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Ask A Vet
Author: Will in Chicago    Date: 2012-07-03 09:30:00

Good morning, bloggers! I am posting today’s blog while TriSec is recuperating at home today. I hope that TriSec can chime in on today’s blog.

Today's blog takes a look at several different issues impacting the military from mental health to education, as well as some tragic news.

For some reason, I had trouble finding the most recent casualty figures from Afghanistan. However, we find the cost of war passing through $1,348,424,855,617 as of about 11:30 PM Eastern Time on July 2, 2012.



In some news from the Iraqi and Afghanistan Veterans of America has some resources on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). June was PTSD Awareness month. Jason Hansman wrote an article on PTSD and provided some links that IAVA trusts:

If you feel that you, or somebody you know, is struggling with readjustment, please know that you are never alone. We at IAVA have your back and want to make sure you have every resource you may need at your disposal.

• IAVA's Community of Veterans offers peer to peer support in an exclusive online community.
• The Veterans Crisis Line connects veterans in crisis, as well as their family and friends, with qualified and caring Department of Veterans Affairs responders. Call 1-800-273-8255 and press 1, chat online or text 838255 to receive confidential support 24 hours a day.
Give an Hour connects military personnel and their families with free mental health services in their area.
VetCenters, run by the Department of Veterans Affairs, offer counseling and readjustment services in over 300 neighborhoods throughout the country and surrounding territories.
• Get the facts at Make The Connection, an organization providing information, stories and resources on issues affecting veterans and their families.


Also, this past week IAVA said farewell to Chief Police Officer Jonathan Schleifer.

IAVA Says Farewell to Chief Policy Officer Jonathan Schleifer
Posted by Tom Tarantino on June 29

Earlier this week, IAVA said goodbye to a great leader and advocate for veterans. For the last 3 years Jonathan Schleifer led IAVA’s policy team to major victories for veterans and their families. With Jonathan at the helm, VA health care became immune to the whims of the budget fight, the GI Bill was vastly expanded and improved, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was repealed, thousands of vets have or will find it easier to get a job, and millions will better understand the challenges that our veterans and their families face every day.

Jonathan is heading back to the world of education, joining the leadership at Educators 4 Excellence, where he will help make America the education powerhouse it needs by ensuring that the voices of classroom teachers are included in the decision-making process. We know that they will benefit from his leadership as much as we have.


While my thoughts go out to those who serve overseas, we should not forget those who are serving on the home front. There was a tragedy in North Dakota as a plane involved in fighting fires crashed and C-130 planes have been grounded. As I write this, it is uncertain how many North Carolina Air National Guard members died in a plane crash Sunday while fighting fires in South Dakota. As reported by the Charlotte Observer and cited in Stars and Stripes

At least one dead in Air Force C-130 firefighting crash in S.D.
By STEVE LYTTLE, ELY PORTILLO AND AMES ALEXANDER
The Charlotte Observer, N.C.
Published: July 2, 2012

A C-130 Hercules tanker from a Charlotte-based Air National Guard unit crashed late Sunday night while helping battle a wildfire in southwest South Dakota, according to U.S. military officials.

A Mooresville, N.C., man, Lt. Col. Paul Mikeal, was killed in the crash, family members said. Five others were on board the plane.

The Air Force said in a statement that the plane was from the North Carolina Air National Guard’s 145th Air Wing, adding that some of the crew members were injured and others killed. But it did not specify the number of survivors.

Rescuers took three survivors to a hospital in Rapid City, S.D., according to authorities in South Dakota.


Meanwhile, veterans are struggling in making their way back to civilian life, particular in taking college courses. MSNBC reports:

Thousands of veterans failing in latest battlefield: college
By Bill Briggs

Among the approximately 800,000 military veterans now attending U.S. colleges, an estimated 88 percent drop out of school during their first year and only 3 percent graduate, according a report forwarded by the University of Colorado Denver, citing the analysis by U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor and Pensions.

Indeed, the vast, life-experience divide between war veterans and teens fresh out of high school – all now sharing the same classrooms – can make the scholastic transition awkward and arduous for ex-soldiers, said Michael Dakduk, executive director of Student Veterans of America, a support network for ex-military college students. SVA now has chapters on more than 500 campuses

Mix in the fat gap of time between the vets’ high school days and their attempts to blend into college life and the reasons for the dropout rate become even more obvious.

“They are (taking) academically rigorous courses after being removed from the academic setting for so long,” Dakduk said.


This is one of many struggles that our veterans face. In March, IAVA released the results of a survey stating that veterans of our most recent conflicts have a 17 percent unemployment rate and have deep concerns about mental health issues:

  • Two-thirds of our members do not think troops and veterans are getting the care they need for mental health injuries, including combat-related stress or military sexual trauma.

