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Discussion Thread - NUKE's war diary


NorthSideSox72
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QUOTE(Texsox @ Nov 1, 2007 -> 11:19 AM)
Which is why I was thinking if we applied "success" factoring in this stuff, what American city would pass? The law enforcement aspect to me seems like a huge misdirection of our attention. Seems unfair to our military.

 

 

Its unfair to us in the sense that we need to be preparing for the next war. *COUGH* IRAN! *COUGH* instead of playing beat cops in Baghdad. We do have to finish cleaning up the mess around here, though, and I think we're making some real headway for the 1st time in a very long time.

 

I have never agreed with the law enforcement aspect of this, and indeed it seems now that our forces have been reduced to the role of heavily armed cops. We have utterly crushed the insurgent forces in Baghdad to the point that they can't even breathe without being pounced upon. People are ratting out the bad guys left and right and now there's simply nobody left to arrest. Nowadays I spend my nights walking around a clean and quiet neighborhood. Im not naive enough to sit here and say there will never be another shooting or car bombing, indeed sometimes some jerk takes a shot at us while we're driving down the main highway, but overall things are dead ( I don't mean that literally either ).

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QUOTE(NUKE @ Nov 11, 2007 -> 10:00 AM)
Back again. Nothing has been amiss around here, in fact, it's just the opposite. Things have been so darn quiet around here that there's nothing to write about. Most nights, we just go out and patrol a clean and quiet area and that's about all. About the most intense thing that happens around here are my workouts in the gym or a game of HALO in our building. I don't want to bore anybody with minor everyday nonsense so I won't unless I'm asked.

 

The last time I walked into a bar and spotted a few guys in uniform, the first thing I ordered was a round of drinks for them. You tell your buddies that there are some of us that really appreciate the sacrifice you and your buddies are making. May God be with you all.

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Have you seen any changes in mental health care in your years of service? Are we doing enough? What is the general attitude regarding the Army's efforts in this area?

 

The suicide rate among troops deployed for the Iraq war reached its highest point last year since the 2003 invasion, according to an Army mental health study released Tuesday. The Army had placed greater emphasis on suicide prevention and mental health counseling in the battlefield after rates reached a level of 18.8 per 100,000 soldiers in 2003.

 

The programs seemed to be working: In 2004, the rate dropped to 10.5 per 100,000, lower even than the Army-wide suicide rate that year.

 

But the rising rate was among a handful of findings that suggest declining mental health within an Army stretched thin by war.

 

As soldiers cycle into the battlefield, more are subjected to the horrors of combat, the review found.

 

Overall, the number of soldiers who killed themselves last year almost doubled from the 2004 total.

 

In 2005, 22 soldiers committed suicide in Kuwait and Iraq, compared with 12 in 2004 and 25 in 2003.

 

Although morale among troops remained high, according to the report, a survey of 1,461 soldiers showed higher levels of traumatic combat experiences than in previous years.

 

Three out of four soldiers reported knowing someone killed or injured in combat last year or this year, compared with 69% in 2004.

 

The survey also showed that 55% worried about dying in a roadside explosion last year or this year.

 

And 17% of troops reported combinations of stress, depression and anxiety, a higher rate than 2004.

 

Soldiers who had done multiple tours of duty reported more serious problems.

 

Cases of acute stress were reported by 18.4% of soldiers serving at least a second combat tour; 12.5% of soldiers on their first tours reported such problems.

 

Army Col. Edward Crandell, who led the study, said the research shows that troops are more willing to seek treatment than in the past.

 

"What our soldiers are experiencing are the inherent stressors of combat that we would expect," Crandell said.

 

Even so, the survey shows the wear and tear on the troops is getting worse, said Paul Ragan, an associate professor of psychiatry at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine who counseled veterans of the Persian Gulf War.

 

"I think this report is the tip of the tip of the iceberg," he said. "Too few people are being asked to do too much over too much time."

 

The Army's Surgeon General, Lt. Gen. Kevin Kiley, said officials will work to improve suicide prevention training.

 

The suicide rate across the Army was 13.1 soldiers per 100,000 in 2005.

 

The national suicide rate in 2003, the latest years for which figures are available, is 10.8 per 100,000, according to the Centers for Disease, Control and Prevention.

 

 

 

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QUOTE(Texsox @ Nov 15, 2007 -> 07:57 AM)
Have you seen any changes in mental health care in your years of service? Are we doing enough? What is the general attitude regarding the Army's efforts in this area?

 

 

Mental Health care was looked at with scorn before this war began. They have recognized, however that stress of being at war and still having family committments back home takes a toll so they have gone to great lengths to try and remedy the problem. They have numerous resources for us to use ranging from seeing our units chaplain to seeing a stress counselor to seeing a pshyciatrist (sp ). There's 2 obstacles that are faced though. They are the patients own unwillingness to come clean about his problems and there's still the military's "suck it up and deal with it" attitude about most everything. Still, I do think they make a genuine and honest effort to combat the problem and I don't see how they could do anything more.

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QUOTE(Brian @ Nov 23, 2007 -> 10:35 PM)
Hope you were able to have some kind of Thanksgiving, Nuke!

 

 

They had a pretty nice turkey dinner set up for us so that was pretty cool. I was also able to get a quick call in to say hi to the folks just before I rolled out that night so it was about all I could have expected.

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QUOTE(NUKE @ Nov 25, 2007 -> 09:01 AM)
They had a pretty nice turkey dinner set up for us so that was pretty cool. I was also able to get a quick call in to say hi to the folks just before I rolled out that night so it was about all I could have expected.

 

Were you lucky enough to get a hug from that general who was out hugging everyone?

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QUOTE(mr_genius @ Jan 13, 2008 -> 09:27 PM)
I'm glad they are starting to give a reasonable time frame to get you all out of there. IMO, the US troops have done their job and it's time to bring people home.

 

 

Like I said, it's a bit of a bargain from what we were originally expecting and it gives us a little something to look forward to.

 

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