Report faults mental health care for Drum GIs

[unhappycamper]

Report faults mental health care for Drum GIs
By William Kates - The Associated Press
Posted : Wednesday Feb 13, 2008 19:29:16 EST

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — More than six years after the military began combat operations in the Middle East, the Army is still failing to provide its soldiers in the 10th Mountain Division with adequate mental health services at Fort Drum, according to a report released Wednesday by an advocacy organization.

The report by the Washington, D.C.-based Veterans for America cited problems with understaffing, a reliance on questionnaires to identify soldiers in need of treatment and a prevailing attitude at the company level that treats mental health issues in an atmosphere of secrecy, shame and doubt.

Some soldiers “in fact wait up to two months before a single appointment can be scheduled. In short, access to care for our returning warriors at Fort Drum is woefully inadequate,” according to the report, titled “Fort Drum: A Great Burden, Inadequate Assistance.”

“Sooner or later, and likely sooner, we’re going to hit the wall and something will have to change,” said Bobby Muller, a former Marine who served in Vietnam and founded the organization, formerly called Vietnam Veterans of America. “Simple morality and decency demand a change. We cannot continue taking such gross advantage of those who have offered themselves in service to our country.”

The report was based on interviews with a dozen Fort Drum soldiers and mental health providers at the northern New York Army post.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/02/ap_drummentalhealth_080213/