I am Garett Reppenhagen. I served in Iraq as a Cavalry Scout and sniper in US Army’s 1st Infantry Division from 2004-2005. Unfortunately I have personal experience with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as do many of the people I served with. Recall where you were last year today, and now try to imagine the last entire year you were in a combat zone in Iraq. Imagine you are in constant danger from hidden road side bombs and exposed to ambushes and sniper fire. Imagine that your home is constantly harassed with mortar explosions and rocket attacks while you try to sleep. Imagine you witnessed your closest friend being torn apart by enemy fire. Imagine you discover that the person you thought was an insurgent that you killed turns out to be an innocent child, or some one who looks similar to your own mother. Now imagine you lost a limb, you lost your eyesight, you lost your friend, you lost your sanity and you lost your innocence for an unappreciative society and an unconcerned elected government.

I didn’t expect to come home to find there is no plan for addressing the needs of veterans like myself, and with each passing day, I grow more and more concerned that there is no plan from the VA on how to serve the thousands of veterans like me who have served our country proudly and now find ourselves without the help we need. I don't understand how, despite being in the middle of not one, but two wars, our government is actually scaling back on services that are critical for men and women trying to re-enter civilian society. I don't understand how in 2006 we're still debating if PTSD exists when people have suffered from war trauma for decades. We have seen that the consequences of war affect those who serve, and those close to them, for years to come. And I don’t understand why our country would choose not to take steps to make sure veterans like me get the care we deserve before we end up another generation abandoned by the country we fought to defend.

The bulk of our countries homeless population has a metal health condition or a substance abuse problem. When our service members return home and their veteran hospitals turn them away, or fail to give them the proper healthcare, the veteran turns toward drugs and alcohol to self medicate. When these hospitals lack the programs and staff to deal with substance abuse the veteran has very few options. It will not surprise me when the men and women who choose to serve their country and make the largest sacrifice end up on the street.

Currently there are 531 veteran patients per doctor. Many of the VHA mental health professionals must rotate from hospital to hospital and thus only visit a single local hospital once a week. For many veterans suffering from PTSD it takes courage and great effort to get out of bed in the morning, much less leave their own house. Once the veteran arrives at the hospital it is crippling and sometimes life ending to ask him to return another day.

The idea that veterans are using PTSD as a way to profit as if it is some welfare program is disgusting and indecent. What happened to the trust and credibility the United States Soldier had when we were the Time Life person of the year? Does the good character of the service member disappear the moment he takes off the uniform? I have spoken to hundreds of veterans suffering from PTSD in which their daily lives are turned into horrific nightmares because of intrusive thoughts and hyper vigilance. I guarantee they would all rather pay that money they receive twice over to live free of this psychological disorder. These are injuries received on the field of battle which are service connected and thus DOD and the VA are liable to provide adequate healthcare and compensation so those that served are at least on par with their peers who did not. To claim that the lack of bravery or absence of nerve makes an individual soldier at fault is as ignorant as stating that if a service member was tougher they wouldn’t lose a limb in an explosion.

Out of the 1.5 million service members that have served in the Global War On Terror 600,000 are eligible for VA healthcare. 35 percent of veterans that have been treated by VHA doctors have at least one mental health condition.
As the remaining 900,000 plus service members exit the military the already strained healthcare system our nation’s veterans will see greater neglect.

We have a veteran crisis in America.

The good news is, this problem can be fixed with the right plan – there are a number of specific steps we could take to improve the level of care for our nation’s veterans. First, we should extend VA mental health care from two years to five years. The current two-year window is not enough, since it can take many years for symptoms of PTSD and other mental health problems to surface. Also, face to face physical and mental health exams for every service member within 30 days of their return home should be a given, so we can make sure they get the care they need, whether they are remaining home or going back into battle. Lastly, just last week, GAO reported that the VA faced a $3 billion budget shortfall in 2005 because it did not correctly estimate the costs for Iraq and Afghanistan wars. Until we know more about how many veterans we can expect and what they will need, we will be unable to serve them and their problems will escalate, at personal cost to them, and societal cost to the rest of us.

I fear if we don't act immediately we will have failed our war veterans. Every moment this crisis is allowed to continue American veterans suffer and die.