Thank You For Your Service?

The following Letter To The Editor of Military (Air Force) Times was written after having witnessed more of the same foolishness I have seen repeated time after time in the nearly 30 years since I swore an oath "to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic". 

Decisions such as these are not made to save money, the are made to promote people to the next higher position and beyond. Decisions such as the one I reference are made to effect short-term savings, without concern for long-term outcomes, so that the responsible individual can claim saving $XXX,XXX,XXX on their performance report and/or award citation, not because it is THE RIGHT THING TO DO.

In this case, the Pentagon apparently believed that the threat in the Middle East and Russia have wained to the point of eliminating Hazardous Duty Pay and Rest and Recuperation Leave in several countries where our men and women in uniform serve and are put in harms way every day. As we have all witnessed since last winter's Olympic games, Russia and Iraq are anything but stable and the regions are more volatile than any time since the mid-1980s. So the geniuses at the Pentagon decided to save some money at the expense of service members, once again, as has been the case over and over again for as long as I can remember.

I think my letter speaks for itself ...

I understand that the "imminent threat to personnel has been significantly reduced" in numerous countries adjacent to Iraq and Russia in order to save money (June 23, 2014, page 2). My only question to the JCS is: Did you get an INTEL brief before making that ignorant decision? If so, have those individuals been relieved?
Things in Russia and Iraq have been on a steady decline for months, so where is the surprise? Maybe our leaders could have saved money by not closing bases in the region and reducing forces only to have to ramp-up again. Knee jerk "money saving" (wasting is more like it) initiatives have been going on in one form or another for the last 30 years (as I have witnessed) and it needs to stop!
Instead of focusing on military active duty, retired, and veteran benefits/entitlements as the "go to" deficit reduction strategy, try looking past your noses and focus on the big picture. And don't bother thanking us for our service until you can start treating us with dignity and respect rather than the contempt you and our government leaders have displayed for 13 years of wartime service to our country, protecting YOUR FREEDOM!
CombatCounselor ... OUT!

IS GETTING HELP A CAREER KILLER?...IT IS NOW!

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
AIR FORCE TIMES
OCTOBER 5TH, 2012

I have written to Air Force Times on numerous occasions and feel like I am wasting my time, so this will likely be my last contact. My primary concerns have related to military and Veteran mental health issues and the stigmas associated with seeking and receiving treatment as well as what a PTSD diagnosis can do to a military career.

I am a retired lieutenant colonel, veteran of four combat operations, disabled veteran, and licensed professional counselor (since 1991), specializing in the treatment of anxiety (e.g. PTSD) and depression with active duty and Vets. I am also executive director of the non-profit Help4VetsPTSD, Inc., a relatively young organization dedicated to helping active duty and Veterans with PTSD. I also consult with a DoD contractor providing short-term, solution-focused counseling to active duty military, Guard and Reserve personnel, and their families.

I have experienced the stigma firsthand, both while on active duty and as a clinician, before and after retirement. I thought your publication was on the right track in helping to eliminate the stigmas, until I read "IS GETTING HELP A CAREER KILLER?" (Kristin Davis) in your October 8, 2012 issue.

In a little more than one page, you managed to hinder any progress we have made in recent years and highlighted WHY AIRMEN (AND OTHERS) NEED TO BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID, OF SEEKING MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT, OR WORSE, TALKING ABOUT IT! I find it hard to believe that anybody with any common sense reviewed or edited that piece before publication. If there was not a negative stigma before...THERE IS SURE TO BE ONE NOW! What were you people thinking?

I am appaled by the lack of judgement in publishing such a piece and believe the reasons for NOT PUBLISHING THE ARTICLE in question are too numerous and obvious to mention.

For those who do not have the opportunity to read it, Ms. Davis reported on an Air Force NCO (non-commisioned officer) who sought help and educated other airmen, telling them about his battle with alcohol (which he is currently winning by the way) and other mental health issues. His supervisor, an obvious Neanderthal and ignorant moron, killed this gentleman's career by making statements about his alcoholism ON HIS ENLISTED PERFORMANCE REPORT (EPR) and marking him down, both career ending behaviors. The NCO in question, a master sergeant (E-7), appealed his "referral" EPR to his superiors and the Inspector General, and was turned away!

Everyone in the Air Force, Army, Navy, and Marines have heard plenty of horror stories like this one and now they have one more...a page and a half's worth in Air Force Times!

We do not need to hear more horror stories while 19 military and Veterans each day commit suicide...that is correct...19 each day! As long as these stigmas are perpetuated in the media, young heroes, our military and veteran men and women, will continue to die. For the first time in recorded history, MORE PEOPLE ARE DYING OF SUICIDE IN THE MILITARY THAN ARE DYING IN COMBAT!

