Soccer Team Honors Military Personnel

By Steven Donald Smith
American Forces Press Service

June 17, 2007 – The most successful team in Major Leagues Soccer's 11-year history paid special tribute to America's military men and women here last night. D.C. United hosted its 8th Annual Armed Forces Appreciation Day with several pre-game festivities at RFK Stadium. More than a thousand military personnel were invited to the game free of charge, and the team distributed military appreciation T-shirts to the first 5,000 fans.

"It is a privilege and an honor for D.C. United to host members of the armed forces and their families each season," Stephen Zack, D.C. United executive vice president, said. "We respect the commitment that these individuals and their loved ones make and hope to share with them our support of their efforts."

Army Sgt. 1st Class Kyle Hernandez, who helped pass out small American flags to fans, said he was glad the team had a special night to acknowledge U.S. troops. "I really appreciate what D.C. United is doing," Hernandez said. "It's great they are recognizing the soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors who serve their country."

The night's activities included military-related displays and booths in the team's "Soccer Celebration" area outside the stadium. A tractor-trailer emblazoned with the "America Supports You" logo was among the features. America Supports You is a Defense Department program that showcases ways in which Americans around the country are supporting military members.

Prior to kickoff, there was an on-field swearing-in ceremony of 15 new recruits from various services. Jesse Brush was one of the fresh faces soon to don a U.S. Navy uniform. He said he joined the Navy to serve his country.

"I have a lot of national pride and I wanted to show it. I thought the best way do that was to join the military," Brush said. " I hope to get some good training and serve my country."

Sgt. 1st Class Gary Wagner, an Army recruiter, said new recruits are sometimes apprehensive about their decision at first, but in the end most are extremely happy and proud they joined the armed forces. "The military is a good way for young people to start off their life. It gives them discipline and a job skill, and helps them pay for college," he said. "I've been in 16 years and it's been great. I've loved every year of it."

Other activities during the night included a military aircraft flyover and a ceremonial first kick by military personnel. Kids Serve Too, an America Supports You home front group, took the field to help hold a large American flag during the playing of the national anthem. Fans also had the opportunity to send text messages of support to U.S. servicemembers through the America Support You text messages system.

In addition, the U.S Navy Drill Team performed at halftime.

Skip Kruger, D.C. United's senior director of corporate partnerships, and a former Marine, said the team is glad to set aside time to honor American troops.

"The people involved with D.C. United are big believers in supporting those in the military and their families," Kruger said. "We encourage our fans to do the same thing. And as you can see by the applause the troops received from our fans, they do."

As for the game, D.C. United beat the Chicago Fire 3-1.

Pace Picnic Honors America's Wounded Warriors

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

June 17, 2007 – Army Pfc. David Clatt's left arm has a curve in it where there shouldn't be one. A military police officer, he was on patrol in Sadr City in East Baghdad when there was an explosion and a piece of shrapnel went right through it.

Two months later, Clatt was sitting on the grass in front of the chairman of the Joint Chief of Staff's home here yesterday. Marine Gen. Peter Pace and his wife, Lynne, invited the young soldier and other warriors undergoing treatment at Walter Reed Army Medical Center and Bethesda Naval Hospital for a picnic.

The picnic had the flavor of any outdoor activity anywhere in America. Kids played Frisbee or kicked around hackey sacks. Clowns made balloon animals. There was fried chicken, ribs, potato salad and desserts. Adults sat around tables and ate and talked and listened as a combo from the Marine Corps Band played country songs.

But it was different, too. One of the songs the combo played was "American Soldier" by Toby Keith. Clatt and another soldier sang along with the chorus: "I will always do my duty, no matter what the price; I've counted up the cost; I know the sacrifice."
These men and women do understand the sacrifice, and yet they want to do more. To a person, the injured soldiers want to get back to their units.

