Army blasted for letting drug abusers slide

[babylonsister]

Army blasted for letting drug abusers slide

By Gregg Zoroya, USA TODAY


WASHINGTON — Army commanders are failing to punish or seek treatment for a growing number of soldiers who test positive for substance abuse, possibly because they don't want to lose any more combat troops, the Army's vice chief of staff has warned.

In a May 8 memo to commanders provided to USA TODAY, Gen. Peter Chiarelli said hundreds of soldiers involved in "substance abuse-related misconduct (including multiple positive urinalyses)" were not processed for possible discharge. He also noted that many are not referred to the Army Substance Abuse Program for help.

What "worries me the most is that commanders feel a requirement to keep their numbers up" for combat deployments, Chiarelli said in a meeting with top staff officers Monday. He said non-commissioned officers told him this during visits to six Army installations recently to examine strain on soldiers and address the record number of suicides in the Army.

He says identifying and treating substance abuse will help improve the Army's mental health care and curb suicides, which reached a record 142 confirmed or suspected cases in 2008.
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He found many cases where soldiers tested positive for substance more than once, Chiarelli wrote in the memo.

At one installation where about a thousand soldiers screened positive by urinalysis, 373 had failed the same drug test in the past, in some cases up to seven times, says Brig Gen. Colleen McGuire, head of the Army's Suicide Prevention Task Force. Other installations reported similar numbers, she says.

"I am asking you to ensure that soldiers are provided the help that they need when they need it," he told commanders in the memo, "and that regulatory requirements regarding the referral and initiation of separation processing of substance abusers are enforced."

more...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/military/2009-05-20-drug_N.htm?csp=34

[billyoc]

1. Damn, I did 6 months on the rockpile for the same thing.

[KharmaTrain]

2. Symptoms Of War...

Is this surprising? Surely not to those of us from the Vietnam generation. What else is there to do with you live "Groundhogs Day" in one of the most desolate places on the planet. Lots of hours of hours...in the middle of hostile territory. Alcohol is the usual "way out", but drugs aren't far behing...any high will do.

Our military is all but forgotten these days...bogged down in two wars that have no real end game other than holding the status quo. It's stretched the military to its limits and put a lot of strains on soldiers (especially those who've had to endure several tours). No surprise there's a rise in drug use and other escapes. The big concern will be once they return here...many will carry that habit the rest of their lives (many cut short for that reason).

:hi:

[saigon68]

4. And the VA won't do a Fucking Thing to help them

A bad discharge will see to that.

The modern equivalent of Patton slapping the guy with PTSD

[KharmaTrain]

6. Here's Hoping We've Come A Little Bit...

I can't argue with you...especially in light of the Walter Reed scandals of a couple years ago. My father served in the Army Medical corp during wWII and talked about all the homemade stills units had and the big black market of prescription drugs and pain killers. Many suffered "shell shock" that wasn't treated and barely understood. The same for Korea and Vietnam. It wasn't until the last 20 years that this issue has gotten some, but not enough attention.

If there's one lesson of Vietnam I hope this country learns is that a war doesn't end when the bullets top flying. Many relive that war for the rest of their lives and we must be prepared to help these people for the sacrafices they've made. Now do politicians and beaurucrats feel the same way??

[saigon68]

11. Thx for your insight

In 1969, Lieutenant Bobby Muller led an assault up a hill in Vietnam until a bullet hit his back and severed his spinal cord. Miraculously, Muller survived. But the real misery didn’t begin until Muller returned to the United States and was confined to a decrepit veteran’s hospital. During his first year, eight people on his ward committed suicide. His experiences there led him to become a leading advocate for veterans’ rights.

http://www.speaktruth.org/defend/profiles/profile_18.asp


http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bobby_Muller

[Hubert Flottz]

7. "(especially those who've had to endure several tours)"

When you look back at the number of drug users/addicts who came back from one year in Viet Nam and then you think about the soldiers today doing several tours in Iraq and Afghanistan, this is no surprise. Then think about the military doctors who prescribe gateway drugs to the troops in the field so that they can cope with the extra stress.

I blame the people who put the troops in harm's way for extended periods of time, more than I'd blame the troops. Couple that with the fact that the troops are not so stupid that they don't realize that the war in Iraq was a mistake based on lies. A war that didn't have to be. Morale has got to be at an all time low. The GOP has misused, abused and ravaged the military. I don't blame the soldiers...I pity them. I still remember that bitter, boxed in, lonely, helpless, no way out feeling!

[KharmaTrain]

8. Beautifully Stated

:applause:

[babylonsister]

9. I hear you, and I'm so weary of this whole scenario.

We need to stop this madness and attend to our people who are so messed up because of their support for this country. Maybe we need to reconsider our priorities. I wish I had an answer. :(

[jimmydale]

3. What's important is the CONTRACT to do the testing

Harmy brass is a vehicle for transferring your tax dollars to a testing company that made a big contribution (it could even be
on-going, for all I know) to a key player in the Senate or House Armed Services Committee.

[ejpoeta]

5. well, as long as they are not openly gay drug abusers.

[ZombieHorde]

10. Absolutely.

[earthworship]

12. You gotta be on drugs anyway

to be in today's military

[Stinky The Clown]

13. Can anyone rememeber Viet Nam?

Anyone? (<--- not directed at the OP or any DUer)