    Thirty-seven percent of our members personally know someone they served with or another Iraq or Afghanistan veteran who has committed suicide.


  • As unemployment is an issue for many veterans, recent cuts in food stamp benefits may hit both military families and veterans hard. Michael McAuliff has a recent article in the Huffington Post on this.

    Food Stamp Cuts Could Hit Military Members, Veterans

    WASHINGTON -- Congress' push to cut food stamps could cause collateral damage in the military, hitting everyone from active-duty members to retirees, who together have used more than $100 million in federal food aid on military bases over the past year, a Huffington Post review of the data found.

    HuffPost looked at data provided by the Defense Commissary Agency -- which serves a wide range of military members, including retirees -- and concluded that commissary customers have redeemed $101 million worth of food stamps since June 2011. According to a recent Stars and Stripes analysis, that figure was $31 million in 2008.

    In the broader population, Census data suggests that some 1.5 million households with a veteran were receiving SNAP benefits.

    Lawmakers who want to block cuts to food aid point out that the lingering effects of the recession are expected to drive food stamp rolls higher through 2014. They argue that any further reductions will necessarily impact people who have served their country and are already in need.


    As we prepare for Independence Day in the United States of America, we should remember that we should remember our veterans. Too often, we call on them to fulfill our nation’s foreign policy and they come back to be forgotten by the politicians who sang their praises. Let us take a stand and try to make a difference in our own communities, not just for the troops and those who served, but for everyone. Let us make the phrase E Pluribus Unum -- Out of Many, One -- a reality in our lives and in our own time.
     

    59 comments (Latest Comment: 07/04/2012 04:44:57 by Will in Chicago)
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    Comments:

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    Comment by BobR on 07/03/2012 11:25:49
    Thanks for filling in Will. I know it's a little scary to step into such an iconic weekly column.

    Comment by BobR on 07/03/2012 11:40:46
    I think you may have used the wrong link on the food stamps story

    Comment by TriSec on 07/03/2012 11:54:08
    Oh, good morning! And thank you very much Will.

    A couple of things to add...here's the link for Antiwar.com and the latest casualties from our ongoing wars.

    I saw the news about the Herky-Bird going down yesterday...I believe that may be the third one that's augered in with all hands this season. While the C-130H is still in production, as near as I can figure, all the firefighting birds are C-130E models of roughly Vietnam vintage.

    While there's no inherent problem flying such an old aircraft hard, age and fatigue catch up much quicker and intensive maintenance is needed to keep them airworthy. (Note, Douglas C-47s and Boeing 707, older airframes still in service with hundreds in the air.)

    Obviously, when aviation and fire intersect, you'd expect the blog's aviation dork and fire avatar to be well-versed in the subject. I wrote this blog just over a year ago, and I believe my opinions remain unchanged.



    Comment by TriSec on 07/03/2012 11:59:22
    And I've got the food stamp link fixed.

    Nice work out there today, folks.

    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 12:30:43
    Good morning!

    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 12:47:27
    And this one is for Tri coming home...
    http://www.cweden.com/snoopy/animated/snoopy1.gif


    Comment by wickedpam on 07/03/2012 12:50:48
    Morning

    Ditto that happy dance

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 12:51:09
    Well done will. Morning all.

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 12:56:41
    When I cam out to my car this morning, the roof was teaming with my sworn enemy, fire ants. They were up there because of the condensation. They were all blown off the roof by the slip stream when I hit the interstate. Bwahahahahhaahahahah!

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 12:57:25
    Mala, I think my sworn enemy is just as bad, if not worse than yours.

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 13:03:07
    MS Outlook and Exchange, I loath thou.

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 13:04:08
    I have mused! Carry on!

    Comment by wickedpam on 07/03/2012 13:04:31
    Quote by Mondobubba:
    Mala, I think my sworn enemy is just as bad, if not worse than yours.


    I've stepped on a fire ant hill before, I think your right - they are worse then Comcast. But not by much


    Comment by TriSec on 07/03/2012 13:05:58
    Quote by Mondobubba:
    When I cam out to my car this morning, the roof was teaming with my sworn enemy, fire ants. They were up there because of the condensation. They were all blown off the roof by the slip stream when I hit the interstate. Bwahahahahhaahahahah!


    Well, it would have sucked to be driving behind you in a convertible.




    Comment by wickedpam on 07/03/2012 13:07:55
    Quote by TriSec:
    Quote by Mondobubba:
    When I cam out to my car this morning, the roof was teaming with my sworn enemy, fire ants. They were up there because of the condensation. They were all blown off the roof by the slip stream when I hit the interstate. Bwahahahahhaahahahah!