Army Spc. Caleb Huss, an infantryman from New Brighton, Minn., watched the festivities from his wheelchair and held his two-month-old son, Logan. Huss was serving in Kunar province in Afghanistan when an automobile accident ended his tour two weeks before he was due to come home. "I want to stay on active duty, but I don't know if I can yet," Huss said. "It depends on if my legs come back."

Huss was in the 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry, 10th Mountain Division. "My guys (from the unit) keep in touch," he said. "They are doing all right."

Army Staff Sgt. Scott Gentry was in Mosul, Iraq, with the 4th Brigade of the 1st Cavalry Division. He was on patrol when an improvised explosive device "rattled my clock pretty good," he said. He is blind in his right eye and surgery is rebuilding the right side of his face.

He, too, wants to go back to his unit. He said the third question he asked when he woke up in Walter Reed was about his men. "My first question was, 'Where am I?' My second was to my wife and that was, 'What are you doing here?' My third was, 'How are my boys?'" Gentry said.

The sergeant has 10 years in the Army, and said the service gave him something "no one else could." He said that he enlisted to better himself. "All my friends were into drugs or going to jail, and I wanted something different," he said. "The Army gave me a way out."

He said he has been pleased with the care he has received at Walter Reed, but wants out of the hospital as soon as possible. "I've seen too many friends at Walter Reed and that's not a place I want to have a reunion in," he said.

"Besides, my boys are still in Iraq," he continued. "I should be there with them."

The Paces spoke with all of the wounded warriors and their families individually. The general also spoke to them as a group. "Today is about saying 'Thank you' to our wounded warriors," Pace said. "You have freely given more than America could ever demand."

Pace thanked the families for their contributions and their sacrifices as they help care for those wounded. "I hope this helps you to know that your fellow Americans love and respect you," Pace said.

DoD Receives Mental Health Task Force Results

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates received the Department of Defense Task Force on Mental Health results and forwarded them to the Congress on June 14. The department will have six months to develop and implement a corrective action plan. "This report points to significant shortfalls in achieving goals and taking care of our service members and their families," said Dr. S. Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs. "We will continue to address the need for mental health care in order to reinforce our commitment to providing the best care in the world to our service members and their families who deserve no less."

Significant findings include:
Mental health care stigma remains pervasive and is a significant barrier to care.
Mental health professionals are not sufficiently accessible to service members and their families.
There are significant gaps in the continuum of care for psychological health.
The military system does not have enough resources, funding or personnel to adequately support the psychological health of service members and their families in peace and during conflict.

Implementation of recommendations and remedies to support our service members has already begun, to include:

Military services have established dozens of deployment health clinics around the country.
Mental health providers have been embedded in line units in Iraq and Afghanistan to perform initial treatment for combat stress and post -traumatic stress disorder.
Service members are receiving additional mental health training to de-stigmatize when they need to reach out for help.

The services are currently proactively exploring options to adequately resource their mental health care providers. "I want to thank the members of the task force, the Congress, and especially our medical personnel who have been working so hard to provide compassionate care to our service members with the resources they have been given," Casscells said.

The Task Force on Mental Health was congressionally directed and organized in June 2006 to assess and recommend actions for improving the efficacy of mental health services provided to service members and their families. It includes seven DoD members and seven non-DoD members. The report can be viewed on the health affairs Web site at http://www.ha.osd.mil/dhb/mhtf/MHTF-Report-Final.pdf.

Pace Pledges His Best Through End of Term

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

June 15, 2007 – Although he would never voluntarily leave the battlefield while troops are at war, Marine Gen. Peter Pace said he accepts the decision to not renominate him for a second term. On June 8, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates announced that he was going to recommend that President Bush nominate Adm. Michael G. Mullen as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff rather than nominate Pace for another two-year term.

Pace discussed that decision process in response to a question posed following an address to students, faculty, and local military and community leaders at the Joint Forces Staff College here yesterday. The general was the featured speaker of the Henry Clay Hofheimer Lecture Series.

The general said that he and Gates discussed whether Pace should voluntarily retire and take the decision off the table.

