Veterans In Prison (VIP) believe that the fact that combat related Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a hidden wound and cant be seen like a normal physical wound – it has for years been exploited and misused as the Cinderella of the Ministry if Defence’s (MoD) medical services.
As well as conveniently providing the MoD with the means to put the problems of combat related PTSD on the back burner because of it being a wound that cant be seen - it has also provided the MoD with the attitude of ‘ignore combat related PTSD for long enough and it disappears back into Civvy Street’ conveniently becoming someone else’s tragedy!
The American Government admitted in May 2008 that nearly half of their troops who have served in Afghanistan suffer from combat related PTSD – 60,00 have been diagnosed and a third of them (20,000) have committed felonies with 200 committing the crime of murder. Remarkably the occurrence of the British government actually telling the truth about the effects and statistics of wars/conflicts does not happen in this country – especially about equipment shortages or the inadequate and ineffective healthcare of its troops/veterans (more so whilst running the two wars of Iraq and Afghanistan on one peacetime budget). Appallingly its become more easier for New Labour to come out with announcements of ‘spin’ rather than care for the needs of its troops/veterans – such as Veterans Minister Kevan Jones’s statement regarding the issue of thousands of British troops/veterans suffering combat related PTSD (same as the thousands of American troops/veterans) by stating: “The Government have seen no evidence to suggest we are facing a crisis of veterans with mental health concerns”.
Firstly: VIP would point out that one of the three wise monkeys couldn’t see anything either but sadly the reality of the situation at this point is that British troops/veterans are no different to American troops/veterans when fighting wars/conflicts – as we are all human beings and all very much vulnerable to being unwittingly wounded with the psychological traumatic effects of fighting wars/conflicts. The only difference between the Americans and the British troops/veterans is that the American numbers of their troops/veterans suffering combat related PTSD are authentic – whereas the British figures are nonexistent!
Secondly: The Americans openly admit that around 20,000 of their troops/veterans suffering combat related PTSD have committed crimes on their return home from Afghanistan – these high rates of American troops/veterans breaking the law also back up VIP’s prison survey of 2008 and give a reason behind the high numbers of ex-soldiers in the UK prison population!
Thirdly: VIP’s survey showed a massive disproportionate amount of ex-soldiers along with some marines in the prison population – compared between Royal Navy, Royal Air Force and any other professional body (all added together and multiplied several times over) in the entire prison system!
The VIP survey was based on 1,000 inmates out of prison population of 80,000 and the figures equated out as approximately 242 Royal Navy – 404 Royal Air Force and a mishmash of 7,353 Army and Royal Marines in the prison population. In other words a whopping great mountain of ex-soldiers and marines who had served in wars/conflicts and then dumped inside the prison system under the pretext of Justice – appallingly a Criminal Justice system which at this present moment in time still camouflaging and hiding the real causes of these troops/veterans presence in the prison population. As without doubt if someone bothered to take a look at these phenomenal high numbers of ex-soldiers in the prison population specifically the ones who have served in wars/conflicts and then peel away the outer layers of their crimes – by looking beneath the Criminal Justice systems urge for vengeance and confirm if they were checked for combat related PTSD before their trials and whether they are unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD at present? Tragically they will find that the vast majority of these troops/veterans are most likely to be inside the prison system because of their military service experiences fighting in wars/conflicts – unbelievably still unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD and making a mockery of the whole Criminal Justice system.
Shamefully the authorities are concealing the fact that most of these ex-soldiers in the prison population are still unknowingly bearing the psychological scars of wars/conflicts – and scandalously the bulk of them would not be in the prison population without the connections of combat related PTSD. The incompetence of the Criminal Justice system of simply not bothering to check or even examine troops/veterans for combat related PTSD prior to their trials beggars belief – or it seems the nub of the establishments answer to troops/veterans unknowingly suffering this mental disorder is clearly to ignore and bury them inside the prison population.
