Defence force members!

[NP99]

18th August almost upon us. Have some mates in Vietnam at the moment, lucky bastards

[PMC]

Media Release

Senator the Hon Michael Ronaldson

Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs

Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader of the Opposition on the Centenary of ANZAC

Sunday 18 August 2013

Vietnam Veterans’ Day 2013

The 47th anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan is an opportunity for all Australians, and particularly for Vietnam veterans, their family and friends, to commemorate all battles of and service during the Vietnam War.

Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs, Senator the Hon. Michael Ronaldson, said commemorative ceremonies would take place right across Australia today as Vietnam veterans gathered to commemorate their service for their nation between 1962 and 1972.

“Vietnam Veterans’ Day is the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, a battle in which a vastly outnumbered Australian force held its line in a rubber plantation at Long Tan in Phuoc Tuy province on 18 August 1966,” Senator Ronaldson said.

“Eighteen Australians were killed in action in the battle, and 24 were wounded. The 108 men of D Company, 6 RAR, who held off an enemy force between 10 and 15 times as large were awarded a United States Presidential Citation for their efforts.

“While 18 August will always be the anniversary of the Battle of Long Tan, it is also an occasion to remember the other iconic battles of the Vietnam War.

“As a nation, we must never forget the service and sacrifice of those almost 60,000 Australians who served in the Vietnam War, serving their nation at the nation’s request.

“Our nation must also resolve never to repeat the mistakes of the past, particularly the egregious treatment of Vietnam veterans upon their return to Australia.

“Our Vietnam veterans continue to carry the burdens of their service. They are a remarkable generation of men who, together with their families, have fought hard to ensure that their service is never forgotten,” Senator Ronaldson said.

Senator Ronaldson said he would today attend the Vietnam Veterans’ Day ceremony at the national Vietnam War memorial in Canberra, before visiting the St Marys RSL in Western Sydney.

“I look forward to spending time today with Vietnam Veterans, to hear their stories, to share their camaraderie, and to honour their service and that of the 521 Australians who made the supreme sacrifice,” Senator Ronaldson said.

Media Contact: Robert Hardie 0418 432 909

[PMC]

Health risks in Afghanistan veterans are exaggerated, new Defence-sponsored research says

•Ian McPhedran National Defence Writer News Limited Network


THE risk of a "tsunami" of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder victims from the war in Afghanistan has been downplayed in new Defence-sponsored research.

The Prospective Health Study of troops deployed in 2010/11 found that just 1.9 per cent of participants exhibited symptoms of PTSD following their deployment.

Some experts have warned of rates of 10 per cent or more.

Academics and the top brass briefed the media on the findings but were unable to explain the incredibly low rates of PTSD in Afghan veterans compared with previous campaigns.

In addition the latest surveys found that:

*4.8 per cent of troops surveyed after their deployment reported symptoms of psychological distress.

*Just one per cent of soldiers at pre-deployment and 2.5 per cent post-deployment reported symptoms of an alcohol disorder.

The survey also discovered that 11.1 per cent of troops were obese before they deployed and 14.9 per cent came home in an obese state after months eating fried food, ice cream and sweet snacks.

Defence Force Chief General David Hurley labelled warnings of a "tsunami" of PTSD affecting modern-day veterans as simplistic and emotive.

"If we're reinforcing this by saying there's a tidal wave the system can't handle and you're going to be out there and you're going to drown, that's not the place we should be positioning people if our data does not support that," General Hurley said.

"We know there are individuals who suffer. But if we extrapolate from the ones and twos and say this is the experience of the whole, then I don't think the data supports that."

Professor Ross Young, from the faculty of health at Queensland University of Technology, said the rate of PTSD among Vietnam Veterans was above 20 per cent and in the civilian community it was 3.4 per cent.

"American forces coming back from Afghanistan had PTSD rates of 21 per cent,'' he said.

Professor Young said he could not explain the differences between these figures and the ADF survey results, but monitoring troops after they returned home would be vital.

Tens of thousands of Australian soldiers have served in trouble spots from East Timor in 1999 to Afghanistan today.

The 26,239 veterans from the Middle East Area of Operations, including Afghanistan, were asked to respond to surveys by a team of academics from the University of Queensland Centre for Military and Veterans Health and the University of Adelaide who are trying to predict the risk of psychological problems for veterans in the future.

