Flush with important skill sets and valuable experiences, military veterans can be counted among a community's greatest assets. Unfortunately, one barrier they face when out of uniform and in a civilian capacity is a feeling of disconnection from the very people they wish to serve.

So says a a 44-page report, All Volunteer Force: From Military to Civilian Service [pdf]. Published last November on Veterans Day by public policy firm Civic Enterprises, it presents the findings of a first ever nationally representative survey focusing on veterans' homecoming transition and civic lives.

The survey found that "only 13 percent of veterans strongly agree their transitions are going well. Yet those veterans who said they had volunteered since returning home had better transitions than those who had not." More:

• Nearly 9 out of 10 veterans said Americans could learn something from their example of service, yet only half considered themselves leaders in their communities as a result of their military service.
  
  
• Nearly 7 in 10 veterans had not been contacted by a community institution, local non-­‐profit, or place of worship after their return home.
  
  
• 92 percent of OIF/OEF veterans agreed that serving their community is important to them.
  
  
• Veterans said a diverse range of issues was important or very important to them: helping military families (90 percent), being involved with disaster relief (88 percent), working with at-risk youth (86 percent), and being involved with the environment/conservation (69 percent).
  
  
• 7 in 10 non-volunteering veterans said they do not have enough information of meaningful service opportunities.

In extended, a portion of the report's statistic-heavy intro.

Every day, people all across the country do solid work to help veterans successfully transition from combat to civilian life. Every effort has meaning. Every person donates uniquely to the pool. Today, I'd like to introduce you to one of these individuals: Darin C. Farr of the Utah Department of Veterans Affairs.

Clearly gifted and passionate about his work, Farr assists veterans on a local level [for example, a StoryCorps interview conducted by Farr with a former soldier who served in the Iraq War was recently broadcast on KCPW] and he also extends his knowledge and talents far and wide via his timely and well-crafted media productions.

In a summer post, I mentioned The Walking Wounded Are Coming Home, Farr's first video. Made for law enforcement officers, it showed how their understanding and response to incidents involving returning veterans in crisis can greatly impact outcomes. Farr's next feature, Transmission on Transition, further explored combat PTSD and traumatic brain injury, or TBI, and is geared toward military families.

I've also learned that it's been nominated for a Peabody Award.

The strength of both programs is in their substance, of course; but, they excel both visually and dramatically as well. Currently being shown in training/educational programs conducted by the Utah VA, Farr has also uploaded each feature online. You'll find both programs and a brief review of each in extended. Good work, Utah VA!

Sharing a few recent programs that examine some of the reintegration issues of our returning troops. Thursday's Diane Rehm Show devoted the hour to military mental health [listen].

Mental health in the military: Increasing rates of suicide, depression, and substance abuse raise concerns about mental illness in the armed forces. What's being done to assess and treat mental health problems in the U.S. military?

Guests

Yochi Dreazen, military correspondent for "The Wall Street Journal"

Nancy Sherman, Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University and Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown Law School. She served as the inaugural holder of the Distinguished Chair in Ethics at the US Naval Academy from 1997-9. She is the author of three books, including 'Stoic Warriors: The Ancient Philosophy Behind the Military Mind.' She is at work on a new book titled 'The Untold War: Inside the Hearts and Minds and Souls of Our Soldiers.'

S. Ward Casscells, M.D., John E. Tyson Distinguished Professor of Medicine and Public Health, and Vice President for External Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. He is the former Assistant Secretary of Defense (Health Affairs).

Jennifer Crane, served in the Army from 2000 to 2003. She is a volunteer with the non profit organization 'Give an Hour.' Give an Hour is dedicated to meeting the mental health needs of the troops and families affected by the ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jeff Hall, is a Major in the Army now based in Fort Riley, Kansas. He served two terms in Iraq.

A head's up: Give today's NPR's Weekend Edition Saturday a listen.

Last week, NPR introduced its month long look at the impact of war on military families -- the spouses and kids and parents doing time stateside while their loved one is deployed overseas.

