New Mental Health Policy Came Days Before Fort Hood Shooting
Three days before a shooting rampage that left a dozen dead and more than 30 wounded at Fort Hood in Texas, the base commander, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, issued a new mental health policy aimed at reducing the stigma associated with mental health counseling and encouraging soldiers to seek help, according to a copy of the document obtained by U.S. News.
Mental health issues have come to the forefront at the Pentagon because of the stress of repeated deployments over the past eight years with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Soldiers face a far different daily life when they return home, but are often haunted by their experiences in combat. As a consequence, mental health counseling at the nation's various military posts has become increasingly important.
"This policy change recognizes that, as a nation at war, soldiers' well-being must be given the highest priority," according to the two-page document dated November 2. "Commanders shall lead the way in promoting strong behavioral health at Fort Hood by publicizing this policy change." The policy memo orders unit commanders to "actively encourage soldiers to seek professional care for any behavioral health related issues that could affect their well-being."
Another section of the policy stressed that soldiers undergoing mental health counseling related to "marital, family and grief issues, and counseling for adjustments from service in a military combat environment" would not have that fact held against them when they apply for security clearances. Soldiers, airmen, and marines sometimes cite confusion about what can and cannot be considered in the security clearance process as a reason not to seek counseling for ailments like post-traumatic stress disorder.
Read the full mental health policy here.
Reader Comments
what wisdom is this
as an outsider looking at america as it is today I cannot understand why your military allows anyone of islamic faith to inlist to defend america from other fellow moslems in other other parts of the world.What wisdom is this??
Give the troops what need NOW
Proof that we have to FINISH IT in Afghanistan.only the most naive fools will continue to just wish for peace.As history teaches peace comes after the military victory-only then will you safely dream with both eyes closed.
Fort Hood
Many, many questions yet to be answered. If the shooter survives, maybe he will supply some although it is evident that as a Jordanian by descent and Muslim he is adamantly against the US war against terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan. He made it plain he did not want to deploy and maybe wanted out of the Army. I heard that because the Army had a lot of money invested in his education that was one of the reasons his requests were denied. If so, it was an expensive decision--lots of our national treasure gone. And why was he shipped to Fort Hood from Walter Reed if he had a poor-performance evaluation. Top-notch people should be at Fort Hood. (Incidentally, Army posts are "Posts," not "Bases.") He apparently planned to do the shooting if his deployment became certain. If there are a lot of soldiers and other military of Muslim faith, is it out of line for these individuals to be questioned to be sure they can separate the faithful from the radical. Another question for me is: why are weapons such as the "cop-killer" available for purchase by anyone and are the gun dealers required to report such purchases and if they are not, should they be? No, I am not in favor of gun control, but this weapon is really scary. Another thing, as a psychiatrist I would think his duty assignment would be to a hospital--it seems the likelihood that he would have to shoot another Muslim would be rather remote.
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