From the studios of Ave Maria Radio in Ann Arbor,
this is Veterans Radio. And now, here's your
host, Dale Throneberry. And good morning, America,
and welcome to Veterans Radio. We're going to
try this again as we finally come out. And we're
on the air here in beautiful downtown Ann Arbor,
Michigan. And we want to welcome you to our program
today on Veterans Radio. We've got a fascinating
program put together for you. We're going to
be talking about mental health. which is always
good when we're talking to some veterans that
seem like, and I'm stereotyping myself here.
So we're going to be talking about a program
that is designed to help civilian mental health
specialists with their patients who are veterans.
And we know that there's sometimes a disconnect
between civilians and veterans. So I'm excited
to do that. But first coming up on our program,
we've got two guests in the studio, and we always
talk about different organizations around town.
And today we're going to be talking about Team
RedRite. Team Red, White and Blue. It's easy
for me to say. But Team Red, White and Blue is
a new organization that I just learned about
the other day. I had the privilege of going to
a luncheon of West Point graduates. And I don't
know about you, I was not a West Pointer. I wasn't
even a real live officer. So it was rather interesting.
The only thing that I thought was a little disconcerting
was that they were all sitting up and eating
square meals at lunch, which for those of you
civilians, I mean, just sit on the first two
inches of the chair and eat a square meal. It's
an in -joke. But anyway, joining me in the studios
today are Mark Gunner. And Mark Gunner is the
guy I met at the luncheon. And he's the one that
brought it out. And he is the veteran outreach
director. And Mark, welcome to Veterans Radio.
Thank you, Dale. Nice to meet you. OK. And your
other guest is Zach Armstrong. And he's a Midwest
regional director. Mark or Zach, I want to welcome
you to Veterans Radio. Thanks for having us on,
Dale. Okay. Well, Mark, I'm going to ask you
to start first. Tell us what is Team Red, White
and Blue? So Dale, Team Red, White and Blue is
an organization that enriches the lives of our
nation's veterans through connecting them to
the community through social and physical activity.
So basically our job is to Try to get veterans
active. Let them know that there is a community
out there that is here to support them. Get them
out through physical activity, weekly run groups,
other types of physical activity as well as social
activity. Go into games together, professional
sporting events or local sporting events as well
as other social activities in and around the
community. Okay. Zach, how did Team Red, White
and Blue get started? Our founder, Mike Irwin,
started the organization in 2010. He was actually
getting his master's here at the University of
Michigan in positive psychology. So it kind of
fits in very well with the mental health topic
today. So we're all about getting our veterans
and our community members active in positive
environments. So we feel that physical activity,
I think it's been well shown throughout the research
that it... makes you feel better and that's why
it's so you know centric to our mission and vision.
So it started here in 2010 and now it's a national
organization. We have about 55 groups in 36 states
and actually Ann Arbor is one of the it is the
founding chapter but it's a very very we have
a great presence here in Ann Arbor. So if I wanted
to get involved in this and Mark I'll ask you
about this how do I do that? Well, there's several
ways to do that. One of which is to go to our
national website www .teamrwb .org and there's
a link there to join the team. And that's a very
easy way to do that. It takes less than 30 seconds
to sign up. You just write in your name. which
chapter is the closest to you, and then you'll
be contacted by a local chapter captain. That's
one way. For people that are local, they can
go to our Facebook page, which is Team RWB Michigan,
and they can find us on Facebook and click the
like button to find out about our local events
that are going on almost weekly. Well, you do
something every Saturday morning, don't you?