Part of NPR's larger Impact on War project, its goals are to support member stations in collecting and sharing local stories, and "give a voice to the struggles and the triumphs of not just the military brass but the boots on the ground...and those affected by their absence during deployment and in death."

This morning on Weekend Edition Saturday, Gloria Hillard will introduce listeners to Dr. Judith Broder, founder of The Soldiers Project and recent Purpose Prize winner:

Broder saw a play in Los Angeles called The Sand Storm: Stories from the Front. Written by a Marine, it featured monologues of those who served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"The most horrifying aspect of it was the sense that I got that these were really just ordinary everyday guys, and they had seen things and done things that just shattered their whole sense of themselves," says Broder. "And that they would all need help."

That's when Broder, a clinical psychiatrist, put her retirement plans on hold and founded the Soldiers Project. It provides free counseling not only to service members returning from war — but to their families as well.

Today, the Soldiers Project has more than 200 licensed therapists nationwide — all volunteers who have received specialized training in everything from combat-related traumas to military culture.

Be sure to listen in this morning (full audio should be online by 12:00 p.m. EST at NPR).

Veterans Day is over.

Most people have moved on from yesterday's momentary pause to recognize those with military service. Many have by now returned to their usual concerns. Meanwhile, others continue the work they do, 365 days a year, reaching out to the veterans and military families in their communities.

Which camp are you in?

Well, if you're reading this blog, chances are you have a pretty clear interest in issues concerning vets and returning troops. You may even be someone others look to in your area as a leader, bringing those with military service (and those without it) together to foster new dialogue and form new bonds.

But, if you're a seeker and not yet a sage, this post is for you.

To begin, allow me to introduce you to NotAlone.com.

Its founders are building a unique online space for "warriors and families dealing with combat stress to come together, where they can spend time with others and start the healing process."

Now in its second year, NotAlone will offer some dynamic member tools that I've not seen bundled under one roof anywhere else. These include: social networking, community forums, online PTSD assessments to track your progress, and live online workshops that really sound cool. Learn more (fast-forward to 6:00 for a run-down on how the site will work) in a video clip in extended.

Be sure to take some time to listen to a few of NotAlone's clips, and good luck in extending yourself to our nation's service members beyond the usual designated days.

I'm spending the day today preparing for my facilitator duties at tomorrow's NIU Veterans Club Community Roundtable.

It's always a great honor to listen to the stories and thoughts of our local vets. And there are many, many such initiatives, big and small, gaining ground across the country.

Community members -- professionals and lay men and women of every skill set and sort -- are finding ways to help veterans process their experiences of combat while supporting their move from military life back into the civilian stream.

Educational institutions, in particular, are finding interesting ways of engaging on the issue and creating spaces for these necessary reflections. For instance, at NIU, Dr. Jeffrey Chown -- The Communication Department's Presidential Teaching Professor in Media Studies -- has been leading the charge.

A selection of press clipping on this past week's watershed conference, and, in extended, you can view Gates' and Shinseki's opening statements in full. First up, Thom Shanker, New York Times At War: Notes From the Front Lines:

In his most extensive comments on mental health challenges facing American forces fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said Monday that many military personnel fear a stigma if they seek help for psychological injuries.

And he criticized a government and military bureaucracy that is “frustrating, adversarial and unnecessarily complex” — even for those who actively seek assistance.

The critique was delivered by Mr. Gates as the keynote address during a “Mental Health Summit” convened by Eric K. Shinseki, the secretary of Veterans Affairs who previously served as Army chief of staff.

The two secretaries have pledged that the Departments of Defense and Veterans Affairs would improve how they share information so that the delivery of benefits could be streamlined, even as both acknowledged that the two current, long wars have brought attention to the types of invisible injuries often ignored in the past.

The fighting in Afghanistan now has surpassed the length of the Revolutionary War by about three weeks, Mr. Gates noted, making it the longest conflict in the nation’s history fought with an all-volunteer force.

It's a standard American ritual. Today, you'll probably be booed at by scary tricksters knocking on your door, demanding sugary treats.

