HIGH-TECH ACCESS AVAILABLE FOR THOSE WHO SUFFER POST-TRAUMATIC STRESS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Outreach Center Broadens Mental Health Resources
By Amaani Lyle
American Forces Press Service

ARLINGTON, Va., June 12, 2013 - Service members or anyone who bears the invisible scars of post-traumatic stress now have high-tech access to online resources to fight stress, depression and other psychological health concerns, a Defense Department official said here yesterday.


The Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury Outreach Center is a 24-hour phone, chat and email portal open to everyone and provides access to resources and information related to psychological health and traumatic brain injury issues, said George Lamb, outreach chief for the centers.

"Anybody can call if they need information on psychological health or traumatic brain injury," Lamb said. "We've received chats from downrange, where a service member has gone in [and] spoken with the doctor, and we were able to provide them the information they needed."

The National Center for Telehealth and Technology is a DOD agency that has developed Web, mobile and virtual reality tools to target post-traumatic stress disorder and mild traumatic brain injuries and to contribute to suicide prevention in the military community and beyond, he added.

Apps include the T2 MoodTracker, which identifies triggers and improves the mood, and Breath2Relax, a portable stress management tool that uses breathing techniques to reduce stress, Lamb explained.

In 2007, a mental health task force discovered a lack of mental health resources available to service members and others afflicted with psychological health problems, Lamb added.
Family members, friends, veterans or service members themselves can use the resources.
"It's free, and it's information that has been vetted by DOD," Lamb said. "We're not just doing Google searches and adding information to it."

Lamb said callers in crisis can connect to coaches who work with suicide prevention teams or local authorities and maintain contact with the caller until help arrives. The Outreach Center also is available to clinical staff members who can in turn provide the resources and information to service members.

"Even if the war was to end today, our service members still have the injuries that they've incurred in combat, and their family members are still going to have questions for years to come," Lamb said. "It's going to be enduring."

SEC. OF DEFENSE SAYS SERVICES MEMBERS REPRESENT HAVE TO BEST OF AMERICA

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Panetta: Service Members Must Represent Best of America

By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON, May 4, 2012 - It is more important than ever that service members exercise judgment in the age of Twitter, You Tube, Flickr, I-Phones and Facebook, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told troops at Fort Benning, Ga., today.

The secretary spoke to the men and women of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team of the U.S. Army's 3rd Infantry Division. He spoke about how the actions of a very small number of service members have affected crucial operations.

Today, it can take only seconds for a photo to become an international headline, Panetta said.

"And those headlines can impact the mission that we're engaged in," the secretary said. "They can put your fellow service members at risk. They can hurt morale. They can damage our standing in the world, and they can cost lives."

When videos can go viral overnight, the actions of a few can impact the lives of many, Panetta said. For example, he said, once word that soldiers at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, had accidently burned Muslim holy books got out, more than 30 Afghans died in the rioting that followed. The Taliban seized that incident -- and others such as Marines urinating on enemy corpses, and soldiers posing with body parts of suicide bombers -- to recruit Afghans to their side.

"I know that none of you ... deliberately acts to hurt your mission or to put your fellow soldiers at risk," the secretary said. "You are the best. And that's why I'm here today. To tell you that I need you, that I need your leadership, that I need your courage -- that I need your strength to make sure that we always abide by the highest standards."

The incidents that occurred in Afghanistan are the work of a tiny percentage of service members, Panetta said.

"I represent 3 million people, 2 million in uniform," he said. "It's a very small percentage of people who sometimes make these terrible mistakes."

Still these incidents concern leaders all the way to the Pentagon and White House. This is because "a few, who lack judgment, lack professionalism, lack leadership can hurt all of us and can hurt all of those men and women who serve this country with distinction," the secretary said.

Panetta stressed that the incidents concern leaders because "our enemies will seek to turn ... these incidents in their favor at the very moment that they are losing the war."

The 3rd Brigade will deploy again -- the unit deployed to Iraq for four tours -- and the secretary said he needs all service members to live the values of the United States. "Always remember who you are and the great country that you serve and that we are all part of," he said. "You are part of the best fighting force on the face of the earth. Never forget that."

