SBAND Seminar Materials 2013 Free Ethics: Echoes of War The Combat Veteran | Page 10

found
 systemic
 failures
 in
 mental
 health
 treatment
 of
 psychologically
 injured
 troops
 at
 Ft.
  Carson,
 Colorado.31

 The
 reports
 found
 a
 pattern
 by
 leadership
 of
 denying
 their
 troops’
  requests
 for
 treatment,
 stigmatizing
 those
 who
 were
 getting
 help
 and
 even
 kicking
 some
  out
 of
 the
 military.

 The
 reports
 spurred
 investigations
 by
 Congress
 and
 the
 Department
 of
  Defense,
 which
 confirmed
 remaining
 flaws
 in
 the
 military
 mental
 health
 system.32

  The
 very
 culture
 of
 the
 military
 is
 also
 an
 issue.

 Military
 culture,
 by
 necessity,
 puts
  great
 value
 on
 strength,
 both
 physical
 and
 mental.

 Soldiers
 sent
 into
 combat
 face
 the
 most
  horrific
 experiences
 imaginable.

 Only
 the
 strong
 survive.

 Over
 the
 centuries,
 military
  training
 has
 become
 ever
 more
 sophisticated
 in
 conditioning
 troops
 to
 operate
 effectively
  and
 complete
 their
 missions,
 even
 when
 faced
 with
 imminent
 death.

 A
 soldier’s
 reputation
  within
 a
 combat
 unit
 is
 largely
 based
 on
 how
 “cool”
 they
 are
 under
 fire.

  This
 “warrior”
 mindset
 becomes
 deeply
 ingrained
 and
 many
 psychologically
 injured
  warriors
 deny
 they
 have
 a
 problem,
 even
 to
 themselves.

 The
 RAND
 Corporation
 study,
  cited
 above,
 found
 that,
 of
 the
 one
 third
 of
 Iraq
 and
 Afghan
 vets
 who
 admitted
 PTSD
 or
 TBI-­? related
 issues,
 less
 than
 half
 had
 sought
 help.

 According
 to
 RAND,
 those
 veterans
 who
  declined
 help
 did
 so
 out
 of
 fear
 that
 they
 will
 lose
 the
 respect
 of
 their
 comrades,
 jeopardize
  their
 security
 clearance,
 or
 harm
 their
 chances
 of
 promotion.33

 Many
 veterans
 carry
 this
  value
 system
 with
 them
 even
 after
 they
 leave
 the
 military
 and
 come
 home.