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What is the Naval Institute Blog? An independent online forum where you can express thoughtful, productive ideas, insights and opinions on issues affecting our Nation's defense. We're not the Navy nor any government agency.

A disabled Gulf War veteran who left Norman earlier this month on a hand-propelled bicycle headed for Washington D.C. to honor fallen soldiers has died. Kevin Baker suffered a seizure Friday morning in his sleep at the home of some friends in Lake Charles, La., said Norman resident Diane Zellner. He died in an ambulance en route to a local hospital, Zellner said she was told. Baker, a 39-year-old Navy veteran, had a history of seizures, stemming from a traumatic brain injury, she said. He also had been diagnosed with lymphoma.

"Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder Statistics for OEF / OEF AFGHANISTAN * A recent study showed that 18 percent of 45,880 veterans were diagnosed with psychological disorders, including 183 with PTSD. IRAQ * According to a 2005 VA study of 168,528 Iraqi veterans, 20 percent were diagnosed with psychological disorders, including 1,641 with PTSD. * In an earlier VA study this year, almost 12,500 of nearly 245,000 veterans visited VA counseling centers for readjustment problems and symptoms of PTSD. * The Marines and Army were nearly four times more likely to report PTSD than Navy or Air Force because of their greater exposure to combat situations. * Enlisted men were twice as likely as officers to report PTSD. "

On this day, they are laboring at one of many small wetlands created by developers to compensate for marshland filled in for housing. Most of these spots are overgrown with blackberries and other invasive species, and the restoration work is tough labor that often leaves scratched-up arms. "It's been like a breath of fresh air," said Jeremy Grisham, the leader of the crew. "When I first got back, I couldn't find work and gained so much weight. When I started getting outside, it was the first time I felt good about things." Grisham was a Navy medic who took part in the initial U.S. invasion of Iraq. One of his most harrowing tasks was helping civilians suffering from burns and wounds. As Grisham was medically retired in 2005, he was diagnosed with a disabling case of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Grisham is now in his second year in the conservation corps, taking classes and field work at Green River Community College, which offers a two-year degree in natural-resources management. He is one of about 70 Washington veterans who have been able to attend Green River and four other community colleges around the state with the help of the conservation corps, which pays $1,000 per month in living expenses.

In the population at large, women are more than twice as likely as men to develop posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), although the reasons why are not clearly understood. There are several theories that often are mentioned: * The most common trauma for women is sexual assault or childhood sexual abuse, and women are more likely than men to suffer these offenses. * Women also are more likely to be the victim of domestic violence or to have a loved one suddenly die. * There are differences in the way men's and women's brains work in processing emotions and actions and this, too, might be a contributing factor. Certain PTSD symptoms seem to be more common in women than men, according to the National Center for Posttraumatic Stress Disorder. Women with PTSD are more likely to be jittery and anxious and to have more trouble feeling emotions. Men are more likely to feel anger and to have trouble controlling their anger. They also are more likely to experience the nightmares and flashbacks associated with PTSD. Men with PTSD are more prone to alcohol and drug abuse, while women are more likely to suffer from depression. One good statistic that women have going for them when it comes to PTSD: They are more likely than men to seek treatment for their symptoms. Some studies also indicate that women respond faster to treatment than do men.

The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff -- whose previous job, I might add, was Chief of Naval Operations -- tweets near-daily. The Pentagon has a new principal deputy assistant secretary of defense who has focused a lot on social media. The U.S. Naval Institute, one of the most respected pillars of military thinking, has a blog, and even more surprisingly, it has a good blog, written by some of the best navy-bloggers around.

"* In July 2009, Army Sgt. Ryan Schlack of Oshkosh, Wis., died after being shot while trying to break up a fight at Fort Hood. Spc. Armando Ray Baca has been charged with first-degree murder. * In September 2008, Spc. Jody Michael Wirawan of Eagle River, Ala., who was scheduled to soon be discharged, fatally shot 1st Lt. Robert Bartlett Fletcher of Jensen Beach, Fla. When Killeen police arrived, Wirawan killed himself, Fort Hood officials said at the time. * In July 2007, the wife of a Fort Hood soldier was killed as part of a murder-for-hire plot. Hidi Gower was shot to death outside a Veterans of Foreign Wars pool hall in Kempner, 18 miles from Killeen. Army Sgt. 1st Class Donald Dean Gower was sentenced to life in prison without parole in August 2008. * In March 2005, Fort Hood Army Sgt. Jason Cline flew from Texas to California and plotted with Sharonmarie Ball to kill her husband, Navy Petty Officer John Ball, who was stabbed in the chin and right hand but survived, according to news reports on KWTX-TV in Waco. Cline was sentenced to 12 years in prison in February 2006, according to the San Diego Union-Tribune. * In April 2005, former Army medic John D. Mayer Jr. of Fort Hood pleaded guilty in federal court in Waco to charges in the death of his 2-year-old stepdaughter. Mayer had been watching the child while the girl's mother was deployed to Iraq, according to news reports on KWTX. * In July 2004, Fort Hood officials identified the bodies of Fort Hood soldiers Sgt. Erin Elizabeth Edwards and her estranged husband, Sgt. William McKinley Edwards. Police investigated the shooting deaths as a murder-suicide, the Texas A&M University student newspaper, The Battalion, reported in 2004. "

"Marines treated at Camp Lejeune for post-traumatic stress had to undergo therapy for months in temporary trailers where they could hear bomb blasts, machine-gun fire and war cries through the thin walls, according to servicemen and their former psychiatrist. The eight trailers were used for nearly two years, until a permanent clinic was completed in September in another location on the base, said a Camp Lejeune medical spokesman, Navy Lt. j.g. Mark Jean-Pierre. The allegations became public after the dismissal of Dr. Kernan Manion, a civilian psychiatrist who says he was fired for writing memos to his military superiors complaining of shoddy care of Marines returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with PTSD, a condition that can make patients jumpy, fearful of loud noises and prone to flashbacks. "

War-related trauma doesn't just plague our veterans - it also haunts our military children, too. Is there a technique for weakening traumatic memories? The fact is, our troops are also dying at home. Add Nevada to the list of states considering special courts for our veterans suffering PTSD - as war has injured them, not that criminality has overcome them. Add Texas to the list of states looking to boost the mental health of military families. Because the most pervasive combat injury is invisible.

Marcus Luttrell - Along the way on the chase, Luttrell placed a desperate call to 911, warning the dispatcher of his potential to strike, as well. "I told them, 'You need to get somebody out here because if I catch them I'm going to kill them,' " Luttrell recalled to The Houston Chronicle. "I was trying to talk myself out of being who I am. Talking to myself about not doing the one thing I am good at."

A program in which veterans would volunteer to help active-duty members make the transition to civilian life has moved a step closer to reality with the Senate's March 26 vote to more than triple the number of national service jobs. The bill, HR 1388, authorizes a new Veterans' Corps, whose success would be measured by the number of veterans who are helped to go to college or find jobs, the number of military families provided assistance, and the number of homeless veterans who find housing.