The Unites States Military Helps in the Philippines

Typhoon Yolanda/Haiyan hit the Philippines on November 8, 2013. According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council there are 3,976 confirmed deaths, 1,598 are missing and 18,175 are injured as of today, November 18, 2013.

After the storm devastated the Philippine villages, the United States sent troops over to the country to aid the victims. On November 16, 2013 900 more troops were sent with food and water. They transported the survival goods on the USS George Washington aircraft carrier where they also supplied helicopters to transfer goods to villages where the roads were destroyed. You can see the teamwork between the United States military and the survivors in the Fox News report below.

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/11/16/philippine-government-defends-response-to-typhoon-as-death-toll-rises

Courtesy of Fox News

A veteran disaster relief group from Las Angeles has also taken action. The group known as Team Rubicon was one of the first non-profits to help shortly after the storm hit. The group of military veterans and medical professionals are mainly stationed in Tacloban, Philippines but plan to travel to other locations if needed. According to Sam Kille, the spokesman of the group, they have more than 100 volunteers in the harsh conditions.

Watch this news report on Team Rubicon preparing for their trip to the Philippines, created by CBS News.

Veterans Express Their Creative Side

The U.S Department of Veteran Affairs offers many events for veterans to compete in events and clinics. On October 23^rd through October 27^th, the 2013 National Creative Arts Festival took place. At this festival, veteran’s creative talents were exhibited in forms of creative writing, art, dance, drama, and music. The competition was open to veterans enrolled at a VA Medical Center for Outpatient Clinic. During the months of April, May and June, the work that was submitted to the 2013 national creative competition and then judged at the festival. The panel of judges invited the winners of the national creative competition to attend the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival.

            This year the festival was in Reno, Nevada.  The first place winners, in each category, perform in a variety show with a professional orchestra whom accompanies the performance.  Approximately 140 veterans receive an invitation and attend the festival. The public is welcome as well. Anyone can attend the art exhibit as well as the stage show.

            The national competition and the festival is important because it recognizes veterans for their creative accomplishments. The therapeutic benefits veterans receive by expressing themselves through their art is also recognized during this festival. 

Here are some of my favorite pieces of work that were awarded at the festival.

Oil Painting Category 

Title: The Village

By Sherman Watkins

(Oil Painting)

Monochromatic Drawing Category

Title: December Storm on the Oregon Coast
By Daniel Jones
(Monochromatic Drawing)

Combined Kit Category

Title: Time for Dreams #2
By James Shriver
(Combined Kit)

I chose these three pieces of work as my favorites because of the intricate detail and creative value they all express.

To see the rest of the winners, check out the photo gallery!

The Shutdown Affects Veterans

The video from Funny or Die shows the continuing debt ceiling disagreement between Barack Obama and John Boehner in a lighter sense. On a serious note, this disagreement has caused the government shutdown to continue. The shutdown and the economic issues are causing the military workforce to lose their paychecks and even their jobs.

According to the Department of Veteran Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki, millions of returning soldiers and veterans, depending on their checks of compensation and support, will not receive any compensation if the government is still shut down by the end of this month.

                Shinseki stated there are 3.8 million veterans. The compensation these veterans receive takes care of them individually but also their families. Therefore, the government shutdown is affecting approximately 5 million individuals.

                The veterans are at risk of losing death benefits, back pay, incentive pays, reenlistment bonuses, disability benefits and survivor benefits. If a soldier joined the army to have a set financial future, they are now losing all the benefits they expected to acquire for risking their life, for our country. 

The government sends you to wars that are sometimes unnecessary, promises you benefits for your hard work and for risking your life, but then takes those benefits away from you. How would you feel if this scenario affected you?

If you went to war knowing you would have your compensation and benefits taken away from you would you still go to war and fight for your country?

Domestic Violence in the Military

October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Domestic violence or DV is a persistent issue in the military population. According to the Domestic Violence and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Severity for Participants of a Domestic Violence Rehabilitation Program article by April A. Gerlock, DV is more likely to occur in a military family than in a civilian family.

Over 2.3 million American veterans served in the Iraq and Afghanistan war. Twenty percent of those returning soldiers suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder or PTSD. PTSD and DV are issues that coincide. It is more likely a veteran or an active soldier suffering with PTSD will act in the cycle of domestic violence than one who does not have PTSD. 

The attempt to solve the domestic violence problem with the military population began in 1995 when the Department of the Army and Department of Veteran Affairs began to plan a research program with the Madigan Army Medical Center and American Lake VA Medical Center. The plan was to deliver a state certified rehabilitation program for the domestic violence batterers.  The research showed that a program less than one year would be useless. If the abuser drops out of a rehabilitation program before one year they are more likely to repeat their actions.  The level of a perpetrator’s

PTSD mirrored the level of domestic violence.   A soldier with severe PTSD had severe abuse problems. Therefore, the need for rehabilitation for a soldier with a high level of PTSD was highly recommended. Also, the link between the severity of both PTSD and DV had a high level of dropouts. This showed the patients believed they did not have a problem or they were cured in a short amount of time. 

