America’s failure to prepare for and adequately address the impact of war upon service members and veterans is one of the most significant challenges of the post-September 11th era. Nearly a decade into two wars, the strain on the all-volunteer force is manifesting itself in troubling ways. Rates of depression, brain injury and suicide among warriors and veterans are high and increasing. Military use of psychiatric medications has increased 76 percent since the beginning of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), with 17 percent of the current active duty force on anti-depressants. From 2005 to 2009 alone, service members took their own lives at an average rate of one every 36 hours. Reliable scientific studies report that posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI) afflict up to 35 percent of all troops.
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