TSO wrote a short article the other day that got me to thinking. And when that happens, regular readers know I sometimes tend to wander off the beaten path a bit.
Yeah, you’re right – your luck ran out. I’m about to go on another walkabout. (smile)
But this time, it’s not about music.
Chief Tango sends us a link to Federal News Radio which discusses veterans who go to work for the Federal Government after their service. Chief Tango thought that the article was “up my alley” since I went to work for the National Archives for nearly 15 years after I retired. The article says that about 30% of federal workers are veterans keeping with President Obama’s direction to the feds five years ago. the article quotes our buddy, Brandon “Beeker” Friedman;
Friedman said he wonders whether the military is doing enough to prepare vets for the world of civilian employment, and what role that might play in the veteran discontent the survey uncovered.
“Veterans are used to a very structured environment; they’re used to having their leaders mentor them and take care of them in ways that you don’t often find in the private sector and sometimes in government,” he said. “They’re also used to taking charge of situations — leading people. And a lot of times, those opportunities aren’t there [in government].”
The problem, as I saw it, wasn’t that veterans aren’t prepared for civilian job markets, it’s that civilians aren’t prepared for veterans. My supervisors had no problem telling me that “all veterans are crazy”, the woman who told me that wasn’t kidding. Of course, they had a Vietnam veteran in the office who liked that image and cashed in on it and that reinforced the false image.
Supervisors also disregarded my leadership abilities that I’d used with some effect in the military when it came to advancement. They consistently promoted people who were good editors who couldn’t lead a horse to grain, hoping that they’d learn someday. There were 60 people in my agency, about double of the number I’d led in combat, but no one could effectively ride herd on those people.
Don’t get me wrong, I thoroughly enjoyed my time at the Federal Register. I liked the steady paycheck, I liked that they trusted me enough to telework, I liked the benefit package which I now enjoy in my retirement. I like the fact that I worked in West Virginia while my office was 150 miles away in DC. In that regard, the work ethic that we have in the military, greatly benefits the feds and works to our advantage, but I feel that the agency missed an opportunity by not using my leadership skills in their office.
Again, although it impacts veterans’ careers, the fact that the civilians think we’re all nutty drill sergeant types, the feds suffer from that most in the end. Of course, my job was largely clerical in nature, as a technical writer, the experiences of those who go into the law enforcement side of government may have a different experience with their co-workers than my experience.
Our buddy, Alex Horton says in the article;
“Everyone loves and supports the troops,” Horton said. “But then, when people become a veteran, there’s like this weird dichotomy. When you wore the uniform you’re a hero, and you’re selfless and you’re brave and all that. Then, when you take it off, you’re broken, or you’re suffering from PTSD.”
Like I said, that’s the civilians’ problem not ours. We’re fine. They need to step away from the movie and TV image of veterans and look at the individuals instead.
Beretverde sends a link from CBS News that reports the Army Study to Assess Risk and Resilience in Servicemembers (Army STARRS) finds that 1-in-5 new recruits to the Army had mental problems before they enlisted and that 1-in-10 had contemplated suicide before they joined.
“Some of the differences in disorder rates are truly remarkable,” said Ronald Kessler, McNeil Family Professor of Health Care Policy at Harvard Medical School and senior author of the paper on mental disorder prevalence. “The rate of major depression is five times as high among soldiers as civilians, intermittent explosive disorder six times as high, and PTSD nearly 15 times as high.”
Nearly 60 percent of solider suicide attempts were traced to pre-enlistment mental disorders, which are acutely more common among non-deployed U.S. Army soldiers than demographically similar portions of the general population, according to the study.
Well, since we already know that the majority of suicides were among soldiers who hadn’t deployed, this kind of explains it. But TAH has been saying it for years. Just last year we said it at least twice. While dumbasses were telling us it was guns and SGLI that caused it. Even though the ‘experts’ wanted to disarm the troops.
At Stars & Stripes, they report that a lawsuit was filed by five Vietnam veterans because their bad conduct discharges haven’t been upgraded by the military since the addition of PTS to medical diagnosis.
“When I was in high school, I worked at the VA (Veterans Administration) hospital in the kitchen as a dishwasher. But after I came home from Vietnam, I couldn’t even get my job back as a dishwasher because of my bad paper,” said plaintiff Conley Monk. “My discharge status has been a lifetime scar. If I were discharged today, my PTSD would be recognized and treated — and I wouldn’t be punished for having a service-connected medical condition.”
