Navy to Weigh Mental Health Status Before Discharging Sailors, Marines

I think I qualify to consider some folks crazy because I have been there. When I talk to folks like that, I just listen then I try to help them, but it's hard to help someone whose mind is running 100 mph in every direction.

SSG Warren Swan - And the folks who are so down, but it gets worse, as they lose their family.

CPT Joseph K Murdock - I'm near Ft. Belvior and I was told to ask the man if I could go back and finish the treatment I was taken out of. I think it was a way for me to get "closure" and finish the process, and also be a mentor of sorts to those who are in there now. The man said no believing it could do more harm than good, but I think these vets would respect one of us coming back and telling them "we've been here, we are here, and here's how we're dealing with this or that". My doc was with 4/25 in Iraq and he is good!. But now he's out, but still doing his business in Mental Health with Soldiers.

I want to do that and have looked, but there has been no "forum" available to me. I's a shame because I have helped others. My focus is working on one symptom at a time.

SSG Warren Swan - Just to be clear, I have never doubted a combat vet, knowingly. If you've been there, you have every right to do what's necessary to recover, if you feel it.

MCPO Roger Collins - Well Master Chief since you brought that up, the nurses in the Navy, I heard are mighty fine....got any recommendations for personal private home care? Preferably 5ft to 5-5, race immaterial, long hair when allowed to wear it down, rank no higher than LCDR, no kids, plans to make admiral someday, but likes to care for those in her ward? Like me?

Sorry I must chime in with real Navy ground combat and other ground experience and I do know how the Navy is handling this.
For one everyone must understand and read the article and I mean the statement that the SECNAV stated. He spoke about the deployments and the stress not just the combat stuff. Now that being said the Navy and Marines do deployments all the time and they are not just combat type deployments. They are Civil Humanitarian OR civil Affairs (CH), Counter Drug OPS and Pirate operations, Disaster Recovery Operations (DR) and The Navy is the main force that conducts the Detainee Operation in Cuba. So as you can see a troop can do one of these for 7-8 months then home port and work up for next mission could be combat back to back or CH mission or DR.

Here is an example personal but is average for my community.
Deploy to Iraq support I MEF in invasion conducted Combat Engineering and support with Marines on the move up and did come in contact several times.
Next back for a 10 month home port then tasked with going to Fallujah to support I MEF again and they took part in Some Security and and some road and route repair working with Army Route clearance. Had other troops working in torn up town clearing and repairing infrastructure and Humanitarian work. That is deployment number 2 in a 4- 5 year tour. Then homeport all over getting ready for next deployment would be Asia. Battalion gets tasked with having to provide 180 personnel to a Detainee Battalion at camp Buca Iraq and others were just training for deploying to sites in Asia. One of the deployments will be a SOF support mission to support SF ODA and Civil Affairs units on Basilan Island PI not the good side of PI they had IEDS and some incoming at times. This is home of Abu Sayyaf. So the Detainee goes go away after they do Battalion Mandatory training FTX and then to Texas for special detainee operation training. That home port battalion does a 3 week FTX graded and then at the end of that FTX get a FRAGO or WARNNING order to task elements to go to Gulf Port MS for a Disaster recovery operation called Task Force Katrina. We had to go back form up 3 recovery teams 120 each and then turn in clean gear and get new gear for operation all of this in 3 days EX-Feld FTX site 4 hrs. from home station and had to refit to go out Left FTX site Thursday Night the 1 Sept. 2005 had to get everything cleaned turned in and form up DRT teams in 3 days and on birds to Gulf port that Monday morning Sept. 5th Sept. 45 days there and back to prep for deployment then a earth quack hit in Pakistan North west frontier and Kashmir and now you have to from a 40 person Recovery Detachment to deploy to Pakistan on top of the other DET sites. Dealing with the same thing as Katrina Body recovery and building searches and clearing and repairs 5 months for this deployment.

Sorry so long but this is just one unit and one tour of duty that has repeated itself some what for all Seabees. This is just the Bees but Marines are doing the same type missions as we work together. As you can see it is the stress of all of it being exposed to combat and human carnage form war or Natural Disaster and even working in 3rd world countries doing HA work can all take there toll.

This is what the NECC/NSW and I believe Marines are doing. After our Deployment to AFG 2012-13 homeport it was mandated that everyone go to the same mental health doctor that was assigned from NECC and would work out of NCR regiment Higher HQ Staff. This was everyone from CO down and they had to get signed off the list. This is what is happening now after every deployment they will be seen by same doctor and or same office so records will be kept for continuity and this was separate from base mental health. So no matter deployment Combat, Civil Humanitarian and or Disaster Recovery and I forgot mission other than war this does not happen all the time but can

During my career on subs, there were many life threatening events, casualties and being hunted by not so nice adversaries to the point we surfaced with torpedo doors open ready to fire. There were years that I had dreams about my boat going down. At that time, if they had been as expansive as now, I would have been considered as having a mental problem. All that went away with time. Point being, seeing death and destruction up and personal is quite different. I can't even look at injuries in a car accident, let alone a compatriot or anyone blown to pieces. Many can manage that some can not. Civilians can get PTSD for many of the same things, they are cared for by way of normal healthcare. Our people rate VA assistance, and that is appropriate. All others are handled as regs require. We toss people out for mental reasons, but that doesn't mean that they have PTSD. As I recall, 52% of the claimants had not been near combat.