Army Secretary John McHugh will be at Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Monday. He’ll be briefing reporters on the results of an Army-wide review of soldier behavioral health evaluations for post-traumatic stress disorder. The comprehensive review was the result of a smaller investigation that began after a forensic psychiatry team at Madigan Army Medical Center in Lakewood was found to have reversed some soldiers' PTSD diagnoses.
The issue of how the military views PTSD was the subject of a report by the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI). The group issued a report about the mental health needs of veterans this summer. In it, NAMI called on the Department of Defense (DOD) to issue Purple Hearts to soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
The request has not gotten much traction at the DOD and has angered some veterans groups.