Panetta emphasized that the members of the brigade have a responsibility to look after their comrades and to properly represent the American people.

"I know that all of you can meet this challenge," he said to the gathered troops. "You are the best, and I have the greatest confidence in your ability to make all Americans proud by demonstrating the very finest character, integrity and judgment and willingness to fight."

The secretary also discussed recent events in Afghanistan, noting last year was a "turning point" there.-

The Taliban, he said, have lost momentum as coalition and Afghan forces have secured many areas in Afghanistan. And despite great efforts, he added, the Taliban and their terrorist allies were not able to recapture a single square acre.

"Al-Qaida's leadership, including bin Laden, has been decimated," the secretary said. "We recognized the first-year anniversary taking down bin Laden. Let me tell you, that was due to the military professionalism of soldiers who went in there and did a mission that they do time and time and time again in Afghanistan. It was for that reason that I was confident that that mission would be accomplished."

Afghan forces have grown in size and capabilities, Panetta said. Today, Afghan forces protect more than 50 percent of the population. Later this month a further tranche of areas will begin the transition process.

"By the end of summer will mean that 80 percent of the Afghan population will be under Afghanistan security and control," the secretary said.

The Strategic Partnership Agreement signed by President Barack Obama and Afghan President Hamid Karzai earlier this week "sends a clear signal to our enemies and to our partners that we will finish the job right in Afghanistan," Panetta told the troops.

Service members need to keep their minds in the game, the secretary said.

"If we keep our eye focused on this mission ... we will defeat al-Qaida," Panetta said. "We will deny them the ability to rebuild; we will deny them the safe haven that they used to plan an attack on our country.

"Too much precious blood has been spilled, too much progress has been made to lose sight of the mission now," he added.

GENERAL DEMPSEY TALKS ABOUT MILITARY BONDS OF TRUST

American Forces Press Service

Dempsey: Military Must Keep 'Bond of Trust' With Troops, Families

By Elaine Sanchez
WASHINGTON, March 30, 2012 - The military is defined by a bond of trust -- between service members, their families and their communities -- that must remain unbroken, the military's top officer said here today.

"If we do that one thing, think about our profession as united with a common bond of trust, and commit ... to earning it every day. I don't care what happens to the budget ... I don't care what happens to the other countries in the world that might want ill to come to us, we'll be fine," Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said.

Taking care of troops is a matter of trust, he added. "If we lose that [trust], it won't matter how much money we throw at ourselves. That's a fact."

After months of discussing budgetary and equipment concerns and fresh off a trip to South America, Dempsey turned his attention to what he called the military's "human dimension" at the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury's Warrior Resilience Conference. This conference, in its fourth year, is intended to equip service members, units, families and communities with resilience-building techniques and tools.

As he spoke to an audience of nearly 750 behavioral health experts and military leaders, the chairman referred to an image of a squad leader in Afghanistan on the screen behind him. The soldier, his face contorted in a mix of fear and courage, was speaking on his radio with an evident sense of urgency.

Whatever it is the soldier is asking for, he'll get, the chairman said. "That's what sets us apart [as a nation]. He's going to get it -- whether it's kinetic ordnance, whether it's supplies, or whether it's what you're here to talk about today.

"We're going to get them the life skills, the confidence, the hope, which equals on some level ... the resilience you're here to talk about in our force, in our families," he pledged.

It took about a decade for the force to regain its sense of pride and clarity after the Vietnam War. That time lapse can't occur again, the chairman said.

"The world is changing so fast around us," Dempsey said. "If we wait until 2020 to build the kind of strength you're working to build into our formation, it will be too late.

"I fear if we wait and don't address this now, we not only won't be doing ourselves any favors, we won't be doing our nation any favors," he added.

The people gathered for this conference are taking steps on this front, Dempsey noted, "by seeking a deeper, richer understanding of what has happened to us as a force over the last 10 years.

