Veterans For America (VFA) was originally founded by Vietnam War veteran Bobby Muller as the Vietnam Veterans of American Foundation (VVAF). VFA is described as the following:
"Veterans for America is an advocacy and humanitarian organization. The primary mission of VFA is to ensure that our country meets the needs of servicemembers and veterans who have served in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). VFA focuses specifically on the signature wounds these conflicts: psychological traumas and traumatic brain injuries. VFA concentrates much of its attention on the needs of those who are currently serving in the military since the majority of those who have seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are still in the military and under the care of the Department of Defense."
VFA has authored The American Veterans and Servicemembers Survival Guide. But recently, it was a report VFA authored regarding Fort Drum which has garnered the most attention.
Last week, the VFA released its report on the mental health issues facing soldiers at Fort Drum. Following the report, Sen. Hillary Clinton issued a press release regarding the findings and Rep. Jack Murtha will be visiting Fort Drum today.
I reached out to VFA's Jason Forrester to discuss the report and what these findings mean, not only for Fort Drum, but the whole military. Forrester is the Director of Policy for VFA and is VFA's chief legislative liaison. Below the fold is the interview I conducted Thursday with Forrester.
QUESTION: What prompted the VFA report on Fort Drum?
ANSWER: Veterans For America has been working on improving care for servicemembers who have been in combat for the past few years, which connects with the legacy of our founder and current president Bobby Muller, who is a Vietnam veteran. Bobby was injured in 1969 while leading a patrol of Marines in Vietnam. After that, he was involved in improving care for servicemembers. After Iraq/Afghanistan began, we targeted that same goal. There is a great need for an advocate. There are several groups who advocate for improving care for vets, but there aren't as many groups for many people within the military.
We began to focus on the different issues coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Problems such as signature injuries, like mental health challenges facing servicemembers and neurological injuries from roadside bombs, such as the concussive effects that have created brain injuries. Soldiers from Fort Drum contacted us expressing concerns about their care and we began to learn about problems with mental health treatment at Fort Drum.
Q: What do the problems at Fort Drum say about the whole military mental health treatment system?
A: The problems at Fort Drum are the kinds of problems that we've seen elsewhere with mental health treatment in the military. Some of the things Fort Drum has going for it is the leadership at Fort Drum talks quite openly of the great post-combat mental health theme of soldiers of the 10th Mountain Division. So that's a positive environment overall. But when that positive environment meets reality number one a lack of qualified mental health professionals within the military to help deal with the large number of soldiers who need help. Soldiers at Fort Drum, especially the soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, are facing a handful of challenges that make for a great overall challenge and when combined with the lack of qualified mental health professionals make for a dire situation.
Specific issues facing soldiers coming from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, there are a handful of them, they can be boiled down to number one, multiple deployments. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team is the most deployed brigade in the entire U.S. Army.
Number two, high-intensity combat. The members of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team are five times more likely to have been killed in combat than the average servicemembers who have been deployed to Iraq.
Three, the problem of having tours extended while they were in theater in Iraq. This happened last year when the 2nd BCT was in Iraq they had tours extended for 12 months to 15 months which has a corrosive effect on the mental health of servicemembers and it exposes them to more combat.
And four is the problem of inadequate time at home between deployments known as dwell time. Members of the 2nd BCT were between their second and third deployments they went home for about six months after having served in Afghanistan for eight months and going to Iraq for 12 months. Traditionally, the Army likes to have their soldiers home twice as long than they send them away. Unfortunately, the 2nd BCT, their time at home falls far below that goal of twice as much time at home to recover mentally, to reconnect with family and friends, to retrain, to integrate new members of the unit and all of these things are not possible if you don't have enough time to rest.
Q: How severe are the mental health problems, not only at Fort Drum, but throughout the U.S. Military?
A: For post-combat mental health problems there is a high premium on getting competent care quickly and the problem that many in the 2nd BCT in the 10th Mountain Division are facing as well as servicemembers elsewhere in the Army are facing is long wait times before they can see a mental health professional.