"I said I could not do it for one very fundamental reason, and that is that 'Pfc. Pace' in Baghdad should not think ever that his chairman, whoever that person is, could have stayed in the battle and voluntarily walked off the battlefield," he said.

Out of his sense of leadership, he could not even consider the idea, Pace said. Therefore, he did not submit his retirement papers until after it became publicly known that he was not going to be renominated.

"That is very important to me," Pace said. "That piece holds true for anybody in this position -- anybody."

The general learned of the dilemma in May, within a day or two of the secretary learning from some members of Congress that they had concerns about renominating Pace.

"He brought me in the office and sat me down and said: 'Pete, this is what's happening. I want to renominate you. I want you to know that this is what I'm beginning to hear; this is what I'm going to go do; this is how I'm going to go do it,'" Pace said.

Gates went back to the Senate and "pulsed" some of the members. Pace told the secretary that he was "all for it" if Gates wanted to push forward with the renomination.

But Pace also told the secretary to do what he thought was best for the institution. "Whatever he and the president decided was going to be best for the institution was what Pete Pace was going to do," the general said.

During the June 8 news conference, Gates said confirmation hearings for Pace would be contentious and not in the best interests of the country.

"I am no stranger to contentious confirmations, and I do not shrink from them," Gates said. "However, I have decided that at this moment in our history, the nation, our men and women in uniform, and General Pace himself would not be well served by a divisive ordeal in selecting the next chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff."

In his remarks yesterday, Pace also spoke of a more personal reason that affected his decision to not voluntarily retire.

"The other piece for me personally was that some 40 years ago I left some guys on the battlefield in Vietnam who lost their lives following Second Lieutenant Pace," he said. "I promised myself then that I will serve this country until I was no longer needed. I need to be told that I'm done. I've been told I'm done."

Pace said he will continue to give the job of chairman his best through the end of his term.

"I will run through the finish line on 1 October, and when I run through the finish line I will have met the mission I set for myself," he said to a standing ovation.

National Anthem Project Concludes With Grand Finale Events

By Samantha L. Quigley
American Forces Press Service

June 15, 2007 – In the shadow of the Washington Monument, with its 50 American flags snapping in the breeze, the "President's Own" U.S. Marine Band helped kick off the grand finale of the National Anthem Project here yesterday. The National Association for Music Education's multiyear project to get America singing its anthem again began when a poll showed two-thirds of Americans didn't know the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner."

"It wasn't just the words, it was not knowing anything about who Francis Scott Key was," said Earl Hurrey, the association's assistant executive director. "We had kids that didn't know what the name of the national anthem was. They thought it was just the 'National Anthem.'"

The staggering results of the poll prompted the National Association of Music Education to launch the National Anthem Project on the steps of the U.S. Capitol on March 10, 2005. The project was intended to re-teach Americans the words to "The Star-Spangled Banner" and to emphasize the importance of music in school, Hurrey said.

"We created the National Anthem Project to make people aware that music education in schools is far more important than just 'Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star,'" Hurrey, a former Marine master gunnery sergeant and member of the "President's Own" said. "The songs of our heritage are an important part of our culture, and when you cut music from schools, you're also cutting those lessons about our music and our heritage."

The students from Patterson Elementary School in Gilbert, Ariz., who were part of the nearly 5,000 music students from 42 states who gathered on the National Mall for the program, don't have that problem. Their music teacher, Diane Walker, makes sure her students know the words to the multiple verses.

"I was excited for the kids to learn all of (the verses). We talked about the words and what the words mean," she said. "I think when they sing those words today, being in this setting, it'll mean more than it ever has before."

Her students agreed. With red and blue bands on her braces, Kelsi Helfrich, 11, said she appreciated her teacher's zeal for "The Star-Spangled Banner."

"I only knew the first verse of the national anthem, and I didn't really know the rest," she said. "There's a lot of history behind it, and it probably took a long time to write it."

Helfrich admitted that until recently she thought there was just one verse to the song. "Apparently there's four," she said with a grin.