    Well, it would have sucked to be driving behind you in a convertible.







    Comment by BobR on 07/03/2012 13:14:51
    Quote by Mondobubba:
    When I cam out to my car this morning, the roof was teaming with my sworn enemy, fire ants. They were up there because of the condensation. They were all blown off the roof by the slip stream when I hit the interstate. Bwahahahahhaahahahah!

    You're lucky that they didn't decide to nest in your upholstery.


    Comment by TriSec on 07/03/2012 13:22:26
    I have now had toast.

    This is important - it's the first food in a week that hasn't tasted like somebody wiped their butt with it before I got it.

    I've also grown out - haven't shaved in a week. Regrettably, I seem to be cursed with a thin beard. I might let it go another day or to to get a better idea of what it might look like, but I think it will have to go away.



    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 13:33:05
    in case you see the RW claptrap that POTUS will be in

    FRANCE tomorrow.....



    Malia Obama turns 14 on July 4
    Malia Obama turns 14 on July 4. Her sister, Sasha, marked her 11th birthday on June 10. The Obama family is spending a long weekend at Camp David.


    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 13:45:30
    Quote by BobR:
    Quote by Mondobubba:
    When I cam out to my car this morning, the roof was teaming with my sworn enemy, fire ants. They were up there because of the condensation. They were all blown off the roof by the slip stream when I hit the interstate. Bwahahahahhaahahahah!

    You're lucky that they didn't decide to nest in your upholstery.



    That flitted through my mind. :shudder:

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 13:47:12
    Quote by wickedpam:
    Quote by Mondobubba:
    Mala, I think my sworn enemy is just as bad, if not worse than yours.


    I've stepped on a fire ant hill before, I think your right - they are worse then Comcast. But not by much



    Fire ants are an invasive spieces. Comcast might be, I am not sure though.

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 14:18:16
    Quote by TriSec:
    I have now had toast.

    This is important - it's the first food in a week that hasn't tasted like somebody wiped their butt with it before I got it.

    I've also grown out - haven't shaved in a week. Regrettably, I seem to be cursed with a thin beard. I might let it go another day or to to get a better idea of what it might look like, but I think it will have to go away.




    Glad you liked that toast, W.

    Comment by TriSec on 07/03/2012 14:22:23
    Boy, can't get any sympathy around here even after emergency surgery.

    Grumble, grunt, rant, rave.

    Liquid Oxy-->

    (I was on "Rush's Favorite" in the hospital....since moved on to ol' Percocet.)



    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 14:22:55
    RIP Andy Griffith...

    Comment by wickedpam on 07/03/2012 14:25:41
    Quote by Raine:
    RIP Andy Griffith...



    Mayberry is a little emptier today

    Comment by wickedpam on 07/03/2012 14:29:39
    Glee News Looks like the entire cast is coming back for season 4 - even the teachers. Hope this means more Coach Bieste and Black Sue!

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 14:34:10
    Quote by TriSec:
    Boy, can't get any sympathy around here even after emergency surgery.

    Grumble, grunt, rant, rave.

    Liquid Oxy-->

    (I was on "Rush's Favorite" in the hospital....since moved on to ol' Percocet.)




    :rushes to Tri's side, takes pulse, temp: Everything okay? A fainter?

    Hey you know we are a tough room.

    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 14:37:34
    Quote by TriSec:
    Boy, can't get any sympathy around here even after emergency surgery.

    Grumble, grunt, rant, rave.

    Liquid Oxy-->

    (I was on "Rush's Favorite" in the hospital....since moved on to ol' Percocet.)

    mmmm beer....


    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 14:38:38
    So, thisis VERY interesting -- about the ACA and Small business.

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 14:45:32
    Quote by Raine:
    RIP Andy Griffith...



    Bummer.

    Comment by TriSec on 07/03/2012 15:08:59
    TriSec is starting to fade. I think I may recline a while.


    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 15:18:44
    Quote by TriSec:
    TriSec is starting to fade. I think I may recline a while.



    Faders and percocet, not a good idea. Be well, good sir.

    Comment by BobR on 07/03/2012 15:20:40
    Quote by TriSec:
    TriSec is starting to fade. I think I may recline a while.



    Comment by TriSec on 07/03/2012 15:26:03
    < picks jaw up off floor >

    Read the list further in the story - USS Aries, my uncle's ship!


    Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/03/2012 15:26:47
    Good morning, bloggers!!!