Yes, sir, we do. We have a weekly run group so
at 930 a .m. We meet at the loading dock at Gallup
Park on Geddes Road just east of the Huron Parkway
And we meet there and go for a three to four
mile run jog walk, if you will, based on your
ability level. There are some people out there
that are very good athletes and can run very
fast for very far. Uh, and then there are others,
uh, like myself who, uh, like to take it a little
bit slower pace, uh, and, uh, and just go for
a, a light jog, uh, or a walk, uh, to, uh, uh,
basically it's a good opportunity to, to meet
with other veterans and the community. Uh, we
probably have, and this is what's really impressed
me. is that even through the the frozen tundra
of michigan we have approximately fifteen to
twenty people come on a weekly basis and we expect
to have a much larger group as the weather gets
nicer but we have some we have some hardcore
people come out there in the cold so it's been
fantastic. Well I think that that is terrific
and you've got some other events that are coming
up that maybe our audience should know about?
Yeah, absolutely. So one of our one of our signature
events is going to be the Tough Mudder Which
is coming up on June 29th and right now we have
over 50 Members signed up to do this race. So
that's going to be a phenomenal activity and
then we also have our athletic camps and we have
about four or five of those throughout the year.
These are national events that are fully funded
by donating parties and veterans are invited
to come and participate in a three to four day
camp in things such as the triathlon camp, which
I just had the distinct pleasure of attending
just last weekend, as well as hiking camps, yoga
camps. trail running camps and such. So it's
a phenomenal organization with a very strong
support base to support veterans. So we invite
any veteran in the area that wants to participate
with our organization in both our social and
physical activities. And we also invite the community
too, those people that are interested in supporting
veterans to join us. And there's no obligation.
You give and you participate as much as you want.
And we don't have any... predetermined expectations
of everybody. We just want to get everybody active
and involved. I think that's great. Now Zach,
are there other chapters in Michigan or in the
Midwest that our listeners could go to or contact?
Sure, that's a great question, Dale. Since Ann
Arbor has been that sole chapter for quite some
time now, we are just starting to see other veterans,
other community members step up anywhere from
Houghton, Michigan, Traverse City, Grand Rapids,
Lansing, Tecumseh, many different areas where
we're starting to organize communities and chapters.
But what it takes is for a veteran or a community
member to call us and say, this is what we would
like to... create a community. We have veterans
who are interested in our area so when it comes
down to it we have many people interested but
they need to contact us and let us know and we'd
be happy to talk them through how to set up a
community in their area. Okay, can I get you
to give out your website again? You sure can.
It's www .teamrwb .org. Okay, we got that. I
want to thank Mark Gunner and Zach Armstrong
for representing team Red, White and Blue. For
more information, you can go to their website
and find out more about that. Thank you gentlemen
for being on Veterans Radio. Thank you Dale.
Thank you Dale. By combining resources from the
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and Operation Iraqi Freedom who have honorably
served our country. Please visit us online at
www .avemeria .edu or call the assistant director
of admissions at 239 -280 -2552. You helped us.
Now let us help you. Semper Fi. And we are back
on Veterans Radio and being pushed into host
duty today. And we're all working together as
we go along here. Brian Redmer is our producer
for today's program and put the whole thing together.
And Brian, I'm going to let you introduce the
topic while I play around here in the control
room. Thank you, Dale. It's good to be here.
It's good to be with everyone today on Veterans
Radio. Today's topic, we're going to be talking
about a two -tier program that has been implemented
in the state to teach mental health providers
how to deal with the specific issues that soldiers
come home deployed with. And in studio, we're
going to introduce today Captain Nicholas Anderson,
commander of HHT 126 CAF and director of the
peer support programs in the state. Captain Anderson,
thank you for being on the program today. Good
morning. Thanks for having me. Can you tell us
a little bit about what your work is, what you're
doing? Well, for my full -time job, I have a
couple different jobs, but one that we're working
on project right now is the Star Behavior Health
Program. We're training civilian mental health
care providers to be more military friendly and
to reach out to veterans to help them with issues
that they have and to help them through those
issues. How you doing today? Good, sir. Good.
Welcome, everybody. This is Chaplain Paul Lepley.
He is a coordinator for STAR Behavioral Health.