Well, if these five fellows were actually Vietnam veterans, and if they did actually suffer from PTS, I hope they get what they want. But, the reason I’m so jaded about their actual service is because the person who is sticking up for them in the article isn’t;
“Tens of thousands of brave and honorable Vietnam veterans with post-traumatic stress have been doubly injured by the black mark of an other than honorable discharge, resulting in unjustly denied support, services and benefits,” said U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn. “These heroic veterans are long overdue present day appreciation of modern mental health in the timely review of their discharge upgrade appeals.”
Yes, THAT Senator Blumenthal who pretended to be a Vietnam veterans for years, and who the people of Connecticut sent to the Senate any-damn-way. If those five fellows are who they say they are, they should be running away from Blumenthal at lightspeed.
Believe it or not, ABC News did this interview that they set us, with former President Bush and Marine veteran Jacob Wood as they discuss their plan for helping veterans reintegrate into the US (Editor’s Note: Yahoo is stingy with their videos, but you can see it at the link above).
Bush said he takes inspiration today from the resilience of hundreds of veterans he’s met over the years who’ve overcome post-war trauma and injuries to lead productive lives. He pointed to the example of Dan Gade, a veteran who resolved to conquer his handicap as a one-legged amputee so that he could once again play Legos with his young daughter. Gade has since been able to ride a mountain bike alongside the former president.
“I said to Gade, ‘I’m sorry you got your leg blown off,’” Bush recalled. “He said, ‘I’d do it again.’ There’s no self-pity, no ‘woe is me.’ It is, ‘I’m going to continue to live life to the fullest.’”
Bush was joined by Marine Corps veteran Jacob Wood, who is collaborating with the former president on his Military Service Initiative. After returning from service in the Iraq and Afghanistan, Wood co-founded Team Rubicon, an organization that employs veterans in disaster relief efforts. He said it was significant that Bush is showing leadership within the post-9/11 veteran community.
Rather than read my pointless blather, go read the rest of the interview.
I saw Concerned Veterans for America CEO Pete Hegseth on Fox this morning talking about a recording of a meeting at Veterans’ Affairs in which they discussed a solution to their serious backlog of veterans’ claims. That solution was to toss records, because they were beginning to look bad, according to a whistleblower, Oliver Mitchell, also a former Marine, as reported at The Daily Caller;
VA Greater Los Angeles Radiology department chief Dr. Suzie El-Saden initiated an “ongoing discussion in the department” to cancel exam requests and destroy veterans’ medical files so that no record of the exam requests would exist, thus reducing the backlog, Mitchell said.
Audio from a November 2008 meeting obtained by TheDC depicts VA Greater Los Angeles officials plotting to cancel backlogged exam requests.
“I’m still canceling orders from 2001,” said a male official in the meeting.
“Anything over a year old should be canceled,” replied a female official.
“Canceled or scheduled?” asked the male official.
“Canceled. … Your backlog should start at April ’07,” the female official replied, later adding, ”a lot of those patients either had their studies somewhere else, had their surgery … died, don’t live in the state. … It’s ridiculous.”
Here’s the recording;
When Mitchell blew the whistle on the operation, he was transferred to another department. The VA OIG simply made the department aware of Mitchell’s complaint instead of taking appropriate action. When Mitchell went to Congress with his complaint, he was fired from the DVA. Mitchell claims that the practice was not only a local problem, but rather a nationwide solution to the DVA’s backlog problem.
Here’s Pete Hegseth on the issue at about 3:50 into the video;
Here’s the second increment of Wesley’s work. Once again: high quality stuff. (If you missed the first part, it follow this link to read it.)
You might want to grab a tissue before you start reading. However, if your family has suffered a recent loss, or you’re having a particularly bad day – maybe you might want to read it later. Ditto if you have blood pressure issues and are having a bad day on that front.
And Wesley – consider talking to Jonn about becoming a contributor to TAH. Your work really is damned good.
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Wesley Wilson – who comments here as “Enigma4you” – has asked me to post this article on his behalf if I “felt it has merit”.
Yeah, Wesley, it has merit – it’s damned good. I’ve told Wesley I think that he should ask Jonn for an account, and post occasional articles as his time and circumstances permit.
Without further ado, here’s Wesley’s article. I think you’ll like it.
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