    TriSec, thanks for fixing up the link and helping with the casualty figures (I should have scrolled down). In some ways, doing this blog was as much of a challenge as what I did Saturday. A friend who works with a veteran's organization in California was able to help me with some ideas. (Hopefully, the blog does not seem too scattershot today.) So, get some rest and enjoy food with some taste to it.

    We are still waiting to get the insurance folks to approve the air conditioner unit repairs. So, I got an old fan out of the garage and will clean it off. It is beginning to get warm even in the basement at times.

    Tonight, I will miss Turn Up the Night with Kenny Pick as I am going to a local fireworks show. So, here is an early Happy Independence Day to anyone heading out early.

    Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/03/2012 15:33:54
    Quote by wickedpam:
    Morning

    Ditto that happy dance


    I' m probably 15th'ing it by now.

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 15:43:08
    Quote by TriSec:
    < picks jaw up off floor >

    Read the list further in the story - USS Aries, my uncle's ship!



    That is cool in a disturbing way.

    Comment by Will in Chicago on 07/03/2012 15:46:02
    Rest in peace, Andy Griffith! I feel like part of my childhood is gone.


    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 15:47:16
    Quote by Will in Chicago:
    Good morning, bloggers!!!

    TriSec, thanks for fixing up the link and helping with the casualty figures (I should have scrolled down). In some ways, doing this blog was as much of a challenge as what I did Saturday. A friend who works with a veteran's organization in California was able to help me with some ideas. (Hopefully, the blog does not seem too scattershot today.) So, get some rest and enjoy food with some taste to it.

    We are still waiting to get the insurance folks to approve the air conditioner unit repairs. So, I got an old fan out of the garage and will clean it off. It is beginning to get warm even in the basement at times.

    Tonight, I will miss Turn Up the Night with Kenny Pick as I am going to a local fireworks show. So, here is an early Happy Independence Day to anyone heading out early.
    I think you did great, Will.

    We'll be enjoying the Fireworks tomorrow night.:)




    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 15:48:14
    Quote by TriSec:
    TriSec is starting to fade. I think I may recline a while.
    Go rest. Don'tover do it


    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 16:04:31
    Off to the office!

    Comment by livingonli on 07/03/2012 16:12:14
    Back online after another morning of sleeping and kitty love. She wanted a lot of attention this morning from me.

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 16:27:33
    Quote by Raine:
    Off to the office!



    Don't melt!

    Comment by livingonli on 07/03/2012 17:18:32
    Our local station WLNY 10-55 has slapped on an overnight Matlock marathon as their tribute to Andy Griffith.

    Comment by trojanrabbit on 07/03/2012 17:21:41
    Getting let out of work at 2PM today. Debating whether to catch the fireworks at Patriot Place (Gillette Stadium) tonight.

    Comment by Raine on 07/03/2012 17:36:23
    Karl is filling in for Thom today... The AC is back to working again in the building

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 17:37:25
    Quote by trojanrabbit:
    Getting let out of work at 2PM today. Debating whether to catch the fireworks at Patriot Place (Gillette Stadium) tonight.



    Oh sitting in a natural heat sink filled with people who are radiating 98.6 degree body heat into 90 degree air. Sounds like a fun time to me!

    Comment by Mondobubba on 07/03/2012 18:05:59
    Quote by Raine:
    Karl is filling in for Thom today... The AC is back to working again in the building



    Yay to both.

    Comment by TriSec on 07/03/2012 19:04:52
    Hey now, I live just within sight of the Waltham fireworks for tomorrow night....but because of the lay of the land, I can't see them out my front window. *miffed*

    Although there is a gap between the buildings about 30 yards down where I may be able to see them.

    Otherwise, I'll be sitting in front of the telly mosheen watching the Boston Pops from the Esplanade....I've said before, the national audience picks up the broadcast at the 1812 Overture, you all get to see only the finale and the encore, there's about an hour of concert before that, too.

    Comment by livingonli on 07/03/2012 20:10:28
    Quote by TriSec:
    Hey now, I live just within sight of the Waltham fireworks for tomorrow night....but because of the lay of the land, I can't see them out my front window. *miffed*

    Although there is a gap between the buildings about 30 yards down where I may be able to see them.

    Otherwise, I'll be sitting in front of the telly mosheen watching the Boston Pops from the Esplanade....I've said before, the national audience picks up the broadcast at the 1812 Overture, you all get to see only the finale and the encore, there's about an hour of concert before that, too.

    Subscribers to Bell Satellite TV in Canada as well as many cable subscribers in the Atlantic Provinces can see it because those providers get the Boston affiliates for their Eastern US Network feeds. Bell satellite carries Fox from Boston but many of the maritime cable providers actually use Fox from Rochester, NY while carrying the other three from Boston (PBS could be either WGBH and/or WTVS in Detroit).