You can visit their website at starproviders
.org. He's also a mental health counselor for
Veterans of America. And can you go ahead and
add a little bit on to what we're going to be
talking about today, sir? First off, thank you
for having us on the radio. Just talk a little
bit about the program and the conceptual program,
that type of stuff. But whatever you have for
us, we can talk about. How does that sound, Redmer?
Well, that's the thing. Where did this program
start from? Well, this program started in Indiana.
They were the family couple agencies there. The
Military Family Research Institute is one. And
then the Center for Deployment Psychologies,
the other, was the Indiana National Guard. got
together to create a program to train mental
health therapists how to work with veterans because
there's a very large disconnect between the therapy
world and the veteran population. What that looks
like is a therapist, when they sit in the room
with a veteran or even a family member of a veteran,
they may see a 25 -year -old white male. The
therapist brings with them this perception of
what a 25 -year -old white male has gone through
in their life. But when it's a veteran, they
fail to realize that this 25 -year -old male
may have been deployed two or three times and
has more life experiences than a lot of 80 -year
-olds. And so to be able to take that into consideration,
they're meeting with this vet and some of the
things that this veteran has went through. And
not only just deployment experience, but... The
acculturation or the brainwashing is, people
say, that the military does to soldiers or airmen
or seamen or marines to make them ready to do
their job. Okay. Also with us today is Tom Anderman,
Director of Psychological Services for the Michigan
Army National Guard. Mr. Anderman, how are you
this morning? I'm well and yourself. I am very
well. Thank you for being a guest on today's
show. Now, I know Jacqueline Lepley talked about
that disconnect that soldiers have with the mental
health community. Again, why do you feel there's
that disconnect? What's your take on that? Well,
as you mentioned, seeing your... I'm a licensed
social worker and counselor, and seeing your
client for who they really are and being there
for them is... The most important thing a therapist
can offer initially in the therapeutic environment
and to have counselors, social workers that really
understand what these service members have been
through is paramount. Chaplain Lopley referred
to life experience and for service members to
be able to connect. and really know they're being
heard takes a lot on the therapist's part to
be more familiar with the nomenclature of military
life. I've spent two years myself in Iraq and
a year in Afghanistan and that's enabled me to
be there a little better for them. Our program
offers a series of trainings for counselors and
social workers, psychologists, that can really
aid their understanding for their therapy sessions
and their clients. Okay, Captain Anderson, you
have something to add to this? Yeah, talking
about the disconnect, as a soldier, I think if
me talking to somebody, if you haven't been there
and you haven't done that, it's hard for me to
open up to you. I feel very comfortable talking
to other soldiers who are deployed with me or
who have been deployed to the same area, done
the same things type that I've done. I feel that
they know where I'm coming from. And I think
that's the big disconnect with civilian mental
health, health care providers that, you know,
when, when I sit down with somebody, a civilian
who has never been there done that, how are they
really going to understand what I'm talking about?
So that's what we try to do is try to sort of
educate these, these civilians on. why soldiers
are reluctant to come forward and talk about
their issues and how to open them up more or
less. Okay, I know I'd spoken to Chaplain Lepley
a couple of times in Afghanistan when he came
to our FOB overseas. Chaplain Lepley, I just
I had a question here and all of a sudden I blank
real quick. You're teaching tier one of the program.
I know you said it's a how many tier program
that this total is? There's a total of three
tiers. Tier one is basic military culture and
the deployment cycle and really try to address
not just the First off a disclaimer here. I'll
say soldier, but when I say soldier I might be
talking about airmen seaman or Marine Because
I come from a National Guard army background.
So if anybody's listening who is Not a soldier
and belong to our branch. I do not mean any disrespect
to you It's just my background of time won't
talk So, Tier 1, yes, about military culture,
some lingo that we use. For example, what is
a FOB? What is a COP? What is an MRAP? That way,
when in therapy, a soldier is sitting there with
the therapist and the soldier is talking about
going out at 0 dark 30 outside the wire and the
MRAP and they get hit by an IED, the therapist
is like, what the heck are you talking about?
