Divorcing the Army

As you probably noticed, I changed my blog title in anticipation of my husband's retirement from the Army.

Gotta keep it relevant, ya know?

I am sure I will keep posting about military and veteran-related issues, as I am starting a new job that I will be recruiting in 40 states, and they LOVE to hire vets!!

Why do I say "divorcing" the army?

Because its due to "irreconciled differences".

PTSD can do a lot to change your feelings about what you are willing or not willing to sacrifice in a job.

I hate that another American Hero has become both a criminal and a victim of relentless and damaging deployments. Yes, I am talking about the soldier that opened fire on 16 Afghani civilians.

It's disgusting that they are talking about the death penalty for this man, as it is OBVIOUS that he was not in his right mind. Who would be? Five deployments do that do a person.

For those of you who don't realize it, World War II, we were involved for 11 months, start to finish.

Vietnam tours of duty were 6 months.

For the past 10+ years, the same soldiers have been sent for 12-18 month deployments, every other year. My husband lost it after 2 deployments. And he is a tough guy, good soldier and great man. But it takes it's toll.

I think the best way we can use this unfortunate situation, is to open a real dialogue about how our soldiers are damaged and how the Army needs to pony up and actually provide enough healthcare for our troops.

When soldiers come home from deployment, they complete a survey, which then, based on their answers, tells them if they need to seek treatment. And no one ever sees these surveys. So they expect these guys to self-diagnose. Then when they go for help, it's often unavailable.

Here at Fort Drum, aka Armpit of the Army...there is a 6 week wait to see a doctor at Behavioral Health. My husband had to fight...mostly with me pushing, to get referred to a therapist off post. Now his psychiatrist, who handles his meds has left, and the new one wants to take him off his medication for anxiety, when PTSD is an anxiety disorder. And she can only see him every 6 weeks. We have put in a referral for an off post psychiatrist. Good medication management is imperative, and the Army has good reason to monitor and restrict medications prescribed on the base. It becomes tracked and logged in to formal reports, and then they will have to acknowledge the true statistics of soldiers who suffer from PTSD or TBI.

It's really sick.

My heart goes out to this man's family. Once they are locked up, their pay stops, and most army wives don't work. I hope he is able to attain good representation for court.

Of course, my heart goes out to the innocent Afghani citizens that were killed as well. Unfortunately, Afghani's are killed every day by accident from the US Army, but you don't see that on the news.

This war needs to end NOW. Let our boys and girls rest.

As if friends and family weren't enough of a reason to clean my house, now the President is coming!

Today I found out that President Obama is expected to show up at Fort Drum on Thursday for our annual "Mountainfest" celebration. It pretty much is like a big barbeque with musical acts. But the news speculates he will speak about the drawdown in Afghanistan. I certainly hope so. The last thing I need right now is the threat of another damn deployment. I am ready to be free and clear of the army, as employer to my husband. At least I have no chance of being deployed, even though I work for them too.

I actually like Obama, which is unusual for a military spouse, as most are staunch republicans. I voted for him. I liked George W and Clinton too, because even if our polical ideologies didn't match, they seemed like funny guys to have a beer with. I know my bipartisan attitude pisses people off...so I will leave it at that. No matter if you like the President or not, it's still the President of the United States. And it's a big deal. I have shaken one President's hand, and seen another from 10 feet away.

So I will be pretty busy this week...I have a bbq at work on Thursday as well, where I have to bring a potluck dish. I have mountains of laundry to put away, bathrooms and carpets to clean and bedding to wash. We have company coming for our vow renewal on Saturday. Being busy is a good thing. It keeps me occupied and less time to dwell on unproductive thoughts.

Home projects, family visits, scary movies, pending weekend trips and work. These are the things that are helping me get through the past month.