Unquestionably combat related PTSD overrides and controls the minds of troops/veterans suffering from this mental disorder – yet incredibly the dilemma of whether troops/veterans in the prison population are unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD does not come into the Prison Service’s way of thinking and unbelievably doesn’t even exist in any of their ‘rehabilitation programmes’. This is astonishing really or a sign of the ‘powers that be’ gone mad more so when the direct connection of the violence of wars/conflicts is being unknowingly brought back home by these troops/veterans – and in all probability the dominant factor ‘why’ the majority of these troops/veterans are inside the prison system in the first place. Seemingly this endemic policy of the authorities to ‘ignore troops/veterans suffering combat related PTSD and they disappear to somewhere else’ – continues throughout the entirety of this Governments whole administration!
Ascertaining whether troops/veterans who have served in wars/conflicts appearing before the Criminal courts are unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD must be a top priority – not only to ensure that they are given a fair and just trial but also to guarantee ‘treatment and not just punishment’ is a leading factor in their sentencing and rehabilitation. Simply handing out uncompromising lengthy jail sentences to ex-soldiers unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD (due to their military service experiences – who have been left to cope alone with the mental disorder) is a complete miscarriage of justice – but to knowingly carry on and hide these troops/veterans behind prison walls under a ‘red herring’ called justice (which is happening here and now) is not only a travesty of justice but a corruption of justice!
On the other hand is the real reason behind the Governments ‘ subterfuge and try any trick in the book’ attitude rather than address the main issue of troops/veterans unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD and its link with the violence of wars/conflicts – directly because the Government clearly do not understand ‘how or why’ this mental disorder works which indeed may very well be the explanation because surely the Governments own ‘experts’ would prevent this disorder from deteriorating into full blown combat related PTSD from the onset – ‘if they possibly could wouldn’t they’ especially before it got out of control and left to run rife to the extent it is nowadays?
The government and its ‘experts’ will obviously deny VIP’s claims by coming out with their repeated time and time again standard (‘spin’) reply such as: “We provide a wide range of support, before, during and after leaving the Services, including the MoD’s Prison-In Reach initiative.” Which aims to raise awareness among ex-service offenders and their families about the help available to them.
Unfortunately this Government throws out more smoke screens of ‘spin’ than an active volcano – and in reality there is more initiative in Lemmings jumping off cliffs than the MoD’s Prison-In Reach initiative scheme dealing with this mountain of ex-soldiers in the prison population. More to the point if Prison-In Reach attempted to even look at ‘why’ there are large numbers of ex-soldiers in the prison population – it would automatically mean implicating and exposing other Governmental department breakdowns such as the Criminal Justice system and for that reason its very much left alone!
Nevertheless since the MoD’s Prison-In Reach initiative was first established in 2004 they have known all about this accumulation of ex-soldiers incarcerated in the prison population of England and Wales – but amazingly and in spite of the fact that such high numbers if ex-soldiers inside the prison system is extraordinary and without a doubt a statement in itself that something is very seriously wrong ‘nothing has been done to address the subject’? still even more bizarre is the fact that most of these ex-soldiers being linked to the problem of their unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD and its ‘tie in’ with violence is not even considered – regrettably In Reach have continually ignored this mountain of ex-soldiers in the prison population or have only tried to window dress the size of it under the guise of calling them all ex-servicemen to detract the attention away from the high numbers of ex-soldiers!
Example: Minutes of the MoD’s Prison-In-Reach’s first meeting on Monday 4th October 2004.
ITEM2 – EXPERIENCES OF SUPPORT ORGANISATIONS
Combat Stress. Little contact with ex-service prisoners who are still serving their sentences but we have a few ex-prisoners on the books. Chief Exec has had contact with one prisoner in Durham jail who is keen to publicise the plight of the ex-servicemen in prison suffering PTSD. His experience would suggest 10% of prisoners are ex-service (straw poll) and that little is being done to recognise or treat PTSD amongst the prison population.
