COUNTERING MILITARY RECRUITMENT
Articles: Leaving Military: AWOL
AWOL Soldier Seeking Treatment Arrested
Associated Press
November 15, 2007
SYRACUSE,
N.Y. - A Soldier who served two combat tours in Iraq was arrested Nov.
14 for leaving the Army without permission more than a year ago to seek
treatment for post traumatic stress disorder.
At a news conference hours before his arrest, Sgt. Brad Gaskins said he
left the base in August 2006 because the Army wasn't providing
effective treatment after he was diagnosed with PTSD and severe
depression.
"They just don't have the resources to handle it, but that's not my fault," Gaskins said.
Tod Ensign, an attorney with Citizen Soldier, a GI rights group that is
representing Gaskins, said the case is part of a "coming tsunami" of
mental health problems involving Iraq and Afghanistan vets.
Last month, the Veterans Administration said more than 100,000 troops
were being treated for mental health problems, and half of those
specifically for PTSD.
Gaskins, 25, of East Orange, N.J., was taken into custody at a
Watertown cafe by civilian police officers from Fort Drum and two local
police officers, Ensign said. The lawyer said he had been on the phone
with military prosecutors working out the details of Gaskins' surrender
when the soldier was arrested.
Fort Drum spokesman Ben Abel said after a Soldier is AWOL for more than
30 days he becomes classified as a deserter and a federal arrest
warrant is issued. He said he was unaware of the specifics of Gaskins'
case and declined to comment on it.
An eight-year Army veteran, Gaskins served two tours in Iraq and a
peacekeeping tour in Kosovo. He said his mental health began
deteriorating during his second tour in Iraq, which began in June 2005,
when his job was to conduct road searches and locate improvised
explosive devices.
He said after returning to Fort Drum in February 2006, he began
suffering flashbacks and nightmares, headaches, sleeplessness, weight
loss and mood swings that took him from depression to irrational rages.
Military doctors sent him to the Samaritan Medical Center in Watertown,
where he spent two weeks and was diagnosed with PTSD. When he later
asked his commanders about returning to Samaritan, they told him it
would delay any chance he had at obtaining a medical release, Gaskins
said.
At the time, the Fort Drum mental health facility had a staff of a dozen caring for approximately 17,000 troops, Ensign said.
Gaskins said that because he had been unable to get proper help, he
requested a two-week leave and went home to New Jersey, where he has
been living since.
The base has expanded its mental health facility staff to 31 in the
past year, with plans to add another 17 staffers, Abel said. "Is there
a need for more - yes," he said.
Gaskins said he hasn't been able to get a job because of his PTSD, and
that he and his wife have separated. He said he has only supervised
visitation rights with his two children.
Citizen Soldier previously represented Spc. Eugene Cherry, another Fort
Drum Soldier, who had faced a court-martial and a bad conduct discharge
after going AWOL to get treatment. The Army softened its stance and
gave Cherry a general discharge in July.
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