Last night I watched President Obama's press conference and was happy to see him take a question from a Stars & Stripes reporter (not your typical mainstream newspaper for sure). He was asked to comment concerning the many defense related costs in upcoming budgets, given the relative importance of each in relation to support to personnel. I was interested in his comments concerning veterans…specifically: “Unfortunately, over the last several years, all too often the VA has been under-resourced when it comes to dealing with things like post-traumatic stress disorder or traumatic brain injury, and dealing with some of the backlogs in admission to VA hospitals,”
Several high ranking Army officers have recently come forward to discuss openly the personal mental stress they each encountered following combat duty in Iraq or Afghanistan. Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects all, regardless of rank.
Unfortunately there seem to be some in the military who still fail to recognize this fact, and often discount or totally overlook PTSD related issues, some involving conduct. I personally hope this trend is erased quickly, and that veterans receive all the care needed as it relates to PTSD. It's real, recognize that and deal with it. Our President seems to be oriented that way and that's good.