When members of the 2nd BCT came home, the wait times for some members of that unit were up to two months. If you can't people in to see a mental health professional in a shorter time frame problems will arise such as the ones you mentioned (suicide, for example) and also the problems of people having difficulty dealing with their problems, they are self-medicating and dealing with post-combat mental health traumas and then having difficulty living within the guidelines of the military. Making formation in the morning, keeping their barracks clean, and fulfilling training duties. All those problems arise when people don't get the help they need.
Yes, we found it shocking that we can have these soldiers coming home that everyone in the Army knew had seen difficult combat and it would take up to two months to see a mental health care professional. We are encouraged that Fort Drum has been able to reduce those wait times. Unfortunately, some of the steps they have taken are temporary in nature so wait times will probably rise again. We think that Fort Drum should view this as an opportunity to discuss in a more open way the kind of challenges that they are facing and the kind of resources they need to give these soldiers a world-class level of mental health care treatment.
This is a national problem and it should be treated as such. It shouldn't be treated in a penny pinching way within the Army where one has to worry about giving more money to mental health care than we will have less money for training. The pie needs to be extended for the resources available for mental health care.
Q: One of the points in the report suggests that military commanders have doubted the claims by soldiers of mental health issues. What can be done about this? Sensitivity training? Instructing commanders to address these problems? Does the VFA have any recommendations regarding how commanders approach these serious problems?
A: Leaders can certainly set the right tone and if they take that tone and makes sure it permeates their ways then this can have a salutary effect on mental health treatment.
One of the great impediments to proper mental health care treatment after combat, which is told in our report and in the 2007 Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health, their final report stated that stigma is one of the main barriers that stands in the way of soldiers getting the treatment they need after combat.
The stigma against proper mental health care treatment, which there are a few manifestations of it, including commanders of the lower-levels within brigades and sometimes unfortunately at the high levels, not giving legitimacy to post-combat mental health problems. And so when commanders like that are identified it is the responsibility of higher-level commanders people such as Maj. Gen. [Michael] Oates the Commanding General of the 10th Mountain Division who worked to rehabilitate the thinking of these commanders and if that's not possible to move them out of these leadership positions and put people in who have the proper conception of post-combat mental health challenges.
As the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recently said, Admiral Mike Mullen, said last fall when asked about this question of post-combat mental health problems he said that we will not allow to happen what happened after Vietnam. You will hear from me on these issues.
There is a footnote in our report that takes you to that statement made by Adm. Mullen. Fortunately, Adm. Mullen and his predecessor Gen. Peter Pace have made very clear statements on the legitimacy and the need to treat quickly and fairly post-war mental health problems and other commanders such as Maj. Gen Oates are moving that message as well.
The problem is often times it does not go down as far as it should. So one of the things we recommend that base commanders implement are anti-stigma campaigns on their bases to make it quite clear to have people in leadership positions who have experienced post-combat mental health problems to come forward and to show the people under them that this is a natural consequence of having seen combat and have people who will respect this issue and servicemembers willing to admit when they are having these sorts of problems.
In addition to that, to limit the problems there should be more providers in the mix so that you have the servicemembers interacting with highly qualified mental health care professionals on a regular basis so they (the mental health care professionals) can dig deeper into what these soldiers are facing rather than the soldiers being allowed to fill out a form, provide false answers and then bypass mental health treatment because they fear they won't be treated fairly if they do admit they are having problems or they fear that they won't be promoted if they admit to having problems.
Q: It was indicated in the report that there is not a hospital on base at Fort Drum. Would a hospital on base, with a full-fledged mental health unit, be something that the VFA supports?
A: What we understand from the New York congressional delegation as well as the military commanders at Fort Drum that proposal is not in the cards at the present. We believe there can be a fruitful partnership between the mental health care professionals on base and the private facilities such as Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown as well as other hospitals in the region.