The research program in the mid 90’s was the first step to figure out a solution to the problem of domestic violence in the military community. Today it is still an infinite problem in both military and civilian families. The Department of Defense or DOD made domestic violence in the military a specific concern to assess an ideal solution. They came up with a system for both abusers and victims in the military. If the abuser is in the military they go through either the military justice system or the Family Advocacy Program. The process differs for on base and off base soldiers. On base, the case is investigated by the military police and sent right to the Family Advocacy Program. If it is an off base scenario, the local police handle the case but it is not always reported back to the base officials.

According to the article “When Violence Happens,” written by Linda D. Kozaryn, from the American Forces Press Service, many cases are reported early before any severe casualties occur in the household. Also, the DOD stated the success rate of the domestic violence cases are good because they are reported early and sometimes reported by the actual abuser.

 The whole issue brings up many concerns for me. Starting from the beginning, PTSD seems to be a big cause in the matter. PTSD alone is an unsolved issue. Soldiers are not getting help for their traumatic issues let alone, soldiers can’t come to terms with themselves that they have a problem. Society’s stipulation on PTSD affects the steps to get help. So many suffering do not seek help. This brings us to the cause of domestic violence in military households.

Since soldiers are not seeking help for their PTSD, they are affecting their home life. They become violent in their homes and they are putting their family in danger. So, not only are they not getting help for the PTSD they have but now they are participating in the cycle of domestic violence.

PTSD and DV are very similar because they both have a bad stigma in society. They are issues that are normally dealt with behind closed doors. The Department of Defense, according to Kozaryn’s article, says the success rate of fixing the domestic violence in the military community is improving. I cannot believe them because there are still soldiers and veterans who have not received help for PTSD, the first step to the domestic violence problem.  Therefore, if the soldier does not think they have a post-traumatic stress disorder why would they think they have domestic violence problems?

After doing research, I am glad to see the military sees this as an issue. Domestic violence sometimes goes unnoticed. It is nice to see they are spending a lot of time to do research to create the best plan to fix the problem. I just know there are so many layers to the issue that it is not going to be solved easily.

Here is a video from 2009 that shows an example of domestic violence in the military.

What do you think about the relationship between PTSD and domestic violence?

Do you agree with the Department of Defense? Do you think the success rate of rehabilitated domestic violence abusers is improving?

What else can be done to stop domestic violence in military households?

The Struggles I Have Faced

Well lets just say, picking the topic of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder with veterans was probably not the easiest story to choose. It has now been three weeks since my topic was approved and have I found one veteran to interview? No. Have I found one therapist to interview? No.

I have less than one week until my deadline is standing in front of me. What the hell am I going to do?

Well thankfully, I am going to take this story in a slightly different direction. Since I don't know any veterans in the area and if I did, they probably would not want to discuss their PTSD with a strange reporter, I am going to focus my story on what PTSD actually is. I am going to interview therapists, if I find them, to discuss signs of a person who may have PTSD and the different approaches they offer to help these diagnosed patients. I think finding a therapist to speak on the subject is more realistic than finding a veteran at this point. Hopefully experts in the psychology department, the nursing department and the student counseling center at Salisbury University will agree to do interviews. I have reached out to therapists in the area but most therapists are booked solid each day. Pray the other therapists I have called, answer my voicemails.

I need this to all work out in the next day or I too will have PTSD.


If you have any suggestions, please comment below.

First Day of Military Affairs Reporting

I am a student who dreaded the current event quizzes distributed by my professor in my previous media production class. I prefer to avoid politics and I despise the dreadful stories about war. I also hate hearing our country's economy is on a constant downfall because it makes me sick. On the first day of my reporting class I found out we will be focusing specifically on military affairs. I almost removed myself from the classroom.

                When my professor made the announcement this is a military affairs class, my jaw dropped and I thought to myself, "There is no way I can do this! I know nothing about military affairs since I have always kept this hard news subject out of my radar." Before I jumped out of my seat to leave, I argued against myself, "This will be good for me. I always choose to do the lighthearted, uncontroversial stories. I should change this characteristic about myself. This class will force me to think outside of my little world of butterflies and rainbows."

                 When the first day of class was over, I caught up on the issues going on with Syria. I did know before starting this class we were going to war Syria but did not know the details or realize the lack of communication between Congress, Kerry and Obama. A friend, who is well educated in Political Science and the issues brewing in Syria, informed me of the issues between the three politicians. I browsed the web and read up on the congressional hearing and also watched this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0UNtIoxbbhM.

                This video caught my attention. Not because John Kerry sounds like he has no idea what he's talking about and Rand Paul is verbally challenging him and putting him in his place, but the light bulb that went off when I finished watching it. The light that shined in my mind was the realization I never would have known this mess was going on in our country if it wasn't for this class. I would continue to be ignorant to our country and the world around me. I have always wished I knew everything going on around me but I found it so complicated.

                 My change of thought will include hard work and time to catch up on what I have avoided my whole life. My new interest to learn will benefit my career as a student, my career when I enter the real world and also my security as a citizen.

                I am glad I talked myself out of dropping this class. I now can face my fear of learning the secrets to this country and on the brighter side, learn more about our very own soldiers, the military lifestyle, and the military affairs our country is currently involved in.

How do you feel about the video mentioned?

What do you think my first step to learning Military Affairs should be?