The Chief Executive of Combat Stress and VIP continued to meet with each other over the years at HMP Frankland Durham and In-Reach remained fully aware of the high numbers of ex-soldiers in the prison population through the Chief Exec – in fact the Chief executive of Combat Stress actually brought one of In-Reach’s representatives to Frankland prison where he was enlightened on this mountain of ex-soldiers in the prison population by the founder of VIP personally. However the MoD’s Prison-In Reach has always continued to steer well clear of this can of worms – it’s as if the significance of such high numbers of ex-soldiers inside the prison system is some sort of taboo or astonishingly everyone associated with the MoD are blind as bats or the wise monkey!
Quite frankly VIP cant believe that this is happening we cant believe that the MoD’s Prison-In Reach initiative programme has constantly failed to address this main concern – such as ‘how many of these high numbers of ex-solders in the prison population are unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD and why haven’t they been checked and treated for this mental disorder? Outrageously the Government and In Reach seemingly don’t get the fact that unless all these troops/veterans (who are unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD) are not educated and shown ‘how and why’ this disorder takes control of their whole lives – they will constantly end up in trouble with the law and this prison fiasco of high numbers of ex-soldiers in the prison population will carry on!
This problem will not go away whilst Prison-In Reach fiddle around with their negative ‘seen to be doing something programmes’ as for example: In October 2007 Prison –In-Reach came up with ‘Advice And Support For Veterans And Their Families’.
This ‘plan’ consisted of the following information:
- War Pensions (address)
- Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (address)
- Supporting prisoner families
- Disability needs
- Residential and nursing care
- Social contacts
This all sounds well and good ‘on paper that is’ however in reality and apart from the War Pensions and Armed Forces Compensation /Scheme addresses – all the other facilities offered to veterans are also on offer to every other prisoner in the prison population.
In 2010 the MoD’s Prison –In- Reach scheme came up with another ploy and called it Veterans In Custody Support Officer (VICSO) – aiming to ensure that former members of the UK Armed Forces in custody are aware of the specialist help and support available, both before and after release. In-Reach initiative also stated that they now have two prison officers in each prison who are ex-servicemen – to deal with any queries or advice to both staff and prisoners?
The specialist help consists of the following issues:
- Housing
- Health and Mental Health
- Vocational Skills re training and grants
- Dependants’ Support whilst in custody
- Financial Advice
- War Pensions (address)
- Plus – other needs identified on Assessment
Here we go again the same bunkum (different day) coming from the MoD’s Prison-In Reach initiative – and once more everything available and on offer to veterans in prison (apart from the War Pensions Agency address) is also on offer to every single prisoner throughout England and Wales via the specialist and experienced help of the Probation Service.
Yet again this is just another ‘half plan’ of In-Reach at trying to make it seem they are helping veterans in prison – but mind bogglingly still not tackling this crisis of the thousands of ex-soldiers in the prison population. Pathetically or deliberately and apart from taking a total of ‘six years’ to come up with this strategy of having ex-servicemen prison officers represent In Reach inside the prison population – a number of these VICS Officers have never served in wars/conflicts? Yet the lions share of ex-soldiers in the prison population are most likely to be unknowingly suffering from combat related PTSD (like the American troops/veterans) – and having the likes of a pay clerk or a storeman who have spent their entire service careers in peacetime postings advising combat troops/veterans how to cope and deal with this disorder is simply ludicrous!
In-Reach will probably try and counter this argument by quoting the Royal British Legion’s ‘what constitutes a veteran’ such as : “Anyone who has served in the Armed Forces – Royal Navy, Army or RAF for even a day” (in short this is what defines a Royal British Legion veteran).
Which is all well and good ‘if you selling Poppies but VIP are not selling Poppies’ we are in prison – and the MoD’s Prison-In Reach responsibility should be finding out ‘why’ there is this huge mountain of ex-soldiers in the prison population and ‘how’ they ate going to deal with this issue and not pretentiously play around with paperwork exercises. What’s more the business of offering troops/veterans (many of whom are still unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD) Housing, Jobs, Financial Advice, and so on is not going to solve or be the solution to this problem – if troops/veterans are not treated for combat related PTSD whilst in the prison population it means they are still left in square one (in their own minds) and still fighting wars/conflicts.
