November 28, 2007 - I read the “Eye on Iraq” column with avid interest, and I’d like to commend Staff Sgt. Weix for his service and contributions as an active duty soldier. Having said that, I feel it is my duty to correct the misstatements made in his column in the Sunday, Nov. 25 issue.

Weix notes, “The military is [also] very good at diagnosing PTSD and extremely good at treating it.”

Sgt. Weix, meet Specialist Jon Town. His story, repeated in many other cases, shows just how the process of diagnosing PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) can go haywire, and it shows the “dark side” of the military medical reviews discovered as Spc. Town took his case to Washington, D.C. (Readers can also read about Spc. Town in issues of the “Army Times,” or perhaps they remember his story as detailed in a May episode of “Law and Order”).

If a doctor diagnoses PTSD, then the soldier is entitled to medical care and benefits, similar to a physical injury sustained in combat. This translates into a lot of money.

Spc. Town was injured in Iraq, won a Purple Heart — and then was denied all disability and medical benefits. Why? Because his Army doctor decided that his headaches and hearing loss were not due to the rocket that knocked him unconscious, but rather to a psychological condition, “personality disorder,” a pre-existing illness for which vets cannot collect disability pay or receive medical care.

It turns out there are a lot of Spc. Towns out there. The Army thought it had found a convenient way to avoid diagnosing PTSD by discharging soldiers with a 5-13 (the full name of the personality disorder discharge is Regulation 635-200, Chapter 5-13) and thereby saving $12.5 billion. Allegations of pressure from the top to diagnose 5-13s at military hospitals led to a Congressional investigation.

Sgt. Town got his PTSD and TBI (Traumatic Brain Injury) diagnosis and was given full disability and medical benefits, but what about the other 22,000 soldiers who passed all military screenings only to receive the 5-13 discharge upon return? Perhaps many of these soldiers were, in the words of Senator Kit Bond, “railroaded.” How many of these should have been PTSD diagnoses?

As far as treating PTSD, the military does a good job once a vet is diagnosed and into the system. But the waiting list is long and the bureaucracy is frustrating. Ninety percent of military psychiatrists, psychologists and social workers have no formal training or supervision in the recommended PTSD therapies — and there is an acknowledged shortage of mental health professionals in the system.

Sgt. Weix states, “The incidents of PTSD are dramatically lower than any other war.”

This would be great news if it were true, but statistics show that PTSD rates for Iraq vets are already higher than the rates for Vietnam. These are numbers provided by the GAO (U.S. Government Accountability Office) and the AMA (American Medical Association) and verified by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. And these are only the diagnosed cases, the actual numbers may be much higher.

This is not a rosy picture. The IAVA reports that one in three Iraq vets — and one in nine Afghanistan vets — will face a mental health issue like depression, anxiety or PTSD. Multiple tours of duty and inadequate rest between deployments have increased the stress of combat. The Army has seen a three-fold increase in “alcohol-related incidents” between 2005 and 2006.

There is no doubt there is a stigma to a soldier receiving a mental health-related diagnosis. Many vets have committed suicide while waiting for treatment. Meanwhile, the VA (Veterans Administration) has failed to spend the $100 million earmarked by Congress for vets’ mental health care.

The last quote from Sgt. Weix really floored me. He states, “Today’s vets will come home better for the experience, no matter what pity party is reported in the national media.”

“Pity party?” What is that? Is Sgt. Weix saying that we shouldn’t feel for our troops and their sacrifices?

I asked Rob Timmins from IAVA (Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America) about Weix’s statement and where he was coming from.

“This type of speech really does a disservice to our troops,” he said. “Less than 1 percent of the American population serves in the military. Most Americans have no idea of the stress of combat and if it takes pity to get some people’s attention to the plight of our vets than so be it. We need the full support of the American people, that should be our goal.”

My vet friends tell me that serving in combat creates a certain “tunnel vision” or focus, if you will, to the job at hand, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. I hope that Sgt. Weix can see things from the disabled veteran’s viewpoint as he continues to serve.

Many soldiers come home injured, disabled or psychologically affected; some get lucky. Let’s pray Sgt. Weix’s luck continues.