Today, IAVA Member Veteran Carolyn Schapper testified at a hearing before the House Veterans Subcommittee on Disability & Memorial Affairs about the disparities in PTSD diagnosis for male and female soldiers in combat. During her deployment to Iraq from October 2005 to September 2006, Carolyn participated in over 200 combat patrols as a member of a Military Intelligence unit with the Georgia National Guard. To watch her testimony, click here. [1]
Read her prepared testimony below.
Mr. Chairman and members of the Subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to testify today. On behalf of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America, the nation’s first and largest non-partisan organization for veterans of the current conflicts, I would like to thank you all for your unwavering commitment to our nation’s veterans.
My name is Carolyn Schapper, and I am a combat veteran. While serving as a member of a Military Intelligence unit in Iraq from October 2005 to September 2006 with the Georgia National Guard, I participated in approximately 200 combat patrols. While many of these patrols included positive interactions with the local population, I did encounter direct fire, Improvised Explosive Devices, and other threats during some of my missions. Overall, I valued the opportunity to learn more about the Iraqi people, my country, and myself.
When I came home from Iraq, I dealt with a wide range of adjustment challenges/Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) symptoms; rage, anger, withdrawal from friends and family, depression, high anxiety, agitation, nightmares and hyper-vigilance. When you are in this state of mind, it is difficult to traverse the VA maze. I might still be lost if I had not had the luck of running into another veteran who already had gotten help, and who pointed out that a Vet Center could help me start navigating the VA system. While I was able to receive the appropriate help and rating from the VA for my psychological injury, many of my sisters-in-arms have not been so lucky.
Part of the problem is that, because females are excluded from official “combat roles” in the military, women veterans have a greater burden of proof when it comes to establishing combat-related PTSD. But the reality on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan is that there is no clear front line, and female servicemembers are seeing combat.
Modern warfare makes it impossible to delineate between combat, combat-support, and combat service support roles. You do not even need to leave the Forward Operating Base to be exposed to the continual threat of mortars and rockets. Military personnel are often required to walk around in or sleep in body armor. As one female veteran told me, “Life in Iraq and Afghanistan is combat.” Moreover, many female troops in Iraq and Afghanistan have been exposed to direct fire while serving in support roles, such as military police, helicopter pilots, and truck drivers. All of our troops, whether or not they serve in the combat arms, must exhibit constant vigilance, and this can take an extreme psychological toll on our servicemembers.
The traditional understanding of female servicemembers’ military duties has been the biggest hurdle to getting them adequate compensation for their injury. The nature of PTSD and other psychological injuries makes it difficult to identify the exact stressor, and therefore, disability may be determined based on the claims processor’s perception of exposure to combat. While a service-connection for PTSD would seem obvious for a male infantryman, it could easily come under more scrutiny for a female intelligence soldier despite how much actual contact either of us had with enemy forces.
Another obstacle that female servicemembers face when trying to establish presumption of service-connected PTSD involves collecting the proper paperwork. Especially in instances of Military Sexual Trauma, some women forgo documenting their injury, rather than get official military documentation from a male commander or doctor. If you are suffering from a mental health injury, the possibility of having someone question, deride or expose such a personal and painful experience is often overwhelming, and can lead many female servicemembers to avoid the process altogether.
H.R. 952, introduced by the Chairman, solves this problem. It changes Title 38 to presume service-connection for PTSD based solely on a servicemember’s presence in a combat zone. IAVA wholeheartedly endorses this legislation, and looks forward to working with the Subcommittee to see this bill become law.
While this legislation will aid veterans once they have been diagnosed with a psychological injury and are seeking disability compensation, we know that not every servicemember or veteran is getting the care they need. To better identify troops suffering from psychological injuries and help them receive the appropriate treatment, IAVA recommends mandatory, face-to-face and confidential screenings by a licensed medical professional, for all servicemembers, both before and after a combat tour. This is one of the organization’s top Legislative Priorities for 2009.
To help ensure that veterans seeking access to care and benefits, and particularly those who need treatment for their psychological injuries, get the support they need, IAVA has partnered with the Ad Council to conduct a multiyear Public Service Announcement campaign. Ad Council is responsible for many of the nation’s most iconic and successful PSA campaigns in history, including “Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires,” “A Mind is a Terrible Thing to Waste,” and “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drive Drunk.” The IAVA-Ad Council Veteran Support PSAs are currently running on television, radio, in print, outdoors and online. A companion campaign engaging the family and friends of new veterans will be launching later this year.
I will leave you with this final thought. More and more, women are being called upon to serve a more active role in the combat zone, and all too often find themselves in harm’s way. There is no better way to honor the service and sacrifices of these brave women than to ensure that when they are injured, they receive the care and compensation they deserve. Thank you again for the opportunity to testify on this critical issue, and I would be pleased to take your questions at this time.
Respectfully,
Carolyn Schapper
Links:
[1] http://veteransaffairs.edgeboss.net/wmedia-live/veteransaffairs/37333/100_veteransaffairs-veterans_080327.asx