"More importantly," he added, "what are you going to do about that? What are you going to do about the fact that 10 years of war has put enormous pressure on the force?"

They will be tackling these issues in an environment of challenged resources, the chairman acknowledged, and while ensuring they build and earn trust with their subordinates and coworkers each day. "Keeping faith with ourselves, our communities, our families ... that's what it's all about," he said.

Dempsey again referred to the squad leader's picture, this time pointing out the soldier's wedding ring. "If you think about this bond of trust, it doesn't stop in the forward edge or the rear edge of the battle area," he said. "It's got to run all the way back to hometown USA where he has a family."

Dempsey stressed the importance of turning to others for help when needed, calling resilience a "team sport." The chairman drove this point home with a story about a prior bout with throat cancer. It hit him hard, he said, since he'd always tackled obstacles on his own.

Instead, he said, he relied on his medical team, his family and his friends for help. "I realized for the first time in my life, I can't do this alone," he said. "It took cancer for me to figure that out. We can't let our young men and women figure that out the hard way."

Dempsey thanked the audience for their unwavering commitment to troop and family wellness. "What you're doing here has an absolute direct correlation with who we are today, but more importantly, has an even greater correlation to who we will be in the future," he said.

Service Members Must Prepare For Transition, Dempsey Says

American Forces Press Service

By Jim Garamone

WASHINGTON, March 30, 2012 - This is a time of transition for the U.S. military and part of that change requires service members to immerse themselves in the study of their profession, said Army Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Dempsey took time during his recent travels to Colombia and Brazil to talk to reporters about the transitions he sees coming.

In his letter to the force upon taking office in October, Dempsey stressed the need for service members to study their profession.

"We're not a profession simply because we say we're a profession," he wrote. "We must continue to learn, to understand, and to promote the knowledge, skills, attributes and behaviors that define us as a profession."

Dempsey said he gets a lot of affirmation on his position.

"Most agree that we need to look inside this profession of ours and make sure we have the attributes right," the general said in an interview aboard a C-17 en route to Colombia. "Are we developing the right attributes in our new leaders? Some of those attributes are enduring, but there are some new ones."

But there are a number of service members, he said, who question the need for this study.

"There are some who say, 'C'mon. Look how good we're doing. If it ain't broke, don't fix it,'" Dempsey said. "To me, that's the formula for losing our credentials as a learning organization."

The military has been through 10 years of conflict and service members have made many deployments. "How can we think that hasn't had some effect? It seems to me to be a bit naïve," the general said.

Dempsey said he isn't suggesting the military is broken. Morale is high, he said, and the spirit in the force is good.

"I am suggesting that we ought to have the conversation," the general said.

The U.S. military has had these sorts of discussions throughout its existence. As the military faces its latest transition, Dempsey said, it is a good time to see what is needed to maintain the best military on the globe.

And this discussion is not limited to officers. "We have been putting more emphasis on the noncommissioned officer as an integral part of the profession," Dempsey said. "That's kind of a new thing. Twenty years ago, the profession was defined by officer corps and then the NCOs were held accountable to go out and deliver it."

But NCOs have to be part of the discussion on what it means to be a soldier, sailor, airman or Marine, the chairman said.

"How do you see yourselves as leaders in the profession?" he said. "They are at the point of the spear on this in terms of dealing with all the issues we've uncovered in the past 10 years. We have continually said to them -- rightly -- that they are what make us great; that they are the backbone of the profession."

But being the backbone means continuing to grow and to be strong enough to support the body, the general said.

Ten years of war, Dempsey said, has affected all aspects of the force. NCOs have typically been handed a training checklist, for example, to get troops ready for war.

"Now they are reaching a point where noncommissioned officers are going to have to think about what it means to train their organizations," he said, "to deliver an outcome and to re-instill those small disciplines -- training management, command supply discipline, barracks discipline -- those small disciplines that in a war sometimes are overlooked because they are so darn busy.

"Now we are going to have to hold the NCOs accountable for bringing that [discipline] back," he added, "and I think sometimes they underestimate the challenge."