HUFFINGTON
10.07.12
COURTESY OF JAMIE BEAVERS
COMING HOME
a diagnosis of PTSD were six times
more likely to be busted on drug
charges than Marines without
PTSD, and 11 times more likely to
be discharged for misconduct.
Less is known about the longterm effects of mild or severe
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI),
military health officials say.
But already, the active-duty
military force has its hands full
with criminal misbehavior. The
Army recently estimated that
more than 8,000 active-duty soldiers have committed undetected
drug-related crimes including illegal use and distribution of drugs.
Inside the Army’s active-duty
ranks, documented violent sex
crimes have doubled since 2006,
from 665 rapes and sexual assault
cases to 1,313 last year.
At present, there are 17,000 active-duty Army soldiers, the equivalent of three combat brigades,
under arrest, in military prisons or
under investigation.
If many of them are suffering
from combat trauma, they’re probably not getting help. The military
justice system is more concerned
with punishment than with rehabilitation, according to Army Maj.
Evan R. Seamone, chief prosecutor
at Fort Benning, Ga. Troop behind bars rarely get the kind of
diagnosis or treatment that could
Beavers is
pictured in
the back row,
third from
the right
with fellow
soldiers
in Iraq.