by John M. Curtis
(310) 204-8700

Copyright May 13, 2009
All Rights Reserved.

             Forty-four-year-old Sgt. John M. Russell went postal May 11, blasting his way into a military counseling center at Baghdad’s Camp Liberty, near Baghdad’s International Airport, killing five, including two Navy and Army medical officers and three enlisted soldiers.  Russell, who’s on his third tour in Iraq, had his firearms confiscated one-week earlier for apparent “stress.”  His commanding officer apparently took his weapon due erratic behavior.  “His chain of command had concerns about him.  He had undergone counseling within the command and they had taken immediate measures of removing his weapon,” Major General David Perkins told a press conference. Russell apparently took the firearm from a colleague after being asked to leave the counseling center, returned to the counseling center and began shooting clients and counselors.

            Because of protracted tours in Iraq, known as “a reverse draft,” soldiers have been subjected to prolonged debilitating stress. Before serving in Iraq, Russell was based out of Bamberg, Germany, assigned as a communication specialist with 54th Engineer Battalion.  Perkins opened a criminal investigation, in addition to ascertaining the availability of mental health counseling. He raised concerns about the “general availability” of mental health counseling and “specifically the policies and procedures surrounding behavioral health services,” questioning the current system that ignores serious mental health problems.  Despite the availability of counseling, it still holds a stigma affecting career development.  Army suicides have risen steadily over the last few years, hitting 102 in 2006 and hitting 140 last year.  Soldiers’ mental health issues are typically punished or swept under the rug.

            Army counseling centers, whether in theater or at various bases or VA hospitalsl, deal with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, a condition characterizing soldiers’ service or combat-related injuries.  Manifestations of Post Traumatic Stresss Disorder [PTSD] include, but are not limited to, anxiety, paranoia, rage, flashbacks, nightmares, alcohol and drug abuse, suicidal and/or violent behavior, deviant sexual behavior, criminal conduct, etc., all of which induced because of verifiable external events or circumstances.  PTSD doesn’t tell about preexisting, but undiagnosed, forms of mental illness, especially schizophrenia or paranoia that frequently accompany violent or suicidal behavior.  “One thing if we’ve learned from this war, we learned from WW II, Korea, Vietnam, the previous wars, is not all injures are physical,” said Maj. Gen. Daniel P. Bolger, Commander of Multi-National Division-Baghdad.

            Military mental health issues are no different than civilian ones, though the war stressors certainly accelerate breakdowns in otherwise mentally stable soldiers.  For soldiers with preexisting mental health issues, stressors take the greatest toll and can lead to extreme behavior.  According to Russell’s 73-year-old father, Wilburn, the counseling center “broke” his son.  He insisted, without naming names or specifics, that his son was treated “poorly” at the counseling stress center.   With reported abuses at prison facilities, including Abu Gharaib and Guantanamo Bay, it’s not out of the question that controversial or “enhanced” counseling techniques could have exacerbated an otherwise manageable condition.  As the Post Office, and other workplaces, found out, taunting or heavy-handed discipline sometimes backfires, inducing violence in otherwise “normal” people.

            So far, there’s no evidence that Russell was abused by trauma counselors or was subject to controversial methods.  “I hate what that boy did,” said Russell’s father.  “He thought he was justified.  That’s never a solution,” rejecting violence as a way of resolving disputes.  Russell’s military service began in 1994 after a bitter divorces resulting in some domestic abuse.  Pentagon officials confirmed that Russell completed two one-year tours in Iraq in 2003 and 2004, after serving in Bosnia 1995.  Russell’s killing spree was the worst fratricidal killing since 2003 in Iraq, when Army Sgt. Hasan Akbar [AKA Mark Fidels Kools] hurled a hand grenade into a tent of the 327 Infantry Regimen, 101st Airborne, killing two and injuring 14.  Like the Russell case, undiagnosed mental illness contributed to Akbar’s violent episode.  Better screening could have saved lives.

            Russell’s violent outburst underscores the military’s need for periodic mental health screenings, designed to keep weapons out the hands of mentally ill soldiers.  When Virginal Tech student Seung-Hui Cho gunned down 32 students April 16, 2007, law enforcement officials considered tougher gun control laws requiring mental health background checks.  Unlike most universities, the military has abundant mental health personnel to periodically recheck the status of enlisted personnel.  While no violent episode is 100% avoidable, more careful screening might have prevented Russell from lashing out.  Counselors treating Post Traumatic Stress Disorder at military counseling centers would be well-advised to perform routine screenings for suicidal and violent behavior.  Exposure to war-related stress increases the chances of violence or suicide, especially in unstable individuals.

About the Author

John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news.  He's editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.

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