Posted on 11/07/2002 5:02:39 PM PST by Truth Telling Guy
Army Culture, Separation Cited In U.S. Base Killings
Reuters
Posted on Thu, Nov. 07, 2002
FORT BRAGG, N.C. - The stress of separation and a belief that soldiers should not seek counseling probably contributed to killings this summer involving couples at a U.S. Army base in North Carolina, investigators said on Thursday.
Their report said the anti-malarial drug mefloquine, which was widely prescribed to soldiers in Afghanistan and can prompt side effects such as rage and suicidal tendencies, "was unlikely to be the cause of the tragic clustering of domestic violence incidents."
In June and July, four soldiers based at Fort Bragg were accused of killing their wives -- three of them Special Operations servicemen recently returned from Afghanistan. Two shot and killed themselves and two were arrested for murder.
And the civilian wife of another soldier at the base was charged with murdering her husband.
The killings sent a ripple of horror through the base, the home of the Army's 82nd Airborne Division and several elite commando units sent to Afghanistan as part of the U.S. war on terrorism after the Sept. 11 attacks.
The Army sent a 16-member team of psychiatrists, doctors, social workers and chaplains to investigate whether military life played a role in the killings.
The investigators said all four cases where the soldiers allegedly did the killing involved marital discord and recent or threatened separation.
MARITAL PROBLEMS
Two of the three who had served in Afghanistan were sent home early after requesting emergency leave to deal with marital problems, the report said.
Mefloquine, sold under the brand name Lariam, was prescribed for two of them. But prior to the killings there were no reports of personality changes or unusual behavior in either man, the report said.
While it said the drug was probably not a factor in the killings, it raised concerns about screening and monitoring of soldiers taking it.
The report said the Army needed to do more to help soldiers cope with long separation from spouses during deployment, unpredictable work schedules and problems scheduling leave.
It urged the Army to make counseling for domestic violence, substance abuse and behavior problems more readily available on base and provide insurance coverage for such counseling.
Soldiers often resisted seeking such help because they feared it would hurt or end their careers, the investigators found.
"Soldiers and families need proactive, accessible and career-safe behavioral health care," the report said.
It said that since the killings, Fort Bragg has taken a range of steps to address the issue of domestic violence.
The base has instituted mandatory separation of spouses for 48 to 72 hours after such violence is reported, and made counseling mandatory for soldiers returning from overseas.
The report said the overall homicide rate among Fort Bragg soldiers over the last 12 months was not significantly different from the national rate. But it said the cluster of five cases in six weeks was significant and "highly unusual."
so did only 2 soldiers get the drug? I've never heard exactly how many of the killers got the drug and how long before the killings.
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