Perhaps you'll see a chainsaw-wielding demon on the street and laugh. Or maybe you'll dress in scary costumes and get a kick out of reveling in and even poking fun at Halloween's fantasy of fear and death and danger.

Of course, some of us don't have to rely on the eve of All Saints Day to be immersed in dark times and emotions.

Those who've been to war have tapped fear and death and danger on the shoulder. They've lived the more difficult side of life. And many, when they return from the pit of hell, struggle to find the inner and outer security and confidence long since lost to them on some dusty combat trail. Getting their life back isn't as easy as peeling off a costume, wiping off the fake blood or putting away a candy dish.

I wonder what they think about Halloween?

Below the fold, a few recent articles that reveal how the daily fear, anxiety and solitude of PTSD affects some of our recently returned troops. Read as many of them as you can find time for.

Very excited to pass on this news!

We've secured what I think is a stellar venue for Iraq vet and author Tyler Boudreau's "The Other Side: Cross-Country Cycling Tour Summer 2009" stop in the Rockford area. Great thanks to the board members and Executive Director Kip Kirkland of Poplar Grove Airport Vintage Wings & Wheels Museum for agreeing to host this gathering on Monday, August 10, 2009, at 6:00 p.m.

The details we have so far are in extended.

I've begun a long overdue updating of the Upcoming Events listings.

You'll find the full list by scrolling down and looking in the middle column on this page, just under the Considerable Quotes section. August's veterans' reintegration offerings can also be found in extended.

A whole range of programs are springing up across the country, pairing returning troops and veterans with the great outdoors.

For some of these efforts, reintegration support and/or PTSD therapy are the main goal; providing jobs or forming social networks is the main catalyst for others. But, no matter what the driving factor or framework, these offerings provide military families a way to reconnect with the land they so truly have sacrificed so much for.

In extended, a brief look at a handful of such programs. Please share others you may know of in your area in comments.

In the Madison, Wisc., Rockford or Chicago, Ill., area and interested in supporting a returning veteran on an inspiring and, frankly, novel home front mission? Well, your chance arrives in early August in the form of Tyler Boudreau's 'The Other Side' Cross-Country Cycle Tour.

Currently Boudreau, a former 12-year Marine captain who served in Iraq and later wrote to tell about it in Packing Inferno: The Unmaking of a Marine, is at the midway point of his coast-to-coast trek. Having started in Seattle on June 15, tonight he's slated to appear in Billings, Mont., at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship at 7 p.m.

I spoke with Tyler this afternoon to begin nailing down his Midwest dates. Due to family responsibilities, he's having to ratchet up his pedaling somewhat to conclude the tour a bit earlier than expected. This means that remaining event dates have had to be shuffled around a bit.

• The Boston Globe | Dunkin' will help vets with Iced Coffee Day - "Dunkin' Donuts, the Canton-based chain of coffee-and-baked-goods shops, announced an Iced Coffee Day on April 21 that aims to benefit injured veterans. On Iced Coffee Day, the price for a small cup of iced coffee will be reduced to 50 cents at participating shops, the chain said; for every small iced coffee purchased on this day, Dunkin' Donuts said it will donate five cents to benefit Homes for Our Troops, a nonprofit organization that builds specially adapted homes for severely injured veterans." For more, visit their special website or their Facebook event page.
  
  
• Honolulu Advertiser | VA nominee Duckworth plans online outreach to veterans - Duckworth told senators yesterday that: "To become a 21st-century organization, the DVA (Department of Veterans Affairs) will have to change some past methods. It's no longer enough to hand out brochures at demobilization ceremonies. We must develop social networking strategies, use nontraditional outlets such as blogs, and employ the wide variety of new media available to get the message of available benefits to our veterans."
  
  
• GOOD | The Memory War - "We might be on our way out of Iraq but things are just starting to pick up in Afghanistan. With record-high number of veteran suicides and rising rates of PTSD and clinical depression in every branch of the armed forces, is the nation headed for a mental-healthcare crisis?"
  
