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As organizations throughout the U.S. work to help combat veterans, the Coalition for Iraq & Afghanistan Veterans decided to bring them all together so they could share knowledge about what they're doing and talk about what still needs to be done. CIAV is a clearinghouse of 50 agencies that seek to help veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. At the three-day conference, veterans like McGinnis talked about their experiences trying to access care after returning from deployment, family members talked about their own versions of "combat stress," and care specialists talked about what they had to offer as well as how the different organizations could team up.

Hearing the sounds of wounded soldiers crying for help and the staccato of nearby gunfire, Illinois National Guard Capt. Thomas Kim briefly flashed back to a war zone, but his mind quickly returned to the combat trauma simulation being held in a classroom at Rush University Medical Center .

Photos New PTSD Clinic uses virtual reality Dr. Alan Maiers (left), the assistant chief of the Warrior Resiliancy Program at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, simulates a virtual reality city patrol Aug. 26 for Maj. Monty Baker, the Warrior Resiliancy Program director of research. The virtual reality program is designed to treat servicemembers who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder after returning from combat operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Amber Bressler) Download HiRes Wilford Hall opens new PTSD Clinic Posted 9/17/2009 Email story Print story by Linda Frost 59th Medical Wing Public Affairs 9/17/2009 - LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- Wilford Hall Medical Center has a new clinic to treat patients who suffer from post traumatic stress disorder. The PTSD Clinic offers evidence-based treatments and a virtual reality program to help Airmen returning from combat operations. PTSD is an anxiety disorder which can occur after a person has been through a traumatic event, according to the National Center for PTSD. "We want to provide the highest quality care possible for patients experiencing PTSD," said Col. (Dr.) Gerald Talcott, 59th Medical Wing Mental Health Squadron commander. As part of the Outpatient Mental Health Clinic, the PTSD Clinic was created in response to the increasing number of service and family members with PTSD. It is timely in that it coincides with the establishment of the Air Force's new Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, a pilot program initiated at eight Air Force bases. The Virtual Reality Exposure Therapy, using a computer-simulated Virtual Iraq and Virtual Afghanistan, allows Airmen to interact and recreate a traumatic scene and recall sights, sounds, smells, thoughts and feelings. Still in its preliminary stages, the clinic staff started seeing patients Aug. 3, and is led by Dr. Kellie Crowe, staff psychologist. "We are very excited about providing evidence-based treat

The Army has documented that the survival rate in ongoing conflicts is over 90%, the highest recorded in modern combat. This survival rate is the product of numerous innovations such as improvements in protective equipment, improvements in evacuation, improvements in the training of combat medics, and innovations in the medical equipment and techniques available at all levels of care from self/buddy aid, through field care given by medics and into hospital care delivered in theater and in the U.S.

Looking out for one's "battle buddy" while off duty as well as on has emerged as a central element of all four services' efforts to combat sexual assault within the ranks, service program managers told the House Armed Services military personnel subcommittee Friday.

Eighteen months ago, Lt. Col. KC Bolton took command of the newly created Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Lewis, where 99 combat-wounded soldiers are recovering from injuries suffered "in theater."

Research from the Defense and Veterans Brain Injury Center (DVBIC), http://www.dvbic.org/, indicates as many as 10 to 20 percent of U.S. troops who had combat exposure may have sustained a concussion during the time they were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Army's Dr. Shad Deering and Maj. Amber Pocrnich talk about TeamSTEPPS™ and patient safety in a combat environment. TeamSTEPPS™ is an initiative of DoD's Patient Safety Program.

The course prepares Army IT professionals with the skills they'll need in the combat zone to help the nation's best doctors and nurses capture critical medical information without skipping a beat. Sustaining the systems ultimately leads to improved continuity of care and a complete medical history-useful when soldiers apply for VA medical benefits.

HEIDELBERG, Germany - New training intended to reduce post-combat psychological distress provides "small but significant" improvements in soldiers' mental health, according to a study.

Spouses of service members killed in combat would receive free military health care for life under a bill introduced Monday by Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky. The chief effect of the legislation would be to prevent surviving spouses from being charged the same as retirees for using Tricare health benefit beginning three years after a service member's death, which is the case under current law.

The Defense Department believes that talking about why and how servicemembers seek help for combat stress will help eliminate the stigma associated with psychological injuries. So it is launching "Real Warriors" - a program in which servicemembers can talk about and listen to the stories of those who sought help for psychological injuries or traumatic brain injuries.

TUESDAY, Dec. 9 (HealthDay News) -- A decade-long study into post-traumatic stress disorder among combat veterans and their identical twins has yielded critical information on the root causes of this devastating condition. The researchers found that both genetic and environmental factors increase the risk of developing post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The work, to be presented Tuesday at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology annual meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz., was sponsored by both the U.S. National Institute of Mental Health and the Veterans Administration.

WASHINGTON - With motor vehicle crashes being a leading cause of deaths among combat veterans during the first years after their return home, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the Department of Defense (DOD) are working together to reduce these accidents.

Welcome to the Wounded Warrior Diaries, where American servicemembers wounded in combat share stories of their service, including their hard-won battles on the road to recovery.

S. Ward Casscells, M.D. , Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, talks about his visit with British Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Louis Lillywhite with regards to combat care, care in UK, and PTSD.

The offensive in southern Afghanistan hasn't come without its casualties for U.S. and NATO forces there. Stripes reporter Drew Brown tells us that over the last few weeks helicopter ambulance crews from the 2nd Platoon "Gypsies" of Company C, 3rd Battalion, 82nd Combat Aviation Brigade have pulled dozens of wounded - and sometimes dead - U.S., British and Afghan troops from the battlefield. Brown's dispatch takes you to the battlefield and safely back out again with a group of dedicated medevac crewmembers.

With more and more veterans coming back from Iraq with post-traumatic stress disorder, North Coast Congressman Mike Thompson is trying to make sure they get the help they need. Thompson and Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., introduced legislation Thursday in the House that would require every soldier to have face-to-face mental health screening before being deployed on a combat mission, again upon their return and then every six months for the next two years. The bill is companion legislation to a measure introduced in the Senate by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

For years, the Army has treated the stresses related to combat by treating the soldier, but the vision of a Resiliency Campus, which is in the process of becoming a reality, will devote an entire city block on Fort Hood to spiritual fitness, physical wellness and mental health that will not just treat the soldiers, but their entire families.