At Your Service
For and about Hawaii's militaryBy Gregg K. Kakesako
Sunday, October 7, 2001
[IN THE MILITARY]
Calendar & Deployments
For Your BenefitRetired Army Brig. Gen. Irwin Cockett, former commanding general of the Hawaii Army National Guard, has been appointed the new director of the state Office of Veterans' Services. [IN THE MILITARY]
Retired Brig. Gen. Cockett
to head state Office
of Veterans’ ServicesCockett enlisted in the Army in 1949 and served in the Korean War as a member of the 5th Regimental Combat Team and then put in three combat tours as helicopter gunship pilot and as a Green Beret in the Vietnam War.
After Vietnam, Cockett joined the Hawaii Army National Guard and served as its commander from May 1983 to August 1986.
The Pentagon's long-awaited Quadrennial Defense Review supports the conversion of Trident submarines to fire conventional missiles. The Bush administration has recommended that two out of the four oldest Tridents be converted, but the Department of Defense is said to be quietly developing an alternative plan for the president's approval which would convert all four, and there are numerous backers.
The report also said, "The Secretary of the Navy will increase aircraft carrier battlegroup presence in the Western Pacific and will explore options for home-porting an additional three to four surface combatants, and guided cruise missile submarines (SSGNs), in that area."
The Navy will convert the USS Michigan and the USS Georgia by Oct. 1, 2003. The USS Ohio and the USS Florida would be decommissioned under the current plan.
Preliminary plans call for the Tridents to have their 24 ballistic missile tubes fitted with launchers that would each hold seven conventional missiles, such as the Tomahawk land attack missiles.
The Navy plans to implement a limited stop-loss program affecting 10,500 people in 11 critical skills. The Army has no immediate plans to implement it, while the Air Force's stop-loss policy will last one month beginning Oct. 2 while it decides which individuals or skills it needs to retain for a longer period.
For Navy personnel the order will take effect Wednesday and apply to people in 11 military specialties -- primarily special operations, security, translation and medical.
It also will apply to some Naval Reserve members.
Being held on active duty are explosive ordnance disposal lieutenants, lieutenant commanders and enlisted technicians; limited-duty officers and chief warrant officers in security jobs; cryptology officers; masters-at-arms, who serve as law enforcement and security personnel; enlisted SEALs; and some Special Warfare Combatant Craft crewmen.
The order also affects physicians and nurses with skills such as emergency medicine, general surgery, orthopedics, internal medicine and psychiatry, and linguists proficient in Middle Eastern and South Asian languages.
The Pentagon's stop-loss program allows the military services to retain individuals on active duty beyond their date of separation.
Those affected by the order generally cannot retire or leave the service as long as reserves are called to active duty or until relieved by the president, whichever is earlier. Stop-loss also freezes the status of reservists who cannot move to an inactive status.
Stop-loss was last used during Operation Allied Force over Kosovo.
In 1990, then-President George Bush delegated stop-loss authority to the secretary of defense during Operation Desert Shield.
That delegation remains valid today.
In the past, the Red Cross has not reached out to reserve component personnel as much as it should have. Now, officials are trying to remedy that by ensuring that National Guardsmen and reservists mobilized since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks know that more than 1,000 Red Cross chapters nationwide and 20,000 employees and volunteers are working on military installations to provide them emergency service around the clock.
Service members and their families look to the Red Cross for worldwide emergency communications, confidential counseling, emergency financial assistance, family support programs and veterans assistance. During the year 2000, for instance, the Red Cross transmitted 53,472 e-mail messages and received 52,696 replies for military and civilian personnel around the world.
Moving Up
Pearl Harbor: Cmdr. Brian T. Vance to command the Naval Submarine Support Command, relieving Cmdr. Kurt Irgens.
Oct. 13: [CALENDAR]
Meeting. Local chapter of WAVES. Fleet Military Reserve Association branch; 46-891 Valkenburgh St., 11 a.m. Contact: Bette Larrabee at 695-5446.
Question: The events of Sept. 11 brought back some terrible memories of my war experiences. I have heard a lot about PTSD. Can you explain more about it and if it applies to me? [FOR YOUR BENEFIT]
Treatment available
for stress disorderAnswer: PTSD stands for post-traumatic stress disorder. It is an anxiety disorder resulting from a psychologically stressful event beyond the scope of normal human experience.
The trauma may be experienced alone (rape or assault) or in the company of groups of people (military combat). The events that can cause PTSD are called stressors, which could result from a natural disaster such as a fire, car or airplane crashes, or deliberate man-made disasters such as bombing, torture, prison camps, etc.
Symptoms include recurrent thoughts of a traumatic event, nightmares, reduced involvement in work or outside interests, hyper-alertness, anxiety and irritability. As of September 2000, Veterans Affairs disability compensation for PTSD was going to 133,789 veterans.
How can the VA help a veteran who may have symptoms of PTSD? The VA operates an internationally recognized network of more than 140 specialized programs for the treatment of PTSD through medical centers and clinics such as the Spark M. Matsunaga Ambulatory Care Center.
There are also community-based centers, known as Vet Centers, located around the country. In Hawaii, Vet Centers are located in Honolulu, Hilo, Kailua-Kona, Lihue, Kauai, Wailuku and Guam. These centers provide counseling for psychological war trauma and are staffed by psychologists, nurses and social workers.
The counseling features a nonmedical setting, a mix of social services, community outreach activities, psychological counseling for war-related experiences and family counseling. Vet Centers were initially designed for Vietnam veterans, but current law has extended eligibility to any veteran who has served in the military in combat operations during any period of armed hostility.
An additional resource is the National PTSD Center, a center for clinical research, training and information on PTSD. The center is located at 1132 Bishop St., Room 307, and can be reached at 566-1546. If you are interested in obtaining more background on PTSD, visit the center's Web page at http://www.ncptsd.org.
If you believe you have PTSD symptoms, contact the VA's benefits section at 433-1000 and discuss filing a claim. A diagnosis of PTSD can result in disability compensation and free medical treatment. Don't wait for the claim to be completed. You can also contact the Honolulu Vet Center for assistance. The Oahu center is located at 1680 Kapiolani Blvd., Suite F-3. Its phone number is 973-8387.
If you have questions about your benefits as a veteran, call Fred Ballard at Veterans Affairs at 433-0049 or the Star-Bulletin at 529-4747.
Gregg K. Kakesako can be reached by phone at 294-4075
or by e-mail at gkakesako@starbulletin.com.