  
• Navy Times | Senate OKs creation of Veterans’ Corps - "A program in which veterans would volunteer to help active-duty members make the transition to civilian life has moved a step closer to reality with the Senate’s March 26 vote to more than triple the number of national service jobs. The bill, HR 1388, authorizes a new Veterans’ Corps, whose success would be measured by the number of veterans who are helped to go to college or find jobs, the number of military families provided assistance, and the number of homeless veterans who find housing."
  

More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

Recently in the news:

• The Associated Press | VA hires vets to go find comrades who need help - "Graner is one of 100 former service members hired nationally by the Department of Veterans Affairs as outreach specialists to help get Iraq and Afghanistan veterans into programs aimed at easing their transition back to civilian life. They frequent job fairs, welcome-home events and other places where troops back from the wars might congregate and look for those struggling to adjust. The goal is to persuade them to visit one of 230-plus vet centers nationwide...[for] free services from job hunting assistance to marriage and mental health counseling. Experts applaud the effort to actively search for veterans who may need help, even if some advocates say the program should be much bigger."
  
  
• USA Today | Military puts focus on epidemic of suicides - "In Maj. Thomas Jarrett's stress management class ... American troops are urged ... to strive for 'post-traumatic growth.' During a 90-minute presentation entitled "Warrior Resilience and Thriving," Jarrett, a former corporate coach, offers this and other unconventional tips on how troops can stay mentally healthy once they return home. He quotes Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, Paradise Lost author John Milton and German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche... Walking through the crowd of young GIs in the makeshift classroom, Jarrett urges them to fight their "internal insurgents."
  
  
• News-Leader | Videos explain health care benefits to military families - "Military families throughout TRICARE’s west region now have a new way to learn about their health care benefits through the movies. ... “TRICARE 2 You” video topics, which run an average of three minutes in a prime-time news format, include explanations of TRICARE plan options, how to access specialty care, behavioral health resources, pharmacy options and newborn enrollment, among others. “We wanted to do whatever it takes to help our beneficiaries maximize use of their TRICARE benefit and avoid out-of-pocket costs,” said David J. McIntyre, president and CEO of TriWest Healthcare Alliance. “This is especially useful for service members, particularly those in the National Guard and Reserve who live or work in rural areas without convenient access to military base resources,” he said. Produced by TriWest, in partnership with TRICARE Regional Office-West, the videos are housed in the company’s new TRICARE 2 You Online Library."
  
  
• IAVA | Iraq Veteran Testifies On Capitol Hill - "Veteran Carolyn Schapper testified at a hearing before the House Veterans Subcommittee on Disability & Memorial Affairs about the disparities in PTSD diagnosis for male and female soldiers in combat. During her deployment to Iraq from October 2005 to September 2006, Carolyn participated in over 200 combat patrols as a member of a Military Intelligence unit with the Georgia National Guard."

More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

• The Boston Globe | The military's post-traumatic stress dilemma - Iraq vet Tyler Boudreau begins: "WITH ARMY and Marine Corps suicide rates climbing dramatically, surpassing even those killed in Iraq and Afghanistan last month, the nation is increasingly disturbed and demanding treatment for veterans. But these suicide reports highlight an important distinction: A significant portion of those returning from war are not yet veterans; they are still active or reserve service members, which means, above all, that they probably will be going back to one of our theaters of operations. And that means that any treatment for post-traumatic stress will be positioned in direct conflict with the mission itself. As a former Marine captain and rifle company commander, I witnessed this conflict firsthand."
  
  

• Chicago Tribune | Restoring spirits of men haunted by war - 15 OEF/OIF vets recently took part in a novel reintegration program: "The veterans came from throughout the United States to spend four days at the stylish Wildcatter Ranch, invited by the Wounded Warrior Project and the owners of the ranch to help restore their spirits. Some of the men have physical injuries, but each of them is struggling to deal with combat stress and their return to civilian society. The men went canoeing and rode horses. They got massages and shot skeet. They stayed in luxurious rooms and they visited an elementary school, where the children gave them Graham Steers ball caps. 'I have never seen anything like this before,' said Harvey Stubbs Jr., 32, a Chicago-area native who was medically retired from the Army because of his injuries. 'The outpouring of love ... has been amazing. A lot of people give lip service to supporting the troops, but these people have opened their hearts to us in ways I can't believe.'"
  