Because all these acronyms are in use. We do
use a lot of acronyms in the Army. Yes, we do.
Yes, we do. We think it makes it easier, but
I don't know. I don't think it does. Then the
afternoon of Tier 1, because Tier 1 is just a
one day event, is more your deployment cycle.
And not just deployment cycle from the soldier's
perspective, but deployment cycle from the family's
perspective. Because each soldier usually has
about 1 .5 dependents. Wow. So say there's 700
,000 veterans. in Michigan. That means there's
over 1 .4 million, I did the math right, people
who are affected directly by the deployment cycle
and the military culture. Tier 2 focuses more
on things that may arise, issues that may arise
during a session with a soldier. Things such
as depression or insomnia are very common. issues
that may arise, and they delve more deeply into
these issues that soldiers come home facing.
I remember when I first got home, the first thing
that Tom said to me is, oh, you still look tired.
And it's like, wow, I didn't even realize I looked
tired. But he was cognizant of what I went through
in nine months of not really having a sleep cycle.
And he pinpointed it. I was like, oh, great.
Thanks, Tom. I appreciate that. Probably something
I didn't even realize about myself. Then tier
three, we try to reserve strictly for mental
health professionals. So social workers, counselors,
licensed psychologists, and LMFTs, licensed marriage
and family therapists. And there we'll actually
deal with evidence -based treatment modalities
for dealing with stuff such as PTSD. And then
we might get into... prolonged exposure therapy.
And in order to do that stuff in Michigan, you
do have to have a license. But anybody can attend
tier one. If you work with veterans on a regular
basis, you can attend tier two. If you have a
license, you can attend tier three. Okay. Mr.
Anderman, is there anything you want to add on
tier one? What work you're doing with them? Anything
you want to add? Well, just to get people to
understand, therapists and mental health providers
that there is a very complex dynamic to the military
experience and when in session it's always important
to admit you don't know versus just the Carl
Rogers nodding of the head. You want to be able
to, you know, expose yourself. It's like, well,
this is something I'm not familiar with or something
I'm willing to learn about. At least that's not
a turn -off in the therapeutic relationship.
Tier 1 offers people a good basic understanding.
to where they can help anchor that relationship
to say, well, I understand this. I know about
that. But you mentioned this. What is that? And
so really in creating the therapeutic relationship,
you want a solid foundation. And tier one helps
that happen. I know, Chaplain, that you spoke
about the family aspect of that. And if anyone
out there listening has a question for our three
guests, they can give us a call today at 1 -877
-573 -7825. Again, that number is 1 -877 -573
-7825, because we all out, everyone out there
knows a veteran, family member of a veteran.
So if you have a question, a specific question
for our guests, go ahead and give us a call in.
And Captain Anderson, was there anything you
wanted to add to the tier one that we're talking
about? I think as far as going back to the family
aspect, if we're getting mental health care providers
to just ask the question, are you a veteran or
is somebody in your family a veteran type thing,
I think that's pretty huge because we have children
that their mother or their father deploys or
maybe even a brother or sister, somebody that
they're very close to. suddenly they're having
some sort of issues with behavior or whatever
at school and their parents are sending them
to talk to somebody. Even if it's not a recent
deployment, it was something two, three, four
years ago. If the mental health care provider
is asking, well, hey, why is this? And they're
talking to the kids or even a spouse about my
husband, my father, my mother was deployed a
couple of years ago. And now I'm starting to
see the effects or I'm starting to feel the effects.
I think that's pretty important. Right. I just
wanted to jump in with a question. Actually,
I guess it's for Mr. Anderman. My name is Dale
Thromberry. Welcome to Veterans Radio. I want
to thank all of you for being on the program.