The space taken up by that garbage could have been better utilized by providing accurate information about the stigma(s), what the implications of the stigma(s) are (e.g. suicides), and proposals on what we can do about it. We need a positive discussion started in this country, educating the public, our elected officials, and military leaders, about the problems in military and veteran mental health treatment and figure out a way to fix them...SOON!

Air Force/Military Times has at least one "supposed" expert on staff, Bret Moore (Kevlar for the Mind), who should have, at least, reviewed the article before publication. Hopefully, he would have recommended squashing the story before it went to print, but based on some of his work, I am not confident that would have happened either.

On a similar note, Robert Dorr's (a long time writer for Air Force Times who gets about one-third of a page EVERY week - Why? I don't know) comments last week on the American-Indian gentleman being "wrong" in his perception, that some nose art depicting Native-Americans in the Air Force is offensive, is ludicrous and insensitive. A perception cannot be wrong and the young man has a right to stand up for his heritage and beliefs! What is wrong is printing garbage like that Mr. Dorr regularly spews onto the page, like black and white vomit, and the Davis article in question this week on career killing...WRONG Air Force Times...shame on you Ms. Ianotta! Becky Ianotta is Managing Editor, Air Force Times.

CombatCounselor...OUT!

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: AIR FORCE TIMES -"FEWER MOVES, LONGER TOURS...PLEASE!"

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: AIR FORCE TIMES -"FEWER MOVES, LONGER TOURS...PLEASE!"

It's about time somebody used some common sense! In your article, "FEWER MOVES, LONGER TOURS" - August 20,2012 - a much more common sense approach to deficits and budget woes is FINALLY discussed.Why cut personnel and benefits when there is such a simple solution? There are many thousands of airmen, soldiers, sailors, and Marines forced to move  each year, thousands that would happily stay in place another year or four.

Why not Minot you say? Minot and other perceived "less desirable" assignments are LOVED by many, so why not let folks stay where they are rather than uprooting a family clear across the country or globe? Some simple mathematics and computer programming could select from a pool of volunteers, leaving everybody else where they are for the time being.Ruin a career you say? Maybe it's time to change ignorant, archaic thinking (or even better...the thinkers) and NOT penalize those who want to remain on-station, saving taxpayers thousands in moving expenses, dislocation allowances, and travel costs...thousands for each person!

By the way, those are the same "thinkers" contributing to the negative stigma of military mental health, a stigma taking lives...one military member a day lost to suicide...but that's another story.

Chris Sorrentino, LtCol, USAF (Ret) CombatCounselor

Twitter @CombatCounselor

http://www.CombatCounselor.blogspot.com

http://www.KCCBT.com/combatcounselor.html

http://www.YouTube.com/combatcounselor

LETTER TO THE EDITOR: AIR FORCE TIMES - "FEWER MOVES, LONGER TOURS...PLEASE!"

Let's face it, moving to a new assignment every two to four years not only takes a toll on the defense budget and, ultimately, the national deficit, it affects individuals and families stressed by leaving home and friends, and jobs as well as many emotional scars. Moving is stressful! I know, having moved eight times in a 20-year career, relatively few compared to many of my comrades-in-arms.

It's about time somebody used some common sense! In the Air Force Times article, "FEWER MOVES, LONGER TOURS" - August 20,2012 - a much more common sense approach to deficits and budget woes was FINALLY discussed.

Why cut personnel and benefits when there is such a simple solution? There are many thousands of airmen, soldiers, sailors, and Marines forced to move each year, thousands that would happily stay in place another year...or four.

Why not Minot you say? Minot and other perceived "less desirable" assignments are LOVED by many, so why not let folks stay where they are rather than uprooting a family clear across the country or globe? Some simple mathematics and computer programming could select from a pool of volunteers, leaving everybody else where they are for the time being.

Ruin a career you say? Maybe it's time to change ignorant, archaic thinking (or even better...the thinkers) and NOT penalize those who want to remain on-station, saving taxpayers thousands in moving expenses, dislocation allowances, and travel costs...thousands for each person!

By the way, those are the same "thinkers" contributing to the negative stigma of military mental health, a stigma taking lives...one military member a day lost to suicide...but that's another story.

Sincerely,

Chris Sorrentino, LtCol, USAF (Ret)

CombatCounselor

Twitter @CombatCounselor

http://www.CombatCounselor.blogspot.com

http://www.KCCBT.com/combatcounselor.html

http://www.YouTube.com/combatcounselor