Manns Medium

For years now I have been fighting this invisible enemy and just recently come to realize who and what this enemy is.  This enemy used to get the best of me in the beginning but until recently I truly thought I had it under control.  Those nightmares and wondering minds as well as those hype-reactions took its toil but I made a fight of it.  I was just sitting here a few minutes ago and thinking that I had endured enough.  I couldn’t seem to stop the voices but as my day was getting darker, it finally occurred to me why. The enemy is PTSD and whether those in the medical community wish to acknowledge it or not, I know that it exists.  It’s invisible to many but ever present for many more.  People wish you to believe that it is only exclusive to a certain segment of society but I know that it is not.  People want you to think that they understand what it is and how to treat it but they have no clue.  People want you to believe that only those ...

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the rank structure in our military and do not know what a non-commissioned officer is, let me explain.  There are your commissioned officers beginning at Warrant Officer to General (W-1 to O-10) and then there is your Staff Non-Commissioned Officers ranking from Enlisted 6 (E-6) to Enlisted 9 (E-9).  There are your lower enlisted ranks of Private, Private First Class and Lance Corporal (E-1 to E-3 respectively) and finally you’re Non-Commissioned Officers which is Corporals (E-4) to Sergeants (E-5).  There are particular requirements to obtain these ranks and move up much of it is mostly time in grade/rank and time in service.  There was a time where only those who showed pure leadership was allowed to grab that next rung of the ladder and move up but that time was swiftly taken over by being the quietest of having slightly more resources than the others.  You had to keep your head down and not make any waves if you want...

The recent report of an Iraq Vet killing of ex-wife and five in laws tops the news and has been for the last few days but what many are not talking about is the very large and often hidden elephant in the room.  Oh yes, they will mention the lack of services that are available to our service men and women and they may mention post-traumatic stress disorder.  They may mention the signs that lead up to the killing and how someone should have known and acted and of course they will spare no expense in finding something or someone to blame.  Some will stand in defense of the Marine while others will stand in defense of those who were killed and still a few will stand in defense of agencies who were established to help but was handcuffed.  All will have a point but none will discuss or even have the backbone to bring up the one true culprit. Before we begin, let’s just get a taste of what we can expect from those who call the experts to give them their view of how th...