We believe it's possible but given the unusual nature of not having a hospital on base it is something that needs to be scrutinized. It's a dynamic that we need to ensure that the civilian mental health care providers understand how to be the most effective advocates for servicemembers. The Army doctors have a good understanding of what needs to be done to ensure that servicemembers get the treatment they need. A continuing education process would be required of civilian doctors to better understand the challenges of post-combat mental health problems. We think that an oversight panel should also be established to help determine if the highest quality of care is being provided by Samaritan. We have no reason to believe that it's not but just for the sake of greater transparency we think this would be a reasonable step for Fort Drum and for Samaritan which is the primary in-patient mental health treatment facility in the area. This panel would help ensure that there is the highest level of confidence possible in Samaritan and the treatment given to soldiers on base.
Q: So far, some officials at Fort Drum have dismissed the report or debated its findings. What would you say to not only those officials, but to people who might dispute the findings?
A: No one in the Army disputes the fact that there is an incredible burden and an incredible number of soldiers who will need post-combat mental health care treatment after serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the Department of Defense reported last year that upon each subsequent deployment servicemembers chances of having a mental health problem increases by 60 percent.
As I laid out earlier, the challenges facing the 2nd BCT as well as other brigades at Fort Drum included high-intensity combat, multiple deployments and inadequate time at home. As I also mentioned, the Department of Defense's own Task Force on Mental Health has also described a rather high rate of mental health problems for servicemembers.
Our response to that is that this should be a cooperative effort where we can work with the Army and work with others to tell the scope of the problem, to admit to continuing difficulties or battling stigma within the military as well as the large burden caused by our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan so that we work together on this.
Of the soldiers we spoke with, and certainly in this case, the need fits with the overall pattern in the U.S. Army of a high rate of post-combat mental health problems. Obviously we were not able to interview every member of the 2nd BCT. But any servicemember not receiving the treatment they need should be cause for concern and if dozens, if not hundreds, of soldiers are having to wait multiple weeks between appointments that should be a cause for concern for everyone in the Army and the military at-large.
Q: How will the VFA move forward with the issues at Fort Drum?
A: One of the things we would like to see happen next is for the Army to put a lot of thought into how do you make sure that a group such as the 2nd BCT gets sufficient time at home before they are deployed again. That's one of the larger level changes we think should be made.
Even now within the Army, the Army is looking within its ranks to see who has not been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan at all. There are tens of thousands of people in the Army who have not been deployed at all. It behooves the Army to do an effective job of finding people who have spent efficient time at home and finding people who have not been deployed at all rather than contemplating sending members of the 2nd BCT back for a fifth tour. That's a macro change we would like to see put into a place.
In addition to that, as servicemembers from Fort Drum contact us, we will continue to work with them and work with their commanders as well as alert the public to highlight the progress being made or lack of progress being made at Fort Drum in improving treatment for post-combat mental health issues. And as we've done elsewhere, we will continue to receive information from other bases around the country and other servicemembers who are not getting the treatment they need. We will continue to work with them, as well as their leaders, leaders at the Pentagon and leaders on Capitol Hill to ensure that we continue working towards a system of mental health care that we all can be proud of.
Q: Was there anything else that wasn't include in the report that you can disclose in this interview? Any specific points you want to make?
A: One of the things that bears highlighting is that Rep. Jack Murtha will be going to Fort Drum [today]. We see this as a positive sign that the top Defense appropriator in the House of Representatives decides to make a site visit to Fort Drum to meet with Fort Drum's leaders and what can be done to improve mental health care treatment for soldiers who have seen combat. This is a heartening result of the report and I do think it shows how positive attention can be created when these problems are discussed and then the changes that can be made to ensure that treatment is improved for soldiers who have seen high-intensity combat and endured multiple deployments.
Jason was a great interview. One thing is for certain: VFA was the right group to come forward and do this. A point Jason made during the interview about VFA resonates with me. There are several groups who fight for veterans' causes, but few who fight for active servicemembers.
Hopefully, as Jason alluded to in the interview, a lot of good can come out of the report. Eventually, long-term changes will need to be made to ensure that the soldiers at Fort Drum have the best quality of mental health care possible. And I hope, because of VFA's efforts, that will be more likely.