Any veterans here with a substance abuse problem following your deployment?

[herbavore]

My husband has been pressured by the VA itself to claim PTSD. Though he will always have emotional scars he does not have PTSD. He has very real physical fallout, including the near fatal heart attack/ early non-genetic heart disease that we have been paying hundreds of dollars a month for for years. Now that all this time has gone by they are looking at statistics and concluding that vets exposed to Agent Orange have an astronomically higher incidence of heart disease. Now it looks like he might have an auto immune hepatitis caused by the heart meds. So he may be being raised to 30%. We've been waiting for over a year for their decision and every few months we get a letter saying, "We are still reviewing your claim." LOL My husband says, Slow readers, I guess

A 30% or higher rating is needed for lifetime military healthcare and disability pension.
Instead..... I got a 20% rating for having my spine accordioned by an IED, and being medically discharged because of it. My free medical coverage from the VA runs out at the end of this year, 5yrs being the max for under 30%.
Oh, and a disability pension?
Pfft..... I'll start to get $250/month when I hit 55.

With what you suffered, I find that to be disgusting. GRRRR

 

[Ixchellian]

Yah, they pressure me constantly to claim PTSD.... but it takes years of waiting, paperwork, and phone-tag to upgrade a VA disability rating.

Actually, I don't care much about how much my regular "compensation" was/is.

I got all the compensation I could ever need by being allowed to serve my nation for as long as I was able, and having the righteous opportunity to send a bunch of jihadi fucksticks off to be food for the flies was pure bonus.

 

[Snarky91]

I got all the compensation I could ever need by having the righteous opportunity to send a bunch of jihadi fucksticks off to be food ...

I like the premise of this thread and I was actually feeling a bit of sympathy until this post reminded me about the nature of the beast we are dealing with here. Thankfully, the US military enlists soldiers voluntarily. In the process of fighting in mindless wars that have no purpose whatsoever, these soldiers decry a lack of objective. They're not fighting any organized armies. In fact, the vast majority of the civilian populace where they invaded hates their guts and wishes them out of their land and away from causing them misery and suffering, I'm sure just as we'd treat any foreign occupier. The civilian population secretly aids the guerrillas in repelling the invaders, and without a visible enemy, soldiers question who they are really fighting. Either they can understand the utter pointlessness of the invasion (e.g. iraq) or they can see the nuance in how civilians view them as occupiers operating on a never ending pretext (e.g. afghanistan). Or, they see neither of those things and very frustrated; they begin to identify anyone who resists their presence as the enemy. Anyone who does not support them in their mindless pursuits is a sympathizer with the insurgents. Thus, they are fair game. Night raids are conducted, people are rounded up and imprisoned by the masses, information is gleaned, wedding parties are bombed, women and children are maimed, burned, bloodied, and torn into bits of inert flesh. One massacre after another after another, and what do we see in the public? A fucking scandal once in a while where, despite all efforts to the contrary, the public gets a tease of the bloodlust going on thousands of miles away, but not enough to interrupt an otherwise pleasant dinner.

And we are supposed to have compassion for the people who are directly culpable for the cold unemotional statistics of several hundred thousands dead, millions maimed, widowed, impoverished, forlorn, destitute, depressed, anxious, and hopeless?

It's kind of like feeling bad for a socipath. Whatever the circumstances that led up to that person being devoid of a conscience, it makes no difference once that point is reached. Some things are too much to make sense out of and we ought to accept them for what they are, like a rabid puppy that's beyond hope.

 

[Ixchellian]

This is what I actually said.

I got all the compensation I could ever need by being allowed to serve my nation for as long as I was able, and having the righteous opportunity to send a bunch of jihadi fucksticks off to be food for the flies was pure bonus.

Nice bit of creative editing, but your ideology doesn't hold water.

Were you there?
Did you raise your fucking right-hand, and swear any oath to protect and defend your nation, against ALL enemies, foreign or domestic?

It certainly takes big brass ones to make a social/political commentary like that here, in a thread about veterans with substance abuse problems. I think you left your yellow-&-white flag over in the P&CEs forum.

I never met ANY soldier who complained about a lack of mission or purpose.

There are so many holes in your political ideology, I don't have time to stick my dick in all of them.

You need to broaden your information base, as it's sadly deficient & near-sighted.

 

[Dave]

I want to apologize again for veering the thread off-topic, and because of that I'll leave all of the stuff here intact. However, let's please try to do better than I did and keep ideology out of this. A support thread for enlisted/veterans with current or past addictions issues is a great idea, but it'll get killed faster than anything if we all start arguing about ideology.

The next off-topic post will be deleted, and at that point I'll just go back and remove all of the prior off topic posts as well.

Fairly warned, be thee, says I. Yarr.

 

[TTZ234]

Thanks for the warm welcome herbavore
And thanks for keeping the wingbats out of this thread dave(im tempted to reply to him ,but you and Ixchellian pretty much summed it up)

As mentioned I was part of a relatively small PRT up in Faryab out of a fairly small ISAF camp,with people from Norway, Latvia, Macedonia, Iceland and the USA...
There was of course the in camp bazaar/shops run by locals..but they mostly sold shoulder patches with "you sent my dad to Afghanistan,you bastard" etc written on as well as the rugs and whatnot..