Yesterday's events began the grand finale capping the two- year project. When the Marine band's musical salute to American culture ended, the Oak Ridge Boys took center stage and, along with Mrs. America representatives, led the crowd in singing the national anthem.

The celebration concludes tomorrow at the U.S. Naval Academy's Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium with a musical festival. A drum corps competition will end the day's festivities.

Army Continues Working to Improve Warfighters' Gear, Equipment

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

June 15, 2007 – Today's soldiers have the best equipment available, and the Army keeps striving to improve it, the general who oversees the equipping effort said. "In the history of warfare, there has never been a ground soldier as well equipped and capable as the U.S. Army is today," Army Brig. Gen. R. Mark Brown told Pentagon reporters during a roundtable briefing yesterday.

The weapons, clothing and other gear used by warfighters today make them "more capable, more survivable, more lethal and with better communications than any time in history," Brown said.

"Even though that's the case, we never rest on our laurels," he said. "We're always looking for something better. ... We get the state-of-the-art, and then we immediately start going on to the next thing."

As commander of the Army's Program Executive Office Soldier program, Brown oversees the production of everything soldiers wear or carry. That ranges from uniform items, protective gear and weapons to optical equipment and communications systems.

With a $1 billion annual budget for research and development and $4.4 billion for procurement, PEO Soldier's 400 programs all work toward a common goal. "The eternal challenge in PEO Soldier is to balance size, weight and power consumption with soldier capabilities," Brown said.

That means giving troops the highest-quality, most dependable, lowest-maintenance gear possible, but with the lowest weight and least bulk. It's a constant balancing act between lightening equipment without losing capability, while adding new systems as they come on line, he said.

Brown's goal is to limit the maximum fighting load to one-third of a soldier's body weight. That's a huge challenge, he acknowledged, when some missions currently require as much as 100 pounds of equipment.

Even the latest Interceptor body armor and outer tactical vest now being fielded weigh about 27.8 pounds. This figure varies slightly depending on size and doesn't include the added weight for throat and groin attachments or deltoid protection.

Brown said he's impressed with the speed in which new equipment is reaching the force. The Army has introduced nine body-armor improvements in the last five years and four helmet improvements in the last three.

"What we try to do is develop these things as rapidly as we can and do the research and development, the test, the acquisition as simultaneously as we can," he said. "A lot is being done and being delivered to the soldier at the right place and right time."

Brown visibly bristles when asked about news reports that more capable gear is intentionally being kept from the troops. That's flat-out wrong, he said, and shakes the confidence of soldiers in harm's way.

"I want to assure the American public, the soldiers and their families that they have the best equipment when and where they need it," he said. "If there were something better, we would buy it, and we're always looking for something better."

Soldier Missing In Action From WWII Is Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from World War II, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors. He is Pvt. Lawrence P. Burkett, U.S. Army, of Jefferson, N.C. He will be buried Saturday in Jefferson.

Representatives from the Army met with Burkett's next-of-kin in their hometown to explain the recovery and identification process and to coordinate interment with military honors on behalf of the secretary of the Army.

In early December 1944, Burkett was a member of Company A, 357th Infantry Regiment, 90th Infantry Division. The 90th ID had been assigned the task of breaching the southern portion of the enemy's "West Wall" near the German city of Saarbrücken. The 357th was occupying a bridgehead in the Dillingen Forest near the Saar River when the Germans launched a strong counterattack. The 357th suffered many casualties and on Dec. 11, Burkett was among those listed as missing in action.

In May 2006, U.S. officials were notified that a German citizen had found and dug up the remains of a possible American soldier in a wartime fighting trench in the Dillingen Forest near Saarbraken. The U.S. officials traveled to the site and collected the remains and associated evidence, including Burkett's identification tags and his social security card.

In September 2006, a team from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) excavated the burial site in the Dillingen Forest and recovered additional human remains and material evidence.

Among dental records, other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.

