If this doesn't scream "Failure", Im unsure what does.
Georgia opens first jail devoted to U.S. veterans
The problem of US military veterans falling into a life of crime after returning from Iraq and Afghanistan has reached such levels that a law enforcer in Georgia has opened what is believed to be America’s first county jail devoted to veteran inmates
It is true that running afoul of the law is more than "too common' for those who have spent a couple tours of duty and are sent 'home' with little more than a pep talk and a plane ride to decompress from several years of being on heightened alert 24/7.
So, as is common in America, instead of providing treatment, we find a jail and say things like
“It’s really unique. What we’re bringing together is a lot of resources,”
I have heard a lot of veteran's returning stories in the past 2 years. Too many of them involve young recon marines returning home and one way or another getting into trouble with the law or, worse, shooting loved ones in times of stress, stress that seems to begin about a week after 'returning home'.
Up-to-date figures on the number of imprisoned veterans are hard to come by, but the problem is known to be extensive. A report from 2004 calculated there were about 140,000 veterans in US federal and state prisons but that might be a small fraction of the total as many more are held at county jail level.
The report ends with at least one quote from a person identified as an 'inmate' who says it's pretty nice thre for a jail and he feels like he is finally getting help.
That's all well and good, I suppose but why should veterans have to go to friggin JAIL in order to get the help they need particularly when the friggin pattern is so friggin clear?
Possibly because some - somewhere - want to deny the problem and basically save money NOT treating them? Senator Patty Murray (D-wa) has led an investigation that may suggest just that:
Fearing the Army might be mishandling the matter, Washington state Sen. Patty Murray said Wednesday that she has begun an investigation into whether military hospitals across the country are denying treatment to service members with post-traumatic stress disorder because of cost considerations.
The Democrat, who is chairwoman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, said she decided to take the step to make sure that Army officials “don’t just bury this under the rug” as they investigate the issue on their own.
“I will not be satisfied until I know that they have done an absolutely in-depth evaluation and found every soldier that may have been misdiagnosed — in a timely manner — and get them the care they need,” Murray said in an interview.
The Army already is conducting at least three separate probes amid disclosures that Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord has reversed hundreds of PTSD diagnoses for patients who were up for medical retirement. Murray’s office said last week that a review of PTSD cases dating to 2007 found that 290 of 690 diagnoses — more than 40 percent — had been reversed by a medical screening team.
This puts everybody at risk and is a true and demonstrable disservice to those who have their ass out over the line for you and me.
Sending them to jail is just outrageous and unaccpetable.