The Director of National Security James Clapper has agreed to change the National Security Questionnaire to protect victims of sexual assault. This questionnaire contained a question that asked about an applicant’s counseling history. Prior to this announcement, applicants who had received counseling for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) were able to answer “no” to this question, but those who had received counseling for military sexual assault still were required to answer yes. This announcement came just one day after a panel […]
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After leaving the service, many female veterans find themselves facing a number of challenges leading to homelessness. These challenges include unemployment, underemployment, lack of affordable family housing, poverty, and lack of programs to meet their specific needs. Experts who work with these female veterans state that these challenges can be greater for women who have experienced the trauma of military sexual abuse (the Service Women’s Action Network or SWAN has a legal and social service helpline at 1-888-729-2089 or [email protected]). […]
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The Fayetteville State University’s Collaborative Institute for Interprofessional Education and Practice opened on March 13, 2013. Through collaboration with the FSU Department of Nursing, Departments of social work and psychology, and the FSU/ Fort Bragg Veteran’s Center, this program will focus on the biopsychosocial health of military personnel, veterans, and their families. Sheila Cannon, Ph.D., Clinical Director for the Institute, will be presenting more information about this program at the North Carolina Focus on Veterans, Servicemembers, and Their Families meeting […]
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Civilian furloughs due to budget cuts required by sequestration will affect the availability and access to Army behavioral health care states Colonel Rebecca Porter, Chief of Army Behavioral Healthcare. Currently, civilians make up about 60% of Army medical providers, which includes more than half of the 4,500 behavioral health providers. Colonel Porter stated that the Army is looking at a variety of ways to address this problem, including requesting exemptions for some civilian providers, and utilizing active duty medical providers […]
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The Department of Defense (DoD) has chosen Fort Bragg as one of thirteen sites for the Healthy Base Initiative pilot. This one-year pilot project aims to increase the health and wellness of servicemembers, civilians, and their family members, targeting a number of health issues including nutrition, weight, and tobacco use. Starting in April, each installation will be assessed on a number of factors, including healthy commissary offerings, ease of exercising, and choices for healthy meals. Outcome information from the pilot […]
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New research from the Pentagon’s brain repository research center finds that mild traumatic brain injuries (mTBI) may be linked to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and suicide. Dan Perl, M.D., neuropathologist and lead investigator states, “What these papers say to me is that there is something to TBI, and particularly military TBI, producing specific abnormalities in the brain that lead to more vulnerability to PTSD and to suicide.” This research is consistent with research by the National Center for Veterans Studies, […]
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A series of programs and initiatives designed to reduce suicides is showing success at Fort Bliss, and may provide a promising model to initiate across military branches. Army Maj. Gen. Dana J.H. Pittard, Fort Bliss commander, attributes a 30% drop in suicides to a comprehensive approach that focuses on suicide prevention, risk reduction, and resilience, creating what he calls a “culture of seeking help.” This approach began in 2010 with the launch of the “No Preventable Soldier Deaths” campaign, an […]
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On March 1, 2013, the North Carolina Guard’s Joint Force Headquarters released a new specialty license plate titled, “In God We Trust.” Two-thirds of the sales proceeds from the new plate will go to The Soldiers and Airmen Assistance Fund, a non-profit that provides financial assistance to Army and Air Guard families coping with unusual or unpreventable hardships. Read more…
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In a recent study of U.S. soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mild traumatic brain injury found measureable abnormalities in the white matter of their brains. Researcher, and senior study author Ricardo Jorge, M.D., University of Iowa professor of psychiatry, states, “In the military population we studied, patients with TBI have more alterations, sometimes called ‘potholes,’ in the white matter of their brains than patients without a history of TBI,” and that “The more severe the injury, the more […]
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A new five-year study at New York University’s medical school has researchers looking for biological signals, known as biomarkers, that could provide reliable, objective evidence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). Researchers hope to recruit 1500 participants, with the ultimate goal developing inexpensive tests for PTSD and TBI. A similar study, which is seeking to identify PTSD biomarkers, is underway at Fort Bragg. Experts state that the lack of reliable markers for PTSD and mild TBI […]
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