For additional information on the Defense Department's mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO Web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.

Restaurant Brings Taste of Home to Deployed Troops

By Sgt. Matthew Clifton, USA
Special to American Forces Press Service

June 15, 2007 – A large line could be seen extending from the chow hall here as the aroma of steak floated across the base June 13. Soldiers here were treated to a little taste of home when "Feeding Freedom 5" brought the "Down Under" taste of Outback Steakhouse to the base dining facility.

"Feeding Freedom" is the program that brings food from Outback Steakhouse to servicemembers deployed overseas. Thanks to numerous donations and volunteers from the United States, the troops at Salerno enjoyed a vast menu, including rib-eye steaks, calamari, vegetable ravioli, chocolate and carrot cake, and the signature Outback dish -- the "Bloomin' Onion."

"It makes me feel real special to have these guys come over here and risk their own safety just to bring us something good to eat," said Army Spc. Sharice Lidell, a water purification specialist with the 782nd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team. "I love steak, and it really shows a lot about their character that they come here."

Feeding Freedom 5 has been to Kuwait and is headed to Al Asad Air Base, Iraq.

A recurring sentiment wherever the people of Feeding Freedom go is gratitude. They are very thankful for what servicemembers are doing, but this sentiment is reciprocated by the enormous appreciation the troops have for the volunteers.

"This is just our way of saying thank you to the troops," said Lisa Ross, a regional service technician with Outback. "We are only here for a couple weeks, but these guys are here for a year."

Most of the volunteers with Feeding Freedom are owners and operators of Outback Steak Houses and Carrabba's Italian Grills. The volunteers of Feeding Freedom worked diligently throughout the meal making sure every table had a fresh Bloomin' Onion, clearing the empty plates for the troops, and having friendly conversations with the soldiers.

"It's such a reality check," said Mandi Cannon, a volunteer and regional service technician for Carrabba's. "Not a lot of people know exactly what goes on over here."

Cannon alluded to a mission she saw where water was being loaded in an aircraft to be dropped to people in the field. "It shows me just how rough some of these guys have it over here," she continued. "And that's why I volunteered -- strictly to say, 'Thank you.'"

During the dinner, laughter could be heard mixed with compliments on the excellence of the food. Volunteers were chatting with soldiers everywhere.

"Everybody is so excited we are here," Cannon said. "When we were in Kuwait, I'll always remember what one of the guys said to me.

"He said, 'Today's chow tastes like freedom.' That is something I will never forget."

(Army Sgt. Matthew Clifton is assigned 22nd Mobile Public Affairs Detachment.)

Guide Offers Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Resources

By Donna Miles
American Forces Press Service

June 15, 2007 – After watching her own son return home from combat with post-traumatic stress disorder, an Army mom wants to share the lessons she learned -- and resources she found -- with others who find themselves faced with the same challenges. Emily Afuola said she'll never forget the emotions that tugged at her and her family when they learned that Pvt. Matthew Afuola had been diagnosed with PTSD during his deployment to Afghanistan with the 10th Mountain Division.

"When families find out about this, they're scared and worried. They're in a state of shock and a state of panic," she said.

Afuola sought out every resource she could find to get answers and allay her and her families' concerns. "Initially, it was very, very hard," she said. "But I found that people were out there who wanted to help."

Afuola recognized that other families are confronting the same circumstances and wanted to share what she learned. She joined together with several other members of Blue Star Mothers of America, Inc., to produce a 17-page "Guide to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder" to help them.

"We knew that other families are going through the same thing we did, and we're hoping that through this, they won't have to walk the same path," she said.

The guide offers basic, easy-to-understand information about what causes PTSD and symptoms to look for, as well as advice for getting treatment. It recognizes the effect a servicemember's PTSD has on family members, and the role they can play in helping their loved one deal with the affliction.

One of the guide's most valuable resources is an extensive list of places to turn to for help.

