Afghan War Veteran Summary

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In the article, “Afghan War Veteran." written by David P. Straub, the article states that returning United States Soldiers are suffering from PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder while fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq and they are not getting the help they need. America launched Operation Enduring Freedom a month after the September 11th terrorist attack to overthrow the Taliban regime and destroy terrorist infrastructure in Afghanistan. For about two years only about 15,000–20,000 military personnel remained in Afghanistan, but recently the number of soldiers in Afghanistan has increased. In May 2009 former President Barack Obama declared he will be increasing American troops in Afghanistan by 17,000. With the increase of soldiers in Afghanistan enemy forces have engaged …show more content…
Symptoms of PTSD includes flashbacks, nightmares, severe anxiety, and uncontrollable thoughts about the event. To counter these mental health disorders, the U.S. military instituted a policy named "Force Health Protection”. The Force Health Protection is used for making sure military missions were successful and if every soldier is healthy and has not suffered any mental health disorders. Even with all the preventive steps that are taken to prevent mental health disorder A lot of veterans still suffer from PTSD.The ones who suffer the most are the men and women in the National Guard. The National Guard personnel only believed they would serve in the United States were not only deployed in Afghanistan, but were recalled more than once in their military career. The biggest scare of the war in Afghanistan and Iraq is IEDs or improvised explosive devices. IEDs are the primary choice of weaponry for Iraq soldiers. IEDs consist of RPGs (rocket propelled grenades), land mines, and chemical gas bombs. Most IEDs cause TBIs or traumatic brain injuries. TBI is the number one mental health disorder in the Wars in Iraq and

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