VCS v. Nicholson and the anti-PTSD Email

After the close of evidence in VCS v. Nicholson, an email came to light concerning instructions to "refrain from giving a diagnosis of PTSD" (March 20, 2008 email from Veterans Health Administration PTSD Program Coordinator Norma Perez). The email goes on "We don't have time to do the extensive testing that should be done to determine PTSD".

Plaintiffs have requested that this email be considered in determining factual issues, such as whether VA systematically underdiagnoses PTSD and lacks resources to do its job.

MORE INFORMATION:

• Plaintiff's Letter (5/28/2008)
• Plaintiff's Proposed Findings of Fact (5/9/2008)
• Defendant's Proposed Findings of Fact (5/19/2008)
• Case Docket

IAVA Lists Charities for Troops, Families & Iraqi Civilians

Those affected by the Iraq & Afghan wars need your help! Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans of America maintains a page of links to charities serving our troops, their families and Iraqi civilians. Whatever your politics and interests, there's something here for you to act on.

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Battlemind

Battlemind is both the mental orientation developed during a combat zone deployment and a program developed at Walter Reed Army Institute of Research Psychiatry and Neuroscience (WRAIR) intended to reduce its impact post-deployment.

Lawyers who have not been servicemembers may not fully appreciate some mental orientation issues that can be key to providing effective assistance to clients. It can therefore be helpful to reviewing Battlemind materials that are available to the public. These include brochures, briefings, instructor materials, and videos to aid Soldiers and their families with the stresses and strains of initial entry, deployment, and returning home.

• Battlemind Home Page: http://www.battlemind.org/
  Note: some parts of this site are password-protected, but the videos whose icons are visible seem to run without a logon. Be sure to scroll down and examine the many useful handouts
• Army Behavioral Health hosts a little more information, notably a couple of useful trifolds on its Battlemind Information Page
• Extended discussion on VA Watchdog

VA Video Online

The Veterans Administration offers a frequently-updated series of short videos, called The American Veteran, covering topics such as Living With Disabilities, Segways For Veterans and VA's Team Approach To Prosthetics. See: http://www1.va.gov/opa/feature/amervet

In addition, a weekly video program called "VA News" provides official weekly 15-minutes programs about the Department of Veterans Affairs. See http://www1.va.gov/opa/feature/vanews

GI Bill 2008 progress

The Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act (H.R. 5740), an attempt to give returning war veterans the same benefits of the original GI Bill, introduced in the House of Representatives by Representative Bobby Scott (D-VA), passed on May 15, 2008. Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America lists who voted for and against.
Now the action moves to the Senate, where the equivalent measure (S-22) has 57 co-sponsors.

• Text of S.22
• Similar information on Thomas: http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c110:S.22:
  
• CBO Report: http://www.cbo.gov/ftpdocs/92xx/doc9212/s22.pdf
  
• For a list of Senate Supporters: http://www.gibill2008.org/state.html
  

Attorneys Assisting Citizen-Soldiers and Families (AACF)

Washington State is slated to deploy approximately 3,500 National Guard members to Iraq in August 2008.

Deployment places additional demands on military personnel and their family members. As members of the legal community, we can offer our specialized skills to assist our citizen soldiers, their family members, as well as our fellow attorneys in uniformed service.

The Guard members and their immediate families will need legal services before, during, and after deployment. Unlike active military personnel, Guard family members may not have convenient access to a military base or a military legal assistance office. Military legal staff and resources are stretched to focus on deployment readiness. Civilian attorneys can offer assistance in areas of law such as landlord-tenant issues, consumer law, family law, immigration, and other related issues.

Legal professional is Washington State are invited to join Attorneys Assisting Citizen-Soldiers and Families (AACF), a developing network of civilian volunteers throughout Washington State willing to provide limited legal services to service members and their immediate families. Staffing is needed for a network of pro bono clinics in a variety of locations. To ensure an adequate network, the development of a volunteer attorney roster is underway. In addition, please consider joining growing referral lists of volunteer attorneys willing to take pro bono cases.

To volunteer for a clinic, to join the referral list, or to learn more, please contact AttorneysEnlist@gmail.com immediately, or Captain Alex Straub at 253-512-8262 today.

This project can offer you training and possibly CLE credit. Volunteers may also benefit from being publicly honored at Volunteer Roster and Hall of Fame. More importantly, the project is an opportunity to support our fellow citizens and military family members who are directly affected by the war. Time is of the essence; we should all do our part. Contact AttorneysEnlist@gmail.com today.

MORE INFORMATION: http://aacf.wordpress.com/

Blue Star Mothers - Wounded Warrior Committee

The Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc. is a non-partisan, non-political organization of mothers who now have, or have had, children honorably serving in the military, supporting each other and their children.

Among its projects is a Wounded Warrior Committee that seeks to provide families with practical proactive approaches to pre-deployment family planning, preparing families for an unexpected emergency.

In support of this goal, BSM/WWC hosts a page of useful checklists, such as Pre-Deployment Information, Pre-Deployment Family Planning, Pre-Deployment Passports and more, here: http://www.bluestarmothers.org/mc/page.do?sitePageId=64174