Afuola emphasized that the guide wasn't compiled by mental health professionals and isn't designed to replace the services they offer. "We just realized a need for something like this, and wanted to help make things a little easier for the people affected," she said.

Initially, the Blue Star Mothers had planned to roll out the guide during the group's annual convention in August. But so many people were seeking the information, Afuola said, organizers decided to publish it as quickly as possible. "We realized that there was a need to do something now, not to wait," she said.

Afuola said she's hopeful the guide will help reduce uncertainty surrounding PTSD and encourage more people who have it, or whose loved ones have it, to step forward. "We want to change some of the stigma so people can come forward without fear of retribution," she said.

The guide is available online at the Blue Star Mothers Web site, www.bluestarmothers.org. Afuola also includes her e-mail and phone number in hope that servicemembers or families in crisis will contact her directly.

The message she hopes servicemembers and their families take away from the guide is simple, she said. "There is hope, and people out here who care about you," she said. "We want them to know that even when they can't stand up for themselves, we will stand up for them."

Blue Star Mothers Inc. is a non-partisan, non-political organization committed to supporting servicemembers and their families. It is a partner in the Defense Department's America Supports You program that showcases initiatives groups, companies and individuals nationwide are undertaking to support America's men and women in uniform and their families.

Pace Speaks About Jointness, Moral Courage

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

June 15, 2007 – U.S. armed services frequently work together in joint operations, and military officers also need to represent their own services in joint environments, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said yesterday at the Joint Forces Staff College here. Pace delivered the Henry Clay Hofheimer Lecture to students, faculty and guests of the college. Most of the students are young officers who will move on to joint service assignments around the world.

"This is a joint school, a joint and combined environment and I like that a lot," Marine Gen. Peter Pace said. "But I ask you to not forget what uniform you wear."

The military has successfully embraced jointness, he said, and the campaign into Iraq in March and April 2003 proved the worth of the joint approach. But officers may be too quick to embrace the concept.

Pace said he knows a lot about the Marine Corps, having grown up in the culture from second lieutenant fresh out of the Naval Academy. "What I need around me are officers who will tell me what it is about the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard that I do not know, and if I did know, I could make a better decision," he said.

An Air Force officer going to a joint meeting has the responsibility to represent his service as part of his input to the meeting. "When you walk in that room, don't be bashful about explaining to the other people why certain things in your service are the way they are," Pace said. "At the end of the day, when the decision is made, of course, we all get on board and row together."

He said keeping an open mind is part of the process. It is important to articulate the service's position, but an officer needs to understand it is only one way of looking at that problem.

"Understand that you know part of the truth, not all of the truth, and listen to the folks around you," Pace said. "Then become part of the team that solves the problem."

The chairman said military personnel readily understand physical courage, but he has really come to understand moral courage.

"I have come in my last six years to appreciate and value the courage that comes with having to stand up and speak your mind when others are thinking differently," he said. "If you are wrong in combat, you might die. If you are wrong intellectually you have to live with it."

With seniority comes membership in more powerful groups, he noted. "As discussions are going in one direction, it becomes more and more difficult to say 'I see it a bit differently.' But I will tell you that the more senior you become the more critical it is that you be the person at the table who does that," he said.

Pace also spoke about the value of saying "no" to senior officials. Pace said the word "no" has an unusual effect on people. He said if there is a roll call around a table and someone says, "No" everything stops.

"Everybody listens," he said. "You will not always carry the day. But you will always be welcome at the next meeting, because people know you will always speak your mind."

The chairman also told the students that it is important to "grow where you are planted." He said some students in the class are going to assignments they would not have chosen for themselves. But, they have to give some credit to the services. The services know what they want in officers and what type of experiences they need for their officers.

"In my case, if I had done everything I had wanted to do in the Marine Corps and everything I presumed I was best-qualified for, I would long be retired," he said. "The service put me places that gave me the experiences that allowed me to compete for higher and higher jobs."

