Sunday, February 28, 2010
Military Picture of the Week
From a friend's brother's pictures of his trip to Paris, taken in 2009 at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Some fitness standards needed in the French military, perhaps?
Thursday, February 25, 2010
US Military Affirms Focus on Mental Health
Military Leads Mental Health Care Transformation
By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2010 – The United States is in the middle of a “cultural transformation” in mental health treatment led by the Defense Department and the military services, the department’s top mental health expert told a congressional panel today.
Mental health resilience “is fundamentally underlying everything we do,” Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Loree K. Sutton told the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Sutton, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, testified along with Dr. Ira Katz, chief of the Veterans Affairs Department’s mental health services, during a committee hearing on suicide prevention.
In 2009, there were 312 confirmed suicides among servicemembers, of which 26 were in the reserve components, according to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, Sutton said in testimony submitted to the committee. The data shows those particularly at risk were white men younger than 25, with a rank at or below E-4 who were divorced and had not graduated from high school. Other common factors, as mirrored in the private sector, included substance abuse, relationships, legal or financial problems.
Read the whole piece here.
By Lisa Daniel
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, Feb. 24, 2010 – The United States is in the middle of a “cultural transformation” in mental health treatment led by the Defense Department and the military services, the department’s top mental health expert told a congressional panel today.
Mental health resilience “is fundamentally underlying everything we do,” Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Loree K. Sutton told the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Sutton, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, testified along with Dr. Ira Katz, chief of the Veterans Affairs Department’s mental health services, during a committee hearing on suicide prevention.
In 2009, there were 312 confirmed suicides among servicemembers, of which 26 were in the reserve components, according to the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System, Sutton said in testimony submitted to the committee. The data shows those particularly at risk were white men younger than 25, with a rank at or below E-4 who were divorced and had not graduated from high school. Other common factors, as mirrored in the private sector, included substance abuse, relationships, legal or financial problems.
Read the whole piece here.
Monday, February 22, 2010
A Canadian Casualty in Afghanistan, Feb 12
It wasn't until yesterday in church that I learned of the death of Corporal Joshua Caleb Baker, killed in a training accident in Afghanistan on Friday, February 12th. Poor kid, between the Vancouver Olympics and the scandal over Canadian Forces Colonel Russell Williams, I wonder how many others didn't learn of your passing.
Cpl. Baker was 24 years old, and was a reservist, serving with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, also known as the Fourth Battalion of the Princess Patricia Regiment. The "Loyal Eddies" as they are fondly known have a proud reputation in the Canadian army, going back to the battle of Ortona in Italy in 1942. Like my former battalion, 4RCR, they are one of several reserve regiments which form the fourth battalion of the three Regular Force infantry regiments.
Cpl. Baker was the 140th Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan. According to CBC News, Baker's death was not combat-related. He was killed on a shooting range near Kandhar, and four others were injured in the incident. I don't wish to speculate on how the accident occurred, but I have watched soldiers moving through live-fire ranges and while it is a controlled environment, it is not without danger. It is also vital that soldiers acquire the experience of handling and firing live weapons in all kinds of circumstances in order to be effective on the battlefield.
Cpl. Baker's body returned to Trenton, ON, on Monday, February 15th. Rest eternal grant unto him, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon him.
Cpl. Baker was 24 years old, and was a reservist, serving with the Loyal Edmonton Regiment, also known as the Fourth Battalion of the Princess Patricia Regiment. The "Loyal Eddies" as they are fondly known have a proud reputation in the Canadian army, going back to the battle of Ortona in Italy in 1942. Like my former battalion, 4RCR, they are one of several reserve regiments which form the fourth battalion of the three Regular Force infantry regiments.
Cpl. Baker was the 140th Canadian soldier to be killed in Afghanistan. According to CBC News, Baker's death was not combat-related. He was killed on a shooting range near Kandhar, and four others were injured in the incident. I don't wish to speculate on how the accident occurred, but I have watched soldiers moving through live-fire ranges and while it is a controlled environment, it is not without danger. It is also vital that soldiers acquire the experience of handling and firing live weapons in all kinds of circumstances in order to be effective on the battlefield.
Cpl. Baker's body returned to Trenton, ON, on Monday, February 15th. Rest eternal grant unto him, O Lord, and may light perpetual shine upon him.
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Mad Padre
Opinions expressed within are in no way the responsibility of anyone's employers or facilitating agencies and should by rights be taken as nothing more than one person's notional musings, attempted witticisms, and prayerful posturings.