Army Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Peter Chiarelli said  Tuesday that violent sex crimes and domestic violence have increased more than  30 percent since 2006 and child abuse by 43 percent. Chiarelli was releasing  a 200-page report on the health of the troops and the Army’s efforts to address  the problem.

It said that 278 soldiers in the active duty, Guard  and Reserve committed suicide in the budget year ended in September, compared to  304 the previous fiscal year.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/01/19/army-report-suicides-down-but-violent-crimes-up/#ixzz1kbbtHQgi

WASHINGTON (AP) — Michelle Obama has gotten a new commitment from medical schools to boost training and research for the treatment of veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health injuries.

The initiative is part of the first lady’s Joining Forces `campaign, which focuses on issues affecting veterans and their families.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_MICHELLE_OBAMA_VETERANS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Women Veterans Face New Risk Factors

Nov 10, 2011

http://www.va.gov/opa/pressrel/pressrelease.cfm?id=2203

By: Mike Reid

Mike Reid, left, is shown with his father after returning from one of his deployments to Iraq. Reid grew up in the Harrisburg area and served in the Army for six years. He now lives in Georgia and works as a personal trainer

The most important thing to know about me is what I was doing during the years 2002 to 2008. In that time, I became “Army Strong” and spent nearly three of those years in Iraq.

It’s never made clear exactly what the Army slogan “Army Strong” means. I believe that I have the most accurate and truthful interpretation of what it stands for, and it has nothing to do with the commercials you see daily.

America’s service members feel the need to end their own lives at an alarming rate. It’s time we started talking about this, not to mention the increased amount of domestic violence and child abuse.

The armed forces suicide rate is double the national average. More American troops committed suicide in 2009 than died in combat in Afghanistan that same year: That is 381 suicides compared to 319 combat deaths. The statistic alone should make your stomach turn.

Those 381 suicides are spread among all four branches of the military — Army, Air Force, Marines and Navy — although 162 of them were Army soldiers. The military doesn’t count the suicides from Reservists or National Guard personnel, only active duty.

In 2010, the Army suicide number jumped up to 245, more than half of the 434 suicides militarywide. In 2011, just through the month of May, the number was already at 163 for the Army alone. The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs says roughly 600 military and former military personnel take their own lives each year.

Now, try to stomach this one. For every suicide in the military, at least five more service members are hospitalized for attempting to kill themselves.

The question on almost everybody’s mind is, what is causing all of these American troops to do this?

FULL ARTICLE AT: http://blog.pennlive.com/editorials/print.html?entry=/2011/07/culture_of_stress_what_are_ser.html

Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., will close down at the end of the month, ending a century of service to the military.

Officials held a ceremony marking the closure last week, and the hospital’s patients and services will be transferred to other military facilities in the next few weeks. The move was ordered by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission in 2005 as part of the military’s consolidation efforts. Many services will be transferred to the new Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, which is scheduled to open next month at the site of the Navy’s hospital in Bethesda, Md.

The best-known medical facility, Walter Reed has a long legacy. It has treated everyone from rank-and-file soldiers to sitting presidents. The quality of the medical care has been top notch, and the facility has become particularly well-known for its work in prosthetics.

However, the facility’s reputation was tarnished in 2007, after a Washington Post series detailed how wounded troops recovering at the hospital were facing terrible living conditions. That led to quick changes in the way the Army handles and treats wounded soldiers.

The importance of quality care for the troops cannot be overlooked. More than 2 million Americans have served in the current wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the country has a responsibility to take care of those who were wounded during service.

FULL ARTICLE AT: http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/aug/01/federal-government-has-responsibility-take-care-na/