I think this is so important. With the training
that you get, Mr. Anderman, do they... indoctrinates
you into some of the acronyms that they were
throwing around earlier on or some of the specific
issues that might affect veterans? There is actually
a significant period of time spent on getting
people to understand the organizational structure
so you can find out just where that service member
fits in. Understanding that You get to see what
kind of emotional and responsibility load the
individual carries or where in the food chain
they are allows them, allows the service provider
to really get a better view. And as far as the
acronyms, they're endless. There's a cornucopia.
They're being produced by the dozen as we speak.
There are handouts and links that provide definitive
current definitions of those but the thing is
is that there's always more and what I learned
long ago is the only bad question is one not
asked because there's just so many. Thank you.
Okay, I do have a quick question. Suppose we
have a mental health provider out there right
now listening to us that does struggle talking
to a veteran when he has a veteran come in for
mental health services. What can that provider,
how does this provider go about getting this
type of training from you gentlemen? What does
he have to do? To get the training, if the provider
just go to starproviders .org and all our trainings
are registered on there, all of our tier ones
at least. We just posted our tier two trainings
and we'll post the tier three training here a
little bit later on. They just go there and they
register. One thing that we have seen is we use
a software called Qualtrics to do the registration.
So if there's any problems with the registration
not populating onto the computer, they can just
give us a call and we'll sit down on one of our
computers. Teresa, who's the co -coordinator
with me, or myself, and we'll actually do the
registration over the phone. OK. One thing, we're
breaking down the barriers that mental health
providers have with soldiers. Now we have to
break down the barriers that the soldiers have
with the mental health providers. And how do
we get that information to the soldiers themselves
to be more willing to get the help that they
need? Captain Anderson, can you talk about that
a little bit? So one of the things that I do
is I run... regional, quarterly meetings, sort
of like community outreach, and we held one back
in February in the Grand Ledge area, and we had,
truly had Chaplain Leftley come talk about this,
our behavior health program, and there were some
of the leadership of the Michigan National Guard
there, just so that they know the information,
and they can push that down to their service
members. The biggest thing is putting, you know,
I concentrate on the Army National Guard because
that's who I work for. But in the state of Michigan,
we have Army Reserves, we have Marine Corps Reserves,
we have some active duty folks in the Detroit
area. And it's just pushing it out. There's multiple
different national websites that providers can
go on to. But again, it's... I really don't know
how to crack that nut. Because like I said, my
concentration is on the Army National Guard.
But we get tons of people that have called that
they just happen to see it on the website. They
Google Veterans Care and this website pops up.
So it's difficult. I don't know to tell you the
truth. There's no really one good answer on how
to do that. On how to get soldiers to want to
actually commit to this and commit to getting
the help that they need. Chapman Levely, do you
have any idea before we go to break? We've got
about a minute and a half. That's a great question.
I was actually thinking about that earlier today.
Nick, Cap Anderson, he just, you know, it's very
tough not to crack. Awareness is one thing. The
military has efforts to try to destigmatize mental
health. Before, if you had a security clearance
you were getting, if you answered yes to getting
mental health help, then you'd lose your clearance.
And so people didn't want to claim it or go out
and get it for fear of losing a clearance. But
they have changed that. Our strives and the military
and all branches to diminish the stigma associated
with it and to decrease any sort of reprimands
and actually get rid of reprimands that may be
issued because a soldier seeks help. Yeah and
actually going back to that, Sergeant Major of
the Army Ray Chandler, I was at a conference
that he was at back in April in DC and he openly
spoke about seeking mental health for combat
stress, post -traumatic stress disorder. after
one or two of his deployments, I can't remember.
But, you know, the big thing is that he is the
top dog of the NCO Corps for the Army, not the
National Guard, the Army. And he reiterated that
if I, as a Sergeant Major of the Army, can ask
for help for a topic like this, there's no reason
anybody else in the military should not, you
know, should not be able to go because he still
has his job. He's still in the military and there
was no repercussions for him seeking help. All
right. Okay, well we're going to take a break.