However if In-Reach continue to skirt around this mountain of ex-soldiers with such hollow responses and not seriously take on combat related PTSD as it should be faced up to – then the MoD’s Prison-In Reach initiative is just another ‘political gimmick’ designed only to help MoD’s Ministers ‘spin’ their way out of answering awkward questions about veterans in prison – if so then VIP recommend that the MoD’s Prison-In Reach initiative’s next ‘plan of action’ should be to ‘issue an extra tea bag a week to all veterans in the prison population’ (it will be more beneficial than what they are doing at present)!
The war in Afghanistan is going to go on for several more years and troops/veterans will endure many repeated tours if duty – resulting in more high rates of ‘Alcoholism, Divorce, Homelessness, Prison and Suicide’ amongst troops/veterans on their return home. In this day and age this should not be happening and our troops/veterans deserve much better than this. Particularly when the VIP Survival Guide can control and keep combat related PTSD figures very low by showing and explaining to troops/veterans (their families) doctors and therapists exactly how the disorder works and operates from the very beginning (in other words the Survival Guide is the ‘can opener’ for combat related PTSD).
The ‘ins and outs’ of combat related PTSD is fully explained in the VIP Survival Guide which is so thorough it took years to complete – written by a veteran suffering combat related PTSD for troops/veterans (and their families) unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD. The Survival Guide should be issued to all troops/veterans .but deceivingly’ this mental disorder unconsciously leaves them outside the range of normal behaviour and judgment that will eventually destroy their (and their families) lives if left to develop. The Survival Guide should not be classed as a luxury being bestowed on troops/veterans in fact in all probability for many troops/veterans it will be a horror story – revealing a mirror image of themselves and ‘how and why’ their lives have been devastated since their return home from wars/conflicts (but at least now they will know how to cope with and control combat related PTSD)!
Summary:
- Fact: New Labour lied to take the country into the Iraq war
(illusory weapons of mass destruction).
- Fact: New Labour lied about kit and equipment shortages
(shortages of helicopters and other badly needed equipment).
- Fact: New Labour lied about the numbers of ex-soldiers in prison
(many unknowingly suffering combat related PTSD).
Spin: an MoD spokesman recently said : “the vast majority of people leaving the armed forces make a successful return to civilian life. However a small minority can face serious difficulties and we provide a wide range of support to help them. This includes welfare services for the 3.5% of the prison population who are armed forces veterans . “
- Fact: VIP say “the vast majority of Royal Navy and RAF personnel leaving the armed forces make a successful return to civilian life. However there is a large mountain of ex- soldiers who have fought in wars/conflicts hidden in the prison population with no proper support or acknowledgement to identify whether they are unknowingly suffering from combat related PTSD due to their military service. A recent VIP survey put the numbers of ex soldiers and Royal Marines in the prison population as 9.2% “
- Fact: the government conveniently use ‘flawed’ data base to get their underestimated figures of veterans in prison – which incidentally seriously undercut their own previous surveys of 2001, 2003 and 2004 of 6%, 4% and 5% respectively! Seemingly New Labour are well versed at misusing and manipulating statistics (especially in election year) as for instance – recent research by the Simon Community for the Homeless suggest that people sleeping rough on the streets is at least 10 times higher than officials claim (Daily Mirror 06/04/2010)!
Footnote:
The ultimate epitaph of New Labours 13 years of ‘spin’ declares: “a fair future for all”.
VIP say: “realistically this government cannot spell the word ‘fair or future’ not whilst thousands of battle scarred ex- soldiers languish in the prison population – unchecked and untreated for combat related PTSD and who have never had the decency of a ‘fair’ trial. Together with the MoD’s inability to educate hidden wounded troops/veterans (and their families) about the practical experiences and knowledge of combat related PTSD – how it works from end to end is only revealed in the VIP Survival Guide which is certainly the most up to date possible means that will allow them to have a ‘future’!
