #149 Post home on Newberry Road in Newberry 7:00 PM Ed Jarvis 352-472-6125

7/2/13 IWO TRIO1st Tuesday of the month. Jason's Deli Oaks

Mall Annex(on the hill)11:30 AM Bob Gasche 376-0402

7/2/13 Sons of the American Legion American Legion Post 16 7:00 PM Paul Salg 352-278-8360

7/3/13Gen. James A. Van Fleet Chapter

267-Korean War VeteransAmerican Legion Post 16 7:00 PM Dick Davis 378-5560

7/3/13 Veterans for PeaceFirst Wednesday of the Month Call for

directions7:00 PM Scott Camil 375-2563

7/6/13 American Legion Post 16 First Saturday of the Month $5.00 breakfast 9-11AM Scott Campbell 386-853-0194

7/7/13Fleet Reserve Association

(FRA) Branch 179First Sunday of the month. Call for Directions 1:30 PM

Dennis

Nickerson386-454-5444

7/8/13Alachua County Veterans Advisory

Board

2nd Monday of the month. Freedom

Community Center, Kanapaha Park 5:30 PM Major Stroupe 264-6740

7/8/13 Sons of Confederate Veterans Brown's Family Restaurant in Alachua6:00 PM for dinner

6:30 PM for meetingShellie Downs 352-486-3753

7/10/13American Legion Post 16

and AuxiliaryComplimentary dinner at 6:30 7:00 PM

Scott Campbell or

Betsy Gabbard

386-853-0194 or

352-481-2743

7/11/13 D-Day Normandy Veterans Group Conestoga’s Restaurant in Alachua 11:00 AM Bryan Walker 372-9685

7/11/13 VFW Post 2811 2nd Tuesday of the month. General meeting

and auxiliary will meet at the Post at 1100

NE Waldo Road

6:30 PMCommander Dick

Lester386-462-1192

7/15/13American Legion Post 230 and

Auxiliary

Post home in Hawthorne at (20370 SE

Hawthorne Road)12 Noon Frank Womack 352-450-6376

7/15/13American Legion Post 232

North Hawthorne/Waldo

3rd Monday at post home (9302 Holden Park

Road in Hawthorne)11:00 AM

Cmdr/Service

Officer

William Sohl

246-7645

7/15/13 Legion Riders American Legion Post 16 7:00 PM Steve Gabbard 352-481-2743

7/16/13 Sons of the American Revolution Brown's Country Buffet in Alachua 5:30 PMDavid Cromer at

dccromer@cox352-375-1257

7/17/13Rolling Thunder

Chapter 3American Legion Post 16 7:00 PM Randy West

386-684-1002 or

386-538-1930

7/23/13Marine Corps League Gator

Detachment

4th Tuesday of the month at 1st United

Methodist Church in Alachua7:00 PM

Commandant

Jim Yakubsin352-222-8837

7/24/13 DAV Chapter 90 DAV HQ - 2015 SW 75th Street 5:30 PMCommander Pete

Sabo352-332-4068

7/27/13 Milton Lewis Young Marines4th Saturday of the month. Full Breakfast $5

at the VFW Post 28119:00 AM Cary Hill

352-495-2710 or

352-514-3915

No

Meeting

Military Support Group

of Alachua County1st United Methodist Church in Alachua 6:30 PM Jim Yakubsin 222-8837

Organizational Meetings

learn more about pain management, and how our staff in Minneapolis is revolutioniz-

ing team-oriented care.

Our nation didn’t arrive at an opioid crisis overnight, so it’s important to understand how we got here. Professional associations in the 1990s besieged medical journals and health care providers with the idea of un-treated pain as a medical crisis. Those charts you’ve probably seen at the doctor’s office—faces with pain numbers—went up across the country, and pharmaceutical companies pressed doctors to fill more opi-

oid prescriptions.

From 1999 to 2010, prescriptions for opi-oids increased by 400 percent, according to the Center for Disease Control. As a result, overdose deaths also rose 400 percent. Pa-tients sought opioids and gravitated to doc-tors willing to prescribe them despite side effects like sedation and decreased testos-terone. Widespread addiction and an alarm-ing rise of overdose deaths prompted the medical community to rethink its approach to opioids, such as OxyContin, as a silver

bullet to pain management.

The pain management staff at the Min-neapolis VA Medical Center, led by Dr. Peter Marshall, transformed mounting medical re-search into action. In 2011, the team estab-lished the Opioid Safety Initiative to bring down the use of OxyContin and high dose opioids among chronic pain sufferers—usually Veterans with issues like chronic back and neck pain and arthritis. Other for-mulary medications, along with a greater emphasis on behavioral chronic pain man-agement like yoga and exercise, were de-

ployed to help Vets deal with their ailments.

The results are drastic. As of May 2013, OxyContin use at the Minneapolis VA Medi-cal Center has plummeted 94 percent, and high dose opioid use has fallen 55 percent since the implementation of the Opioid Safe-ty Initiative. More behavioral pain manage-

ment and generic medications have also

been utilized.