What I heard from my friends posted on larger bases like Bagram air base and the media , example: http://news.salon.com/2007/08/07/afghan_heroin/
Was that heroin was pretty easy to score heroin in these shacks..
This was a relatively long time since I came home and was discharged tho..(not to mention I didn't start my serious substance abuse before after I hung up my uniform)
So what I'm wondering,did anyone come across this in-country? or is it all a media ploy/sensationalism?

I know that in the latter years in Vietnam this became a prominent problem(have two uncles that was in the US.Army during that)..Given that A-stan produces close to 90% of the worlds raw opium I can certainly see a scenario resembling that be possible...but it doesn't coincide with my own experiences as a member of the Norwegian contingent..(we even had the stupid "two-can rule" for alcohol)

 

[Ixchellian]

As far as raw opium & heroin goes..... US soldiers don't need to go that far, as the docs have no problems handing out percocets like & tramadol like skittles. Prescription abuse is by far more prevalent. We also started having random UAs in-theatre, so few took advantage of the extremely good, cheap hash that circulates in Iraq.
The civilian contractors and their party habits is a different story, however.

Bootleg liquor was a much larger issue, and for a time ecstasy had it's run in the sun while I was in Iraq.
Thing is, most of the illicit substances in Iraq were smuggled in by western contractors. For the Iraqi vendors, it was too much risk for not enough dinar to sell us drugs individually.

It's far more profitable for them to sell us Americans bootleg porn. 8)

Dave: you didn't veer the topic off it's track..... your first response was admirably neutral yet supportive. I knew it was only a matter of time before someone tried to use this thread as a soapbox, but I think you've nipped that in the bud.
You're right, this thread could go bad very fast.... but I think the TDS crew can handle it fine.

 

[Dave]

I know, but I wanted to put that out there, in public, for everyone to see. I'mma watching this thread like a hawk.

Must resist temptation to turn this into an 'ask American servicepeople anything' thread....

 

[Ixchellian]

roger that, ghostrider. tracking.

If someone wants to know privately of more detail about stuff I may have experience with, I don't mind people who are genuinely curious asking me questions..... but the rabblerousers, those I will not abide.

while im no recruiter, I can give insight to what the life is like..... and possibly how to avoid getting caught in the gov-sponsored system of addiction.

 

[TTZ234]

roger that, ghostrider. tracking.

If someone wants to know privately of more detail about stuff I may have experience with, I don't mind people who are genuinely curious asking me questions..... but the rabblerousers, those I will not abide.

while im no recruiter, I can give insight to what the life is like..... and possibly how to avoid getting caught in the gov-sponsored system of addiction.

seconded,allthough I would be providing it from a non US perspective for what active duty military experience goes..

 

[TTZ234]

Ok I was thinking here the other day,I always have had a problem talking about specifics with people about certain experiences,e.g. if someone in a bar or during a party gets wind of your past and starts asking questions(of the type "was it like in that movie black hawk down?")..that is if the person(s) is completely oblivious of what goes on from day to day in the military and on top of that have very strong political opinions about the whole GWOT etc..

Do any of you find it easier to loosen up among other members of our little "club" if you like..or at least people that have done their "homework" if you like(that is not completely oblivious)..
A friend found that he was met with disbelief/distrust when he sometimes,loosened up and talked about the "TIC's he was in ,in Gorwmach,when he was part of the OMLT out of FOB Queysar with the ANA"..

anyway I'm just thinking loud here,it does feel great and actually kind of liberating to be among people that have happened to find themselves in the same boat

 

[Ixchellian]

Ok I was thinking here the other day,I always have had a problem talking about specifics with people about certain experiences,e.g. if someone in a bar or during a party gets wind of your past and starts asking questions(of the type "was it like in that movie black hawk down?")..that is if the person(s) is completely oblivious of what goes on from day to day in the military and on top of that have very strong political opinions about the whole GWOT etc..

That's why I reward those people with a few seconds hesitation, a blank stare, and a simple "No".... and then i can turn back to my original activity.

Or, sometimes if I'm in a magnanimous mood, I'll give the overly-inquisitive a tip;
"If you ask a guy what he did in the war and he describes the experience to the sharpest detail.... he's full of shit."
"If you ask a guy what he did in the war, and he looks right through you as he shares a story of a particular action and/or lost comrades, but only in the most vague terms.... he's telling the truth."
"If a guy is just sitting there quietly nursing a drink and out of nowhere starts telling you about a particular action, and then goes quiet again like nothing happened, listen but don't ask. It's a rare thing for a true-combat vet to share with strangers, so appreciate that it happened and then STFU."
"And if you ask a guy about the war and he just stares at you quietly, look at his hands & jaw. If they're clenching so hard his muscles are like ropes..... it'd behoove you to walk away, as fast as possible."

