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Allard, Salazar: Broaden Army PTSD Investigation
May 1, 2007 7:07 PM
Colorado's senators are calling for a broader investigation of mental health issues at Ft. Carson. Republican Wayne Allard and Democrat Ken Salazar wrote to the head of the Government Accountability Office, or GAO, today to urge that the investigation the agency is already conducting at Ft. Carson be broadened to recommend fixes that can be implemented by Congress or the Department of Defense.
That's a change of tune for Allard, who yesterday told KRCC that he didn't necessarily think such an investigation was necessary:
[LISTEN]
ALLARD: We may need to have a GAO investigation, but we're not calling for one at this point. We need more facts before we go too far down this road.
WHITNEY: But today Allard co-signed a leter to the GAO asking it to broaden the review its conducting -of Ft. Carson, and military policies on mental health in general.
Two weeks ago a bi-partisan group of Senators from outside Colorado made the initial request to the GAO. Senators including Democrat Barak Obama of Illinois and Republican Kit Bond of Missouri asked the GAO to review how the defense department screens for, diagnoses and treats servicemembers who might have Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and other mental health conditions as a result of their service in Iraq or Afghanistan. They specifically asked the GAO to look at Ft. Carson.
And yesterday we reported that several of those senators and Colorado Representative Doug Lamborn, a republican, will be sending staff to visit Ft. Carson for at least part of the GAO investigation.
Yesterday, Senator Allard said his office chose not to be part of the upcoming GAO/congressional staff visit, scheduled for the week of May 14th.
ALLARD: I hate to be part of a group of senators that may be searching for nothing more than just troubles.
WHITNEY: Ft. Carson has maintained from the start of the war that its soldiers have easy access to top mental health care. Reports on National Public Radio and in other media have brought the base criticism for insensitivity to post traumatic stress disorder, and several former Ft. Carson soldiers say the Army routinely discharges soldiers who are having problems rather than treating their mental health maladies.
Posted by Eric Whitney on May 1, 2007 7:07 PM | Permalink
