[/caption]"These brave men and women - who are not only professional soldiers, but also our
neighbors, co-workers, friends and family - have sacrificed so much for
us and for our nation,"said Leahy, underlining the request for additional funds to help prevent suicides.
In recent years there has been an uptick in suicides in the military, that experts tell us is directly related to the stresses of combat in the Middle East. For that reasonU.S. Senators Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Lindsey Graham
(R-S.C.), and others are asking for mental health funds.
These two chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus, are urging
the U.S. Army to do more to help National Guard troops cope with the
stresses of combat. The call comes with the release of new Army figures
showing a large increase in suicides among Guard soldiers over the past
year. The Army's year-end statistics, released last week, show that
confirmed or suspected suicides among National Guard soldiers rose to
more than 100 in 2010 - more than double those in 2009. Leahy and
Graham argue that the grim findings reveal that the Army must improve
the support it provides for Guard troops.
Leahy continued, "Offering them adequate treatment
for post-combat wounds - the ones we can see and also the ones we can't -
is the very least they deserve."
"The stresses
accompanying deployments are often times increased with National Guard
members because of the lack of access to active duty infrastructure,"
said Graham. "Many of our Guard members come from rural areas without
traditional Department of Defense programs available to other military
families. We have never needed the Guard more than we do today. And
quite frankly, the Guard deserves better from our nation in terms of
counseling and support than we have provided."
Graham and
Leahy note that since 9/11, the rate of deployment of Guard troops has
dramatically increased. Members of the National Guard face the same
dangers and psychological stresses as active-duty troops when they are
deployed overseas. They experience everything from IED blasts, which
often cause traumatic brain injury, to combat-related PTSD, to losing
their friends in battle - all factors that might drive them to consider
suicide. But unlike their active duty counterparts, Guard troops often
live far away from the support of military bases and may not have PTSD
or psychological counseling readily available.
While the Army
and Marine Corps made progress last year in reducing the number of
suicides among active duty service members, the number of suicides among
Guard and Reserve soldiers increased. The senators said the Army must
look for ways to improve its mental health support programs for Guard
troops and reservists just as it has done for active-duty troops. Leahy
and Graham echoed General Peter Chiarelli,
the Army Vice Chief of Staff, who agrees that more must be done to
monitor and support Guard and Reserve soldiers, including improving
their access to marriage and family counseling and substance-abuse
treatment. Leahy and Graham said the Senate National Guard Caucus will
look at these and other ways to make sure Guard troops are receiving all
the mental health support they need and deserve.
Graham and Leahy co-chair the Senate's more than 85-member National Guard Caucus.