The model of care itself has been trans-formed as well. Dr. Marshall’s staff took cues from team-centered treatments of is-sues such as diabetes and applied it to pain management in a system called stepped care management. A full spectrum of care brings medical professionals together to holistically target and treat chronic pain af-fected Veterans. It’s a model that shows promising signs for not only VA’s medical system, but the private health care system

at large.

There are so many advances in medi-cine throughout VA’s 152 medical centers that it’d be impossible to track them all. This is just another example of great minds coming together to help solve pressing is-sues affecting not only Veterans, but socie-ty in general, getting them back to living their lives as easily—and as painless—as

possible. Source: May 28, 2013 by Tommy Sowers

Stolen Valor Update

If you lie about being awarded military

honors for profit, you can now be subject to criminal prosecution, according to a new law signed by President Obama 3 JAN. The Stolen Valor Act of 2013, introduced in Jan-uary by Rep. Joe Heck (R-NV), “makes it a Federal crime for an individual to fraudu-lently hold oneself out to be a recipient of any of several specified military decorations or medals with the intent to obtain money, property, or other tangible benefit,” the White House said announcing the signing. The law was the latest attempt by the gov-ernment to help protect real military heroes from phonies. The original iteration of the bill, the Stolen Valor Act of 2005, had been

in effect for six years before the Supreme

Court ruled it was unconstitutional.

At the time, the law was written to say it was a crime simply to lie about military ser-vice and awards — a broad characterization the Supreme Court said violated a person’s First Amendment right to free speech. A new version of the bill, introduced by Heck in late 2012, narrowed the act to say the liar must be attempting to somehow mate-rially profit from the lies, making the would-be crime more akin to fraud. A tweaked version of that bill was reintroduced in 2013. President Obama took a hard stance against military phonies last year when he announced a new government website to track awards for legitimate heroes. “It may no longer be a crime for con artists to pass themselves off as heroes, but one thing is certain – it is contemptible,” he said in ref-erence to the Supreme Court’s ruling in 2012. “…No American hero should ever

have their valor stolen.” [Source: ABC News | Lee Farren | 3 Jun 2013]

Telehealth and Vet Centers:

Two Resources for Mental Health Support

Earlier today, I read about a Veteran who regularly sought VA mental health care, but post-traumatic stress sometimes prevented him attending appointments. In some cases, expansive VA hospitals are a little much for folks seeking care—which might keep Veterans from going to appoint-

ments in the first place.

Fortunately there are a couple solutions to that issue that can be utilized fairly

quickly.

The first, Vet Centers, are smaller clinics designed for combat Veterans in need of readjustment counseling, along with their families. They’re usually found in places like strip malls, far from bustling VA medical

center hubs.

They’re also open later than most other VA facilities and can accommodate later appoint-ments. To help put Veterans further at ease, Vet Center staff are typically Vets themselves. There are 300 across the country, so find one

close to you.

The second resource is the use of tele-health for mental health appointments. Using video teleconferencing technology, Veterans can seek individual or group counseling from

home instead of heading to a facility.

Counseling can be a lifelong mode of care, so this technology helps in those moments when a Veteran is unable to attend an ap-pointment in a brick and mortar building. If you’re interested in using telehealth for your appointments, talk it over with your primary

care physician.

Source: Vantage Point, June 12, 2013 by Alex Horton

North Florida/South Georgia

Veterans Health System Hires 45

New Mental Health Professionals

(GAINESVILLE, Fla.) – The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) announced that it has met the goal to hire 1,600 new mental health professionals outlined in President Obama’s August 31, 2012, Executive Order to Improve Access to Mental Health Services for Veterans, Service Members, and Military Families. The North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System has hired 45 new mental health pro-

fessionals toward this goal.

“I am proud of the hard work our staff has completed to bring these new staff members on board,” said North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System Acting Director Nancy Reissener. “We are not slowing our efforts however, and will continue to actively recruit for any vacant mental health positions for the

future so Veterans will get the care they

need.

As of May 31, 2013, VA has hired a total of 1,607 mental health clinical providers to meet the goal of 1,600 new mental health professionals outlined in the Executive Or-der. Additionally, VA has hired 2,005 mental health clinical providers to fill existing vacan-

cies.

“Meeting this hiring milestone significant-ly enhances our ability to improve access to care for those Veterans seeking mental health services and demonstrates our con-tinued commitment to the health and well-being of the men and women who have served the Nation,” said Secretary of Veter-ans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “Meeting this goal is an important achievement, but we recognize that we must continue to increase access to the quality mental health care Vet-

erans have earned and deserve.”

VA provides a full range of comprehen-sive mental health services across the coun-try. In Fiscal Year 2012, more than 1.3 mil-lion Veterans received specialized mental health care from VA. This number has risen each year from 927,052 in Fiscal Year 2006. In addition to hiring more mental health pro-fessionals, VA is expanding the use of inno-vative technology to serve Veterans in rural or underserved areas. VA expects to in-crease the number of Veterans receiving care from tele-mental health services in fis-cal year 2013, and has increased the num-ber of Vet Centers, which provide readjust-ment counseling and referral services from

233 in 2008 to 300 in 2012.

