From FOX News In an effort to address the mental health problems of some combat troops, the U.S. Army wants all of its 1.1 million soldiers to start taking emotional resiliency classes. The new $117 million dollar program is based on the research of Dr. Martin Seligman, chairman of the University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychology […]

Here’s an article from ABC News about what a soldier needs in the field. It’s written by someone stationed with troops in Afghanistan. I agree with most of it – mail is super-important while you’re overseas. Chow was a little more difficult for me since I’m a vegetarian, but Katie and her mom sent me […]

I read an interesting blog post today on the difference between unfounded worry and legitimate concern. Wow! It was eye-opening…. and I wish I’d read it during Paul’s deployment! While Paul was in Afghanistan, I was a nervous wreck. I spent many sleepless nights and many afternoons unfocused and aimless in my life. I did […]

I read a great editorial today on the need for military leaders to admit suffering from PTSD. (It’s pasted at the end of this post.) As you can guess, this is an issue that I have a deep connection to. When we were together, I used to celebrate every time Paul got promoted. Every time […]

By The Associated Press The head of U.S. Central Command warned Friday that the thousands of American troops surging into Afghanistan’s turbulent Helmand province to battle the Taliban are in for a tough fight. Gen. David Petraeus, best known for coordinating the troop surge in Iraq that is credited with reducing that country’s violence, cautioned […]

By Gregg Zoroya / USA TODAY After seven years of war, most children of combat troops are showing more fear, anxiety and behavioral problems, according to the Pentagon’s most sweeping survey of the effects of war on military children. Six out of 10 U.S. military parents told researchers their children have increased levels of fear […]

Aside from being away from loved ones, deployments share a key common feature: their varied pace. Know throughout the military as operational tempo or simply “op tempo,” and defined as how busy any given person or unit is during their time deployed. While everyone’s deployed jobs and experiences are different, the fact is that no […]

Here is part of a post from Susan Katz Keating about watching her father suffer PTSD. It’s powerful – and recognizable for many of us who have loved ones suffering post-combat. You can read Susan’s blog here. I awakened late to the sound of violent pounding on the front door of our home in Riverside, California. By […]

Dear Deployment, You won. I tried to fight you; but in the end you were more powerful than me. More powerful than him. More powerful than us. You changed him. After knowing you, he is not a man I recognize. I loved him the best I knew how, but I could not understand the secrets […]

This is a powerful post from a soldier serving in Afghanistan. See the orignal story here. On Friday our patrol got hit. An insurgent threw a grenade into one of our patrol vehicles. I helped the rest of my guys carry my roommate to the CSH (Combat Support Hospital) here in Mosul in a black […]