#6 Sat in his apartment contemplating his rifle

I spoke with his Sgt. while I was there and he just gave me the "party line" -- we take this seriously, lots of opportunities for counseling... only when I talked to the guys in his company, they tell me that these NCOs talk the talk but got no walk to go with it -- "you can go to counseling any time, just make sure it's not M-W-F when I have meetings or T-Th when we have training... "

or the standard response when you tell him your head is fucked up and you think you need to talk with someone, "everyone's got PTSD... just suck it up and drive on". I'd rattle his cage by going higher up, but for right now the guy has promised to handle some things for Soldier... but to tell you what an ass he is -- Soldier has been in the hospital 10 days AND HE HASN'T BEEN TO SEE HIM ONCE and he won't answer Soldier's phone calls.

and he apparently discourages the platoon from visiting as well 'cause he wants these guys (in the Sgt's words) to realize how serious this is and that they (the soldier with PTSD) are now "out there". I could have reached across the desk and snapped his neck with a flick of my hand at that... and to make the whole situation totally complete, Soldier's girlfriend moved out and has moved on to the next guy...

as a parent I am beside myself with worry. to imagine that your child sat in his apartment contemplating his rifle is more than my heart can bear... and to know that he has been suffering in (relative) silence and that his pleas for help -- from the people who said they would always be there for him -- were ignored and minimized makes ME want to shoot someone. all we can do now is wait and see what the Army decides. He will come here to live with us if the Army discharges him... we have a great VA hospital with a counseling center not too far from here... and he can go to school, get a job... do what he needs to do to get his life (and sanity) back. But it's breaking his heart since the Army was going to be his career...

If he had just gotten the treatment when he was diagnosed 10 months ago, it w/ never have come to this crisis. Soldier says there are many more guys suffering but not getting treatment 'cause they don't want to leave the Army... he said some are now drinking for hours every night and others are "cutters" (into self-mutilation)... most of those that were married are in danger of divorce... it's a mess.

Considering that when Soldier first went to be evaluated for this most recent crisis (back in May/June), the first thing the evaluator said was, "you know if you come in for this treatment, your Army days are over." yeah, that's it. choose the Army or your sanity. so much for the "there is no retaliation if you seek treatment".

I asked Soldier about the pre-deployment and post-deployment screening... he says it's so easy to beat... everyone knows what the answers have to be to avoid getting labeled and being made to undergo counseling that they don't want... he says he never got asked the second set of questions because he came home wounded... he says he was screened when he was in the hospital in Germany and was given a PTSD/anger management anxiety disorder diagnosis... but counseling is voluntary... not mandatory. wonder why that is?