In November 2011, VA launched an award-winning, national public awareness campaign called Make the Connection, which is aimed at reducing the stigma associated with seeking mental health care and inform-ing Veterans, their families, friends, and members of their communities about VA re-sources. More information on Make the Con-nection can be found at

www.maketheconnection.net.

Mental health professionals interested in seeking employment with the Department of Veterans Affairs can obtain information at www.vacareers.va.gov. Veterans and their families interested in learning more about the mental health services provided

by VA can go to www.mentalhealth.va.gov. Source: North Florida/South Georgia Veterans Health System,

News Release, June 11, 2013

Retiree Funeral Honors

Due to the impact sequestration has on resources; Air Force Services is adjusting requirements for military funeral honors of retirees. Air Force policy will revert to re-quiring a minimum of two personnel for re-tiree MFH details, consistent with statute and DoD policy. The Air Force historically went a step further by providing a seven-member detail for all retiree funerals. "We cherish the service and sacrifice of our re-tirees," said Brig. Gen. Eden Murrie, Direc-tor of Air Force Services. "While we had to adjust the Air Force requirement as a result of sequestration, commanders still have lat-itude to provide seven-member details if local resources permit." The two-person team will continue to fold and present the interment flag and play Taps. If a seven-person team is able to support, the detail will also act as pallbearers and the firing party. Additional support for retiree funeral honors remain available from authorized providers such as Veteran Service Organi-zations or Reserve Officer Training Corps units, as resources permit. "We remain dedicated to honoring our current and for-mer Airmen” Murrie said, “to the greatest

extent possible." [NAUS Weekly Update, 7 Jun 2013]

Army Initiates Collaborative Ef-

fort on TBI, PTSD

Over the last 12 years, many soldiers have returned from Iraq and Afghanistan with wounds, some visible and some not, a

leader in Army Medicine said here June 22.

"The invisible wounds -- post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury -- are just as damaging as the visible ones. They impact the families as well as the sol-diers," said Brig. Gen. (Dr.) John M. Cho, deputy chief of staff for operations with Ar-

my Medical Command.

An Iraq War veteran himself, Cho spoke outside the U.S. Capitol as part of National Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Day. This year's theme was "Visible Honor for Invisible

Wounds."

Post-traumatic stress disorder, known as PTSD, and traumatic brain injury, or TBI, are not just military-specific issues, Cho said.

"They deserve a national discussion."

A big part of that discussion, he said, needs to focus on reducing the stigma asso-

ciated with mental health issues.

Besides a national discussion, Cho said, agencies both inside and outside the military need to come together to learn more about identifying and treating PTSD and TBI, as

well as preventing it in the first place.

Cho said a PTSD diagnosis is particularly challenging, as "you can't simply get a lab

test or take an X-ray to find it."

As part of its collaborative effort, the Ar-my is participating in a $60 million research study for TBI, sponsored by the National Football League, General Electric and athletic apparel manufacturer Under Armour, he

said.

Also, $700 million has been allocated to-ward both PTSD and TBI as the result of a White House executive order for a renewed effort in collaboration with the Veterans Af-

fairs Department and other organizations.

Additionally, the Army has set up seven "restorative centers" in Afghanistan, where TBI can be identified and treated, often allowing soldiers to stay in theater as they improve, he

said.

The general explained that PTSD often, but not always, occurs with TBI, and that relation-ship, too, is being researched. "We're nowhere near where we want to be, however, when it comes to researching PTSD and TBI," he

acknowledged. "A lot more needs to be done."

Cho said PTSD affected him personally when his brother, who also is a U.S. Military Academy graduate, returned from Afghanistan suffering from PTSD. He sought treatment and is better now, he said, adding that his brother is telling his story to other soldiers in an effort

to get them to seek care.

"We know treatment helps," Cho said. "We can help them get better, and they can contin-ue to serve in our Army with honor and distinc-

tion."

As a result of his brother's experience, Cho said, he's a big believer in group therapy, par-

ticularly cognitive processing psychotherapy.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Ray Odierno, una-ble to attend the day's event, wrote in a letter for the attendees: "PTSD is a combat injury. Veterans suffering from PTSD deserve the same dignity and respect as our fellow wound-

ed warriors.

"With the continued support and encour-agement of organizations like Honor for ALL, the Army and this nation have made enormous strides in treating this injury, removing the stigma and instilling dignity in our recovering veterans,” Odierno’s letter continued. “But

more work must be done!"

Honor for ALL, a nonprofit organization sponsoring the event, is dedicated to eliminat-ing the stigma of PTSD and supports research into finding the causes and treatment of the

disorder.

Source: Army News Service by David Vergun, June 24, 2013

Alachua County Office of Veteran Services

218 SE 24th Street Gainesville, FL 32641

july 2013 web version

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