Report Finds Indiana National Guard Soldiers Bear Disproportionate Share of Burden...

Report Finds Indiana National Guard Soldiers Bear Disproportionate Share of
Burden of Wars
Veterans for America's Wounded Warrior Outreach Program Releases New Report:

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- VFA's Wounded Warrior
Outreach Program has chronicled the experiences of the units of the U.S. Army,
on a state-by-state basis, that have been among our nation's most heavily used
in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. VFA has aggregated information on each
frontline unit's number of deployments, intensity of combat, and dwell time.
This report makes clear that the Soldiers who have seen the most combat
are the ones who are deployed repeatedly. Unfortunately, Department of
Defense studies prove that with each deployment Soldiers are 60% more likely
to develop severe post-combat mental health problems.
The Indiana National Guard's 76th Brigade Combat Team (BCT) is currently
the most deployed brigade in the Army National Guard. The 76th has just
deployed on its third tour overseas since September 11, 2001. Both of its
previous tours, one to Iraq and one to Afghanistan, were longer than normal
for National Guard units.
Veterans For America's Wounded Warrior Outreach Program has worked closely
with Soldiers and their families across the country and we are deeply
concerned with the toll that our deployment cycles have taken.
"When elected representatives talk about the 'readiness' of the military,
they must also talk about the health of our troops," said Bobby Muller,
President of VFA. "We cannot consider our military 'ready' while we have
Indiana National Guard Soldiers returning to war multiple times for
excruciatingly long tours with insufficient time at home. Our Soldiers are
beginning to unravel."
Reports can be found at www.veteransforamerica.org
SOURCE Veterans for America

Adrienne Willis, Veterans for America, +1-202-557-7509,
awillis@veteransforamerica.org