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Home Front: WoT
AWOL Soldier Seeking Treatment Arrested
2007-11-15
I'm fully aware of the problems returning soldiers have in getting help. PTSD is a serious issue for any soldier, and we damned well ought to have whatever resources it takes to help our people. At the same time, you can't go AWOL just because you want to.
SYRACUSE, N.Y. (AP) - A soldier who served two combat tours in Iraq was arrested Wednesday for leaving the Army without permission more than a year ago to seek treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.

At a news conference hours before his arrest, Sgt. Brad Gaskins said he left the base in August 2006 because the Army wasn't providing effective treatment after he was diagnosed with PTSD and severe depression. "They just don't have the resources to handle it, but that's not my fault," Gaskins said.

Tod Ensign, an attorney with Citizen Soldier, a GI rights group that is representing Gaskins, said the case is part of a "coming tsunami" of mental health problems involving Iraq and Afghanistan vets. Last month, the Veterans Administration said more than 100,000 soldiers were being treated for mental health problems, and half of those specifically for PTSD.
Citizen Soldier is, as you might guess from the lack of information and the benign-sounding name, not really a self-help group for GIs. It's one of usual leftie-front groups with all the usual grievances. I looked at their web site and found all the usual signs. Sad thing, they're going to use Mr. Gaskins until he's no longer useful or convenient, then they're going to walk away from him.
Gaskins, 25, of East Orange, N.J., was taken into custody at a Watertown cafe by civilian police officers from Fort Drum and two local police officers, Ensign said. The lawyer said he had been on the phone with military prosecutors working out the details of Gaskins' surrender when the soldier was arrested. Fort Drum spokesman Ben Abel said after a soldier is AWOL for more than 30 days he becomes classified as a deserter and a federal arrest warrant is issued. He said he was unaware of the specifics of Gaskins' case and declined to comment on it.

An eight-year Army veteran, Gaskins served two tours in Iraq and a peacekeeping tour in Kosovo. He said his mental health began deteriorating during his second tour in Iraq, which began in June 2005, when his job was to conduct road searches and locate improvised explosive devices. He said after returning to Fort Drum in February 2006, he began suffering flashbacks and nightmares, headaches, sleeplessness, weight loss and mood swings that took him from depression to irrational rages. Military doctors sent him to the Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown, where he spent two weeks and was diagnosed with PTSD. When he later asked his commanders about returning to Samaritan, they told him it would delay any chance he had at obtaining a medical release, Gaskins said.

At the time, the Fort Drum mental health facility had a staff of a dozen caring for approximately 17,000 troops, Ensign said. The base has expanded its mental health facility staff to 31 in the past year, with plans to add another 17 staffers, Abel said. "Is there a need for more - yes," he said.

Gaskins said that because he had been unable to get proper help, he requested a two-week leave and went home to New Jersey, where he has been living since. Gaskins said he hasn't been able to get a job because of his PTSD, and that he and his wife have separated. He said he has only supervised visitation rights with his two children.
Posted by:Steve White

#9  You keep banging pots and pans together until someone does the job. Call your Congressman - that usually brings immediate pain to the whole chain of command.
Posted by: OldSpook   2007-11-15 23:52  

#8  But its no reason to desert. Thats dishonorable.

For what it's worth (not much -- I've never soldiered, nor has Mr. Wife), I quite agree. Although, what should someone with PTSD do if whoever is responsible for such things does not help him get the treatment he needs?
Posted by: trailing wife   2007-11-15 17:50  

#7  WWI vets were said to be suffering from shell shock, but the symptoms are the same.

Veterans from the napoleonian wars suffered from was called "the wind of the cannonball", and it was clearly WWI or WWII shellshock or today's PTSD.
Posted by: anonymous5089   2007-11-15 13:35  

#6  I have had to deal with PTSD. But its no reason to desert. Thats dishonorable.

If the guy truly did desert over this and never intended coming back but has some conditions, then they should hande his case administratively, and give him a other than honorable discharge for desertion, but mark it so that he is eligible for VA care for his mental problems.

If its direct cause and he did have some intent of coming back, then give him a company grade article 15 (maybe yank a stripe), restrict him to quarters at the mental care unit, and try to make him into a soldier again with treatment. You don't leave the unit and go AWOL then desert in wartime without consequences.

If the problems are serious, like clinical depression, schizo (preexisting), then "chapter" him out with a general discharge (not honorable) and hand him to the VA. He can apply to have the discharge upgraded and likely will get approved after a year or two.

IF he bailed, and had no intent of coming back, and he was only dealign with PTSD and no other issues, then Dishonorable Discharge for Desertion after some stockade time during which he gets some counseling while in confinement. Mark the DD to allow him help for PTSD and nothing else at the VA.
Posted by: OldSpook   2007-11-15 13:32  

#5  Mr. Wife's uncle clearly suffered from PTSD -- he recently started going to counselling at his local VA hospital. He was a Green Beret in Viet Nam, even re-upped for a second stint. At one point he was, I believe, the 13th strongest man over there.

I don't think he was left behind to guard the gear. Not if the photo album Mr. Wife saw as a child is any indication.

Brain SPECT imaging (click on "anxiety disorder") apparently reveals a significantly different firing pattern for anxiety disorders such as PTSD than for normal brain function. It's been around for a long time -- WWI vets were said to be suffering from shell shock, but the symptoms are the same.

Posted by: trailing wife   2007-11-15 11:54  

#4  I don't think he would have received much sympathy in any of our wars prior to Vietnam. As a grunt, the only cases of PTSD I've come across are guys who were Sh%tbags to begin with, and usually, they have no reason to claim PTSD, because due to their lack of performance, they get left behind to guard gear when the bad stuff goes down anyway. Just my take.
Posted by: 0369Grunt   2007-11-15 11:26  

#3  I might've had a little sympathy for the guy...until the name Tod Ensign showed up.
Posted by: tu3031   2007-11-15 09:55  

#2  If ex-JAG were still trolling here, I'm sure we could get the latest legal advice, but iirc, as long as he kept his mil ID, the precedent is that it is AWOL and not desertion, because it shows intent of returning [at some time].

If there is any med eval that indicates a verifiable case of PTSD or symptoms, he'll be handled administratively, not judicially, unless there is information that the media didn't get or dropped that indicates other criminal issues.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2007-11-15 08:52  

#1  ...I had a couple AWOLs among my troops while I was in, and if the civilians arrested this guy, he was a deserter.

In wartime.

Under the UCMJ, that is a capital offense, and really should be dealt with as such.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski   2007-11-15 07:22  

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