Soldiers' health a priority

Fort Carson’s top general says his post is ready for the growth ahead and is focusing on caring for soldiers coming home now.

Maj. Gen. Mark Graham, who took command of the post this fall, has set his top priority as building a network of Army and civilian caregivers who can address the needs of soldiers and their families as the post deals with continued wartime deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

With the post expecting 4,000 soldiers back from Iraq combat in the next month, Graham said he recognizes that all of his soldiers will come home changed men and women and that some of them will have what is becoming the signature disease of this war: post-traumatic stress disorder.

“PTSD is like a hurricane,” Graham said. “If you’re in the path, it doesn’t matter who you are, it hits you.”

Graham knows about hurricanes. In his previous post, the general directed Army efforts to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, which devastated New Orleans and much of the Gulf Coast.

While the Katrina damage was obvious, PTSD has proved difficult to identify in soldiers. Commanders have launched an Army-wide education program, but they still face criticism that they’re not doing enough to care for war-related mental illness.

One difficulty for the Army has been determining how to deal with soldiers who have PTSD when they get into legal trouble. Advocates say everything from violence to alcoholism can be a symptom of the disorder.

Graham said it’s not clear-cut. “The vast majority of our soldiers who have PTSD don’t get into trouble,” he said, adding that he reviews every case where PTSD may have contributed to a soldier’s infractions.

The post is also adding caregivers and bracing for more PTSD among soldiers of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team of the 2nd Infantry Division, which started coming home last week, Graham said.

“Any time you have a large formation of soldiers come home you’ll get a large increase in care needs,” said Graham.

At the same time, Graham said, he’s trying to beef up programs for the families of soldiers who remain at war.

“The No. 1 reason I’m in the Army is to take care of soldiers and their families,” Graham said.

At the same time, though, Graham is overseeing a post that’s undergoing the biggest changes it has seen since Vietnam. Fort Carson, which housed about 14,500 soldiers in 2003, is expected to be home to as many as 26,500 by 2010.

More than $1 billion in construction is under way at the post as commanders get ready to house the entire 4th Infantry Division, which is moving here from Texas in late 2009. Additional troops and families could start rolling into Fort Carson as soon as next summer.

CONTACT THE WRITER: 636-0240 or tom.roeder@gazette.com