Page 136 - Total War on PTSD Final

“My military story begins in May 2011 where I graduated as a Distinguished Military
Graduate (DMG) from The Citadel: The Military College of South Carolina (DMG-top 10% in the entire Nation for Army officers commissioning into service). I served in the Army from October 2011 to November 2016 as a Medical Service Officer. I was a medical platoon leader for 3-187 IN BN, 3rd BCT, 101st Airborne Division (AASLT) where I deployed to East Afghanistan and received a Combat Medic Badge and two Army Commendation Medals. I then was given the position as the 3rd Brigade Combat Team-Medical Operations Officer where I was in charge of six of my peers, 212 medics and responsible for the medical readiness of over 4,500 Soldiers.
My transition back into society was one of the hardest things I have ever went through and still go through today. My story is filled with trauma and suicide (13 close friends/peers/Soldiers) because they could not find solutions to the mental health difficulties that combat Veterans face. My own solution was to drink and use pharmaceutical drugs in order to escape the realities of mental torture that I was experiencing on a daily basis. The constant feeling of loneliness and depression (which
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