Military surveys are notoriously unreliable and it is unlikely that many special-forces troops, who have undertaken the bulk of the heavy fighting in Afghanistan, would have even responded.

The surveys confirmed that combat roles or operating outside the main support base were associated with small increases in psychological symptoms following deployments.

They also found that changes to the nervous system and cognitive function were affected by the number and length of deployments.

The academics were unable to estimate the health costs of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, but they pointed out that the United States has an estimated health cost of $900 billion.

Even one per cent of that is $9 billion.

Meanwhile, Defence announced that iconic Australian bootmaker RM Williams will supply parade boots to the Army.

The previous Chinese made lace-up patent leather boots fell apart during parades causing acute embarrassment to the top brass.

KEY FINDINGS OF THE ADF MIDDLE EAST PROSPECTIVE HEALTH STUDY

1. Combat exposure or operating resulted in increases in psychological symptoms at post-deployment compared to pre-deployment in the same individuals.

2. Prior trauma exposure and other lifetime experiences were significantly associated with psychological damage after deployment. Therefore an increasing burden of risk is acquired progressively across deployments.

3. The number of previous deployments and time away on previous deployments were significantly associated with changes in cognitive functioning, and increased arousal and decreased working memory efficiency.

4. Despite the environments in which these troops were deployed, in general there were low rates of physical illness and disease evident at the post deployment. Indeed, the health of a small number of participants improved between pre-and post-deployment.

OTHER FINDINGS

* 2.5 per cent of the participants at pre-deployment and 4.8 per cent at post-deployment reported psychological distress.

* 0.1 per cent of before and 1.9 per cent after reported post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

* 1.0 per cent before and 2.5 per cent after reported an alcohol disorder.

* 0.7 per cent before and 1.6 per cent after reported suicidal thoughts.

* 11.1 per cent before and 14.9 per cent after were obese.

* 1.1 per cent before and 1.6 per cent after had hypertension.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national-news...#ixzz2cMpWMFO2

Regards,

RLI

[rusty_nail]

thats a very disturbing report RLI...

[PMC]

thats a very disturbing report RLI...

G'day mate,

It surly is!

My mission in life at present, is to look after as many Veterans and their families as i can and also fight for the rights of all current and ex-service personal, whether they have operational or non-operational service.

Has stated by Rudyard Kipling, "making mock of uniforms that guard you while you sleep" (Kipling, Tommy), and my personal phrase that best describes our defence force: "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it." – Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men)

Regards,

RLI

[PMC]

G'day fellow ex and current serving members of our fantastic defence force!

Please remember this statement! I was shocked to here this came from our Prime Minster!

Regards,

RLI

Media Release

Senator the Hon Michael Ronaldson
Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs
Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader of the Opposition on the Centenary of ANZAC
Wednesday 21 August 2013

Kevin Rudd must respond to allegations that he threatened our military veterans

Kevin Rudd must immediately respond to disturbing claims made on radio this morning that he threatened veterans during a meeting in Canberra six weeks ago.

According to an interview on 4BC radio earlier today, Mr Rudd is alleged to have told veterans that any criticism of Labor’s 11th hour, half-baked unfair military superannuation indexation policy would result in them getting ‘nothing’.

Respected national spokesman for the Fair Go campaign, Air Vice Marshal Peter Criss (Ret’d) told 4BC Brisbane this morning that Mr Rudd said:

“Don’t bag us. Because if you bag us, we’ll pull up the drawbridge and you’ll get nothing.”

Mr Rudd needs to explain urgently whether he made such threatening and disrespectful remarks to Australia’s military veterans who have selflessly put their lives on the line in the service of their country.

Media Contact: Robert Hardie 0418 432 909

[NP99]

It would not surprise me Paul. That idiot Mike Kelly is also talking climate change - he said our snowy mountains will turn into a desert! What part of outer space does he reside in. Heaven help us if he gets the defence minister job!!!

[NP99]

What sex is the kangaroo on the skippy badge?

[Drew]

The milky bar kid has no idea. What a muppet !

[Drew]

It would not surprise me Paul. That idiot Mike Kelly is also talking climate change - he said our snowy mountains will turn into a desert! What part of outer space does he reside in. Heaven help us if he gets the defence minister job!!!

Now he takes the cake, what an idiot. Politicians say some stupid sh#t but geez !!!