Yeah yeah yeah

Posted By Thomas E. Ricks Thursday, May 13, 2010 - 9:50 AM Share

I see where Michelle Obama is paying attention. Good -- I am glad she stepped up. Now you know who you are can stop e-mailing me, OK? And do keep in mind here that her words were never the issue -- it was the follow-up deeds. Also, I wish she had taken some questions.

I also see that Matt Flavin is moving from doing wounded warrior stuff at the White House over to the Pentagon. Dunno what up with that.

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JPWREL

2:28 PM ET

May 13, 2010

Speaking of wounded warriors

Speaking of wounded warriors there was an interesting article today on the BBC website - http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/8677941.stm - concerning the fact that the incident of PTSD (about 4%) was considerably lower among British troops than American (10—15%)? One possible answer they postulate was that American troops must show harm in order to access free health care where I assume that British troops do not? I suspect some of the difference may be in the statistical methodology but their still is quite a spread. Outside of data manipulation I wonder if there are any tangible differences in training a preparations prior to deployment and support during deployment? My only exposure to this problem is primarily through a repeatedly deployed Navy SEAL son who is somewhat contemptuous of many PTSD claims.

WALKING WOUNDED

6:51 PM ET

May 13, 2010

Brain injury/stroke recovery is better for educated/active minds

Psychological trauma would likewise be mitigated by a trained and highly discipline/strong personality that survives gruelling SF training, and seeks offensive ops with a small elite unit.

Compare the elite to a nineteen year old borderline-ADD NatGuard private, deployed out of basic, who is the prey for enemy command mines, not part of a hunter-sniper team? Really not the same at all; and not surprising if the SEAL just wants the grunt to quit whining and cowboy up.

The co-use of ups, sleeping pills, anti-depressants and SSRI-type drugs, during and after combat stress, has never been properly researched. It is practiced, in a context of extended and chaotic night-day patrol and stand-down cycles that destroy rest-cycle rythms. This war is not drug free in theater, or free of alcohol and drug fallout for the wounded, after demobilization.

JPWREL

7:00 PM ET

May 13, 2010

WW, your comments shed some

WW, your comments shed some light on the matter. As naive as I am I wasn’t aware of the common use of certain drugs by the troops to mitigate depression, sleep depravation, stress, etc. That is a bit of a revelation to me and I wonder what the military’s policy’s are concerning the use of legal drugs?

WALKING WOUNDED

7:42 PM ET

May 13, 2010

Length & # of deployments; the elephant in the family room.

JP, does Navy SF deploys for 7 months, like the USMC fleet cycle? Rangers typically did 3 mo. tours, according to one I know.

The Army's 15-month surge deployments, which only ended last Summer, saw the spike in PTSD and broken marriages that their 12-month deployment doctrine anticipated. My sources near Ft Carson tell me that 80% divorce rates come with the fourth and fifth deployments. Apparently there are enough of those to generate broken family statistics.

Army says that a sustainable rythm for married NCO's is 24 months home for every 12 months deployed. The 2007 counteroffensive went 15/12, and it remains 12/12 for the multi-war infantry today. An Army officer may rise thru company command in his first hitch, and has a different deployment arc than an NCO in a line unit. But even 24 out of 36 months in the war zone, or 36/60, is a recipe for a train wreck for that family, when Johnie comes home.

Is Tom recommending that MichelleO fulfill her campaign promise to families by speaking out in favor of a return to a 2:1 stateside duty dwell time, and all that entails? ( I've mentioned it here at FP before, but given this subject and my nom de plume, I disclaim any personal uniformed service experience.)

JPWREL

9:35 PM ET

May 13, 2010

WW, SEAL teams normally

WW, SEAL teams normally deploy for 6 months, which was always what he previously did with his old team. However since he became an officer he did another deployment that was only 3 months to train with some HQ pending his reporting to his new team and assignment as asst. platoon leader of his new platoon. They seem to like to work in ‘troops’, which are two platoons. He now is doing a ULT for yet another deployment I think scheduled for the end of the year. A lot of SEAL’s have lousy marriages but I think it has to do more with their ‘attitude’ than anything else.

WALKING WOUNDED

11:04 PM ET

May 13, 2010

Bless them all

and bless those who worry and wait for them.

It sounds like Army families are out on their own, in terms of coping with frequent 12 mo deployments for large numbers, in the combat and direct support elements. Obviously the Corp has been faithful, always. But CMC Conway seems to have reverted to 'give us our own battlespace, where we can integrate our arms and match our deployments to the fleet MEU tempo.' (Then there's the USAF... Do UAV wings do 3 mo. squadron deployments to Nellis?)

I never did figure out how we mixed and matched 7 mo USMC battalions into 12 mo Army brigades. Maybe we just thought we'd win every war in the first deployment cycle, and the brigade concept never really allowed for insurgency/occupation?

ADMIRAL

6:46 PM ET

May 13, 2010

Michelle Obama

Mr. Ricks acts like Mrs. Obama is his own personal house slave. Yesm masta Ricks!!!

If Mr. Ricks really cared about military families he would do all he could to help end these evil and stupid wars and bring our brave enlisted people home. They have suffered enough from their own worthless loser officers. It is today´s officers that are wrecking the families of our troops, because they are unable to succeed at anything. Failure is all they are capable of producing.

Look how Stan the asassin spit in the face of Tillman family. Tour after tour to be canon fodder for the latest experiment dreamed up by the mongrel cretans in command.

The US military today has the worst and most selfish officers it has ever had in history. Totally self serving losers that could give a rats ass about the families of our enlisted.

SHEDEVILSISTER

1:36 PM ET

June 4, 2010

Michelle Obama is FULL of HOT AIR!

The ONLY reason M. Obama is talking all the blah, blah, blah about supporting the military is strictly for re-election in 2012. She has NO idea about what is going on and only speaks to pre-screened spouses that will clap and cheer for her. A lot of those spouse are told to go so it will help their spouses military career. Most of them have no-life to begin with and try to wear their active-duty spouses "rank" on their collar.

Yes, I am a USMC vet, a current 2-Blue Star mother..all the children I have :) ...and a military spouse for over 20+ years.