  
• CNN | Obama pledges more help for veterans - President Obama, appearing alongside VA Secretary Eric Shinseki, spoke of the $25 billion funding infusion the Department of Veterans Affairs can look forward to receiving over the next five years under his new budget. "'With this budget, we don't just fully fund our Veterans Affairs health care program, we expand it to serve an additional 500,000 veterans by 2013,' [Obama] said. He promised that the VA would "dramatically improve services" related to mental health, post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury, and he said homeless veterans would be targeted for support."
  
  
• Kansas City Star | Veterans assail proposal to have private insurance plans pay for their service ailments - President Obama's 2010 VA budget provision to bill private insurance for service-connected health care is under fire with veterans and their supporters. While no one will see the full budget proposal until April, this idea being floated about is "dead on arrival" according to Sen. Patty Murray [D-WA], who has an influential seat on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs.

IAVA's Paul Reickhoff on MSNBC's Rachel Maddow Show:



More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

• US Army | First Lady visits Fort Bragg, vows support for military families - "First Lady Michelle Obama paid a visit to Soldiers and family members at Fort Bragg in what was her first tour outside the White House. During her visit, Obama said she was inspired by the spirit of the Fort Bragg community and said she was fully committed to improving support to all military families."


• MSNBC | Army program helps ease stress of deployment - "Army Reserve's Chattanooga-based 591st Transportation Detachment prepares to implement the new Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program. All branches of the service have some form of the program, according to Lt. Col. Robin Smith Sr., chief well-being officer for the Army Reserve. The...program was launched "to prepare soldiers and their families for mobilization, sustain the families during mobilization and to help with reintegration with their families, communities and employers upon redeployment," he said. The program began as part of a requirement outlined in the Department of Defense Appropriations Act of 2008 and became even more important as the steep suicide rates were recorded in recent months."


• Marine Corps News | 'Cover Me' Leaves No Marine Behind - "The Injured Marine Semper Fi Fund, hosted by Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, screened the film, “Cover Me,” at the South Mesa Club...March 5, to help raise awareness and educate Marine leadership about combat operational stress. The film’s conception was centered on the Corps’ need to let Marines know it is all right to seek medical help for combat operational stress and in doing so, their careers will not be adversely affected."
  
  
• Richmond Times-Dispatch | For these airmen, it’s about surviving, not flying - "The realistic training exercise, staged in a mock village at the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Fort Dix in New Jersey, is part of new combat preparedness received by airmen who perform the ground duties that keep planes flying. The convoy's 25 members passed...They learned to "shoot and scoot." They were among 187 airmen at the center to receive advanced training before deployment overseas. The role of the Air Force in Afghanistan is crucial, especially as Taliban forces try to close a supply route through Pakistan's Khyber Pass and Kyrgyzstan seeks to shut a U.S. air base in that country. Nearly 600 airmen have been killed or wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks - and 96 percent of them have been on the ground, according to Air Force officials. Their mounting losses - partly due to expanded duties off base - prompted intensive training, begun three years ago, to help the ground airmen survive combat."

More PTSD Combat Diigo links.

I'm still hunkered down doing research for my Honors Capstone paper -- the results of which have been accepted for presentation at a Purdue University conference in April). Thanks for your patience with me these dormant weeks and months...

Now on to Dina Greenberg at the Houston Chronicle:

The Department of the Army has finally gone public and acknowledged the alarming rate of suicide among its ranks. While Army leadership is to be commended for breaking the barrier of silence regarding mental illness in the military, the underlying culture of secrecy that has contributed to the current trend is in dire need of reform. ...

