Filner Advocates 'De-Boot Camp' for GIs

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Filner Advocates 'De-Boot Camp' for GIs
November 22, 2008
The Washington Post

A key House leader is proposing to establish a "de-boot camp," where returning service members would undergo mandatory diagnosis for brain injuries and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in order to reduce instances of domestic violence and suicide.

Rep. Bob Filner, chairman of the House Veterans' Affairs Committee, said Wednesday he will lobby the Obama administration for the de-boot camp and other new initiatives for service members returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as veterans from the Vietnam era.

"There were more suicides (postwar) by Vietnam veterans than those who died in the war. We cannot make the same mistakes again. Mental illness is an injury that has to be dealt with," Mr. Filner said during an editorial board at The Washington Times. "We all have to understand what they are facing. We all have to understand PTSD."

The California Democrat said he wants the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to reduce a backlog of claims by granting all claims made by Vietnam veterans who say they suffer illnesses from exposure to the defoliant Agent Orange.

He said he also advocates a "radical" new approach to veterans health care that would allow veterans living in rural areas to have more choices to access health care, even private alternatives, rather than travel hundreds of miles to veterans hospitals.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/filner-advocates-deboot-camp-for-gis.html?col=1186032310810