"More important than that," he told the students, "every place that we could possibly send you, there are great young men and women in uniform who need your leadership, who deserve the best you can give them. And as you already know if you take care of the folks in your charge the trip your on is amazingly rewarding and your unit just performs beyond anything you imagined."

Reducing Stigma Provides Key to Better Mental Health, Officials Say

By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service

June 15, 2007 – The key to improving mental health care in the military and in America is to reduce the stigma associated with seeking help, Defense Department medical officials said today. The officials spoke during the release of the latest department Mental Health Task Force Report at the Pentagon.

Ward Casscells, assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, said the issue of reducing stigma associated with servicemembers and their families seeking mental health help is crucial to success in this effort.

"We need all the input we can get," Casscells said. "We're out there talking to soldiers, line commanders, people in the corporate world, people in the university world, Institute of Medicine. We've got two eyes open, two ears open, a lot of eyes and ears open, so we're looking for ideas on that."

Casscells said the message he is trying to get to commanders and troops is that it is all right to seek help. He said many famous people in history have suffered from depression.

"Martin Luther, Gandhi, Beethoven, Sigmund Freud, Patton, Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, every one of them had bouts of depression through their life, and every one of them became a great success in some way," he said. "Now you wouldn't have wanted a weapon in Mozart's hands, but he made enormous contributions."

Better screening of servicemembers for possible mental health problems is part of the effort, Casscells said.

"We've got these post-deployment questionnaires that you fill out when you leave theater," he said. "When I left Iraq, I filled out a questionnaire and said: Were you near an IED that went off? Are you having trouble sleeping? Are you having trouble controlling your feelings? And so forth, and so on. A lot of people check 'no' because they want to get home."

New methods seek to assure troops that "even if they check 'yes,' they're going to get home and get the care when they get home, that they can fill this thing out honestly," he said.

Another issue is follow-up care.

"We are getting some retired soldiers, including chaplains and psychologists, who are going to make it their business to contact people at six months and say, 'I just want you to know that we haven't forgotten your service. I'm a veteran. And don't forget there are all these things available to you. And by the way, I'm here to talk to you. I struggled with this or that. And you can call me confidentially because I'm not in the chain of command,'" Casscells said.

"But we want to make sure that at six months, we've got everybody contacted," he said. "And so we are working toward that goal."

Rear Adm. John Mateczun, Navy deputy surgeon general, said the stigma of mental health problems is a pervasive problem. "We hope to find new ways to be able to deal with the questions that people have in their mind about seeking mental health support," he said.

The admiral said the Navy is reviewing policies about care for mental health and what that means for deployment.

"We have a lot of people who may not seek mental health care appropriately," Mateczun said. "One of the results of Operation Desert Storm and the reviews that went on about mental health care after that conflict was that there were a number of people that actually deployed with diagnoses, with medications that they had received from private practitioners that we didn't know anything about."

The services need to make sure that people with diagnoses who are able to deploy, are given the proper medications and treatment, Mateczun said.

"We've reviewed our weapons qualifications policies and ... have modified our physical qualifications criteria so that those people who are on routine medications and doing well can continue to qualify and bear arms."

Ease of access to care concerns the Maj. Gen. Gale S. Pollock, commander of U.S. Army Medical Command.

"One of the changes that we've made is a program that we've called respect.mil," she said. "Instead of requiring the soldiers or the family members to go to a designated location because you're getting behavioral health care, it's now done inside the primary care area so that we can do the assessment, and people can just come to the clinic for behavioral health issues the same as they would come for any physical health."

Navy Vice Adm. Donald Arthur, co-chairman of the task force, said the group has finished its work and represented the finished report to Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. The Defense Department will have six months to develop and begin to implement an action plan.

Other officials and experts who spoke today were: Maj. Gen. Bruce Green, Air Force deputy surgeon general; Col. Elspeth Cameron Ritchie, psychiatry consultant to the Army Surgeon General; Ellen Embrey, deputy assistant secretary of defense for force health protection and readiness; and Shelley MacDermid, professor of child development and family studies at Purdue University.