I don't mind the innocent & respectful curiosity of civilians.... and they paid for our paychecks, so it's also understandable that some like to know they're getting their money's worth.
But there are the few who think it's all like a war movie, and likely treat life as a game anyhow. Those are best ignored. Problem is, those are also the people who love to get vets all boozed-up so they can either pump us for details, or start talking mad shit.

anyway I'm just thinking loud here,it does feel great and actually kind of liberating to be among people that have happened to find themselves in the same boat

the fair anonymity here, and ability to more slowly work out what we want to say does make it easier, does it not?

oh, I didn't find myself anywhere..... I volunteered for this shit.
.... multiple times. 8)

 

[TTZ234]

That's why I reward those people with a few seconds hesitation, a blank stare, and a simple "No".... and then i can turn back to my original activity.

Or, sometimes if I'm in a magnanimous mood, I'll give the overly-inquisitive a tip;
"If you ask a guy what he did in the war and he describes the experience to the sharpest detail.... he's full of shit."
"If you ask a guy what he did in the war, and he looks right through[/] you as he shares a story of a particular action and/or lost comrades, but only in the most vague terms.... he's telling the truth."
"If a guy is just sitting there quietly nursing a drink and out of nowhere starts telling you about a particular action, and then goes quiet again like nothing happened, listen but don't ask. It's a rare thing for a true-combat vet to share with strangers, so appreciate that it happened and then STFU."
"And if you ask a guy about the war and he just stares at you quietly, take heed of his hands & jaw. If they're clenching so hard his muscles are like ropes..... it'd behoove you to walk away, as fast as possible."

I don't mind the innocent & respectful curiosity of civilians.... and they paid for our paychecks, so it's also understandable that some like to know they're getting their money's worth.
But there are the few who think it's all like a war movie, and likely treat life as a game anyhow. Those are best ignored. Problem is, those are also the people who love to get vets all boozed-up so they can either pump us for details, or start talking mad shit.



the fair anonymity here, and ability to more slowly work out what we want to say does make it easier, does it not?

oh, I didn't find myself anywhere..... I volunteered for this shit.
.... multiple times. 8)

Indeed brother,you have a way with words if you don't mind me saying so..

Its true we did volunteer,in Norway they still have the mandatory military service..but its hardly enforced at all,and no one is forcing you to sign up for INTOPS (contingents to ISAF etc)..on the other hand if you want a career in the military that doesn't involve riding a desk until your 43..INTOPS is pretty much mandatory..so its kind of a grey area here..Since I do hold a double citizenship,I was on the verge to go back to the old USofA to enlist there(since my family on my fathers side is pretty much a US military family)..then the Norwegian papers that calls most citizens over the age of 18 to the Norwegian equivalence of the MEPS came in the mail,and I figured what the hell...long story short a year and a half later,a young man with a new set of triple chevrons on his chest was on his way to what he figured as the land of adventure..

I digress..what is the thing here in this country is that the living standard is ridiculously high due to off shore oil drilling that goes straight back to the taxpayers..as I mentioned the mandatory military service is all but in name voluntary..most people find a way to weasel themselves out of it..or land a cushy year in the air force |on WING-OPS(basically sitting on your ass on some air force base watching other people work,alternatively make waffles and coffee for the aforementioned others),what I mean that the Norwegian army and certain elite elements of the navy is a pure voluntary force in all but name.

This has resulted in a disconnect in the aforementioned society that is used to a cushy lifestyle and this small "warrior culture" ,they all read the cheap sensationalist headlines(misquoting soldiers in-country with "killing is better than sex" and stuff like that, which makes for poor PR) and go about their day,some of them of course have strong opinions anyhow and don't mind a bit voicing them however loudly in various obnoxious ways..

I kinda forgot where I was going with this,but it felt good to get some of this off my chest

Well anyway,after my substance abuse became a problem I felt extremely ashamed,I felt I had let everyone down..my two countries most of all(US and Norway)..my friends from those years..even if I knew of several other cases in this very country..it is strictly taboo to even bring up publicly as a result of many things mentioned above..as I mentioned previously in this thread the politicians here wont even admit that the Norwegian contingent is even participating in a war(!)..wounded soldiers have had to take the government to court just to receive a fair compensation..this went so far that many veterans did a very public display of disgust in handing their INTOPS participation medals back to the minister of defense right in front of the Norwegian parliament on veterans day..(of course she didnt turn up, and she was the last administrations minister of agriculture..need I say more about the incompetence at play here?)

Sorry for ranting,this just felt very good to get off my chest as mentioned above..your last sentiment

the fair anonymity here, and ability to more slowly work out what we want to say does make it easier, does it not?

oh, I didn't find myself anywhere..... I volunteered for this shit.
.... multiple times.

...I couldnt agree more..I am very glad I found this forum and eventually found my way to TDS..

 

[herbavore]

^ and we are glad you are here,too!

 

[TTZ234]

^ and we are glad you are here,too!

thanks,actually means a lot..