According to figures obtained by the Associated Press, there has been a steady increase in suicides since 2003, totaling 450 active duty soldiers, with the highest numbers occurring in the past year. Military suicides vary considerably between branches of the service, with the Army and Marine Corps frequently reaching the highest annual rates. Longer and more frequent deployments and the primacy of ground combat operations are factors often blamed for the Army’s higher rates of physical injury, mental illness and suicide.

In October 2008, the Army announced a five-year, $50 million collaborative study with the National Institute of Mental Health to address suicide. In a rare public admission of the urgency of the problem, Dr. S. Ward Cassells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, stated in the New York Times, “We’ve reached a point where we do need some outside help.” Such efforts are encouraging but will yield little immediate assistance to active duty soldiers, returning veterans and their families.

Great things happening at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, D.C., today and into tomorrow as an historic conference has gotten underway. Its aim: Foster synergy among a wide range of stakeholders to better serve the reintegration needs of returning veterans and military families.

To do this, barriers and competition between entities need to be breached and broken down into a laser-focused 'megacommunty' made up of the federal, state, and local government sectors; large and small businesses; national and community-based NGOs and nonprofits; media (national, local and new); health care providers; educational institutions; veterans service organizations and veterans/military families.

A powerful post by Scott Lee, a Gulf War veteran who blogs over at PTSD, A Soldier's Perspective, arrived on Friday. We Cannot Make it Through the Confines of Our Minds Without the Help of Others is so full and rich and speaks entirely to my current research that I hope he doesn't mind my reprinting it here to share with you:

I am a Gulf War I vet, I felt the same as you when I returned home from combat. For me it was the total sense of feeling alive and being a part of my squad that I missed, although I did not figure this out until after 15 years of insanity.

In the mix, blood pounds through the veins and I received a powerful sense of completeness that I still chase today. The intensiveness of combat will never be matched in the civilian world, all the mundane things we did before seem totally a way to piss us off today. When faced with survival we let all the silly shit slough off of us and become one with the universe.

Our field of vision opens completely to encompass all within our sight, the tiny reflection in the corner of the eye becomes a sharp focus without having to direct attention its way. Time becomes suspended and we know and feel what omnipresence really means. How can anything else ever compare to this experiential endeavor?

I finally received help after 15 years, I could not drink enough alcohol, smoke enough weed, or seek out enough violence to get past the feelings of emptiness. I felt such an utterly and complete loss of self and sense of identity. We were trained to feel invincible, and it may even have seemed that way at times, but we did not get through combat without the help from the soldier next to us. We cannot make it through the confines of our minds without the help of others. We could not do it alone in combat, what makes you think that you can make it alone today?

He goes on to invite his readers to take a look at his process of returning to the fold of civilian life, learning how to deal with the changes that brings into a former combat veteran's life. Check out the rest of his postings.

I've included my response to Scott in extended.

Just a few days ago, Vet Art Project creator and founder Lisa Rosenthal honored me with the opportunity to develop a program, one of many upcoming VAP offerings that I've mentioned here before, as part of February's month long Chicago Cultural Center Incubator Series.

The list of events taking place next month is enormous.

Please visit the Vet Art Project website for a full listing; you can also download the event flyer [pdf] for all the specifics. All activities and community outreach work that Lisa has been doing in neighborhoods all across Chicago since October, will culminate in a public performance not to be missed:

New Art About War from the Vet Art Project Incubator
February 23rd, 2009, 7:30 p.m.
Studio Theater
Chicago Cultural Center [Info and directions]
Randolph & Michigan Ave.
Chicago

No fee but advance reservations are recommended. For tickets: www.dcatheater.org or 312.742.8497.

But, a reminder: There are dozens of VAP offerings throughout February; please see the full listing [pdf].

If you are a Chicago-area veteran -- of any and all generation -- or a military family member, these events are meant to engage and delight you. If you're a civilian living in the area, you're definitely part of this community-veteran conversation and artistic expression. Please join us at any number of the free events being offered next month. Details on my event, Renaissance by Fire, in extended.

This is a special, special engagement for Chicago. Don't miss it!