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Top military man wants better PTSD screening
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen's call Wednesday for each returning combat veteran, from privates to generals, to be screened for post-traumatic stress disorder by a mental health professional brought to mind an exclusive sit-down I had with him in 2006.
Mullen was then chief of naval operations, the nation's highest-ranking sailor. He was in stopped in town for Seafair and met with me one morning at the Westin.
PTSD was very much on his mind then, and he spoke of being sensitized through the poor treatment in that regard of his generation's Vietnam veterans. Mullen added that his wife, after visiting a group of local fleet family support people, reported back to him that PTSD was also an issue with them.
In some of my notes from the cutting from floor that never made it into that short story, Mullen cited progress with handling the "psychological challenges" among Marines, SEALs, Seabees and other sailors who had engaged in ground combat.
But he wasn't satisfied.
"That said, I still believe I have some work to do to get this right, to address the broader view to institutionalize all of this to make sure the transition to and from the theater is institutionalized. I have given direction and guidance to all of this; we're just not there yet."
Mullen vowed at the time that health and psychological care for combat veterans would remain a priority while he was CNO.
Good to see he has kept his commitment as the nation's chief military man.
Posted by Mike Barber at October 16, 2008 5:48 a.m.
Categories: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pentagon and the White House, Veterans, Vietnam
Mullen was then chief of naval operations, the nation's highest-ranking sailor. He was in stopped in town for Seafair and met with me one morning at the Westin.
PTSD was very much on his mind then, and he spoke of being sensitized through the poor treatment in that regard of his generation's Vietnam veterans. Mullen added that his wife, after visiting a group of local fleet family support people, reported back to him that PTSD was also an issue with them.
In some of my notes from the cutting from floor that never made it into that short story, Mullen cited progress with handling the "psychological challenges" among Marines, SEALs, Seabees and other sailors who had engaged in ground combat.
But he wasn't satisfied.
"That said, I still believe I have some work to do to get this right, to address the broader view to institutionalize all of this to make sure the transition to and from the theater is institutionalized. I have given direction and guidance to all of this; we're just not there yet."
Mullen vowed at the time that health and psychological care for combat veterans would remain a priority while he was CNO.
Good to see he has kept his commitment as the nation's chief military man.
Posted by Mike Barber at October 16, 2008 5:48 a.m.
Categories: Afghanistan, Iraq, Pentagon and the White House, Veterans, Vietnam
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