We'll be right back with Tom Anderson, Captain
Nicholas Anderson and Chaplain Paul Upley here
on Veterans Radio. Welcome back to Veterans Radio.
Again, if you have a question for our three guests,
Tom Anderson, Captain Nicholas Anderson or Chaplain
Paul Upley, you can call in 1 -877 -573 -7825.
Again, 1 -877 -573 -7825. Now, one of the things
I know we're talking about and I want to dive
into is the family aspect of all of this. How
soldiers are turning home from deployments, their
families are affected. We were talking earlier,
Captain Anderson, that depending on the length
of time you're deployed, that's the length of
time it could take to reintegrate back home.
So it's not just six months or just a couple
months after we deploy or we come home from deployment,
that issues may arise. It could be six months,
eight months to a year. Is there talk about the
difficulties surrounding that or anything surrounding
the family aspect? Yeah, coming from my own experience,
when I deployed, my wife picked up all my duties.
She was the mom and the dad for a good year of
my daughter's life. second deployment, we had
both my son and my daughter. So she had to cook,
clean, take care of the kids, but also take out
the trash, mow the lawn. And when I came back,
I had to really figure out where my place in
the family dynamic was again, and who got control
of the remote control on what time, and who did
what with the kids. And my wife, she always says
that she didn't I joined the military after we
were married. It was very difficult after my
first deployment because we just didn't know
where to go from there. I was dealing with my
issues coming home from the deployment and then
trying to get back into the swing of things of
being a civilian and being a father and a husband.
It was extremely difficult. Our families, we
just don't give them enough credit. The one thing
we always say is that Everybody always thinks
the veteran, but the family members never get
thanked for their service because if anything,
they take on a very large burden. It's very easy
for me to go overseas and be mission focused.
My wife and kids are at home worrying about what's
going on with me, but at the same time having
to carry on and live their life back here. So
it's very difficult. Brian, I just want to interrupt
you. My question is, when you guys came back
from your deployments, it's much different now
than it was 40 years ago. Were you given time
to come down from your deployment before you
met with your family? From my personal experience,
it was about four days. for both deployments
actually, flew into Fort Hood and did our out
-processing and then four days later we were
back in Michigan. And actually my first deployment,
I came home early because my wife was pregnant
and so I flew out of Kuwait on a Saturday, landed
in Atlanta, Georgia on a Sunday. I was back in
Detroit later that Sunday and Tuesday morning
I was in the operating room. You know, there
was no real time to adjust, and it's very difficult.
I know Chaplain Lepley, I know you deployed with
the 126 as well as I did, and I don't know what
your time frame was when you came home. We had
about two weeks at Camp Shelby, Mississippi.
from when we left Afghanistan, flew home, and
were able to sit at Camp Shelby, relax. We took
the demode process nice and slow. And there was
a lot of providers there, not just talking about
the mental health that we could get, but about
our GI bill benefits and all the other benefits
that we have at our disposal now. So we were
able to relax, sit back, talk to our families
on the phone as much as we wanted to before we
had that. ceremony where we came back home into
Grand Rapids and Chapman Lepley was there anything
you wanted to add to that? I think that I'm very
cautious when it comes to assigning and designating
a specific time frame that takes for somebody
to really integrate back into a family system
because each person, each soldier and each family
is going to be different. One thing that studies
will show and Dr. Adrian Bloom may argue with
me a little bit on this, is that when you leave
for deployment, there's a little bump of stress
in the family as the family system tries to cope
with the loss of one of its members. As roles
in the families are reestablished and expectations
are reestablished as the spouse that's left at
home tries to assume control of the kids. still
the gaps there are left and studies will show
though that at the end of the deployment at the
tail end starting about one month before the
end of the deployment there's another bump. Some
I've seen shows that that bump at the end of
the deployment is actually bigger than the one
at the beginning and that bump that starts about
a month before the soldier gets home that bump
continues on for X amount of time depending on
how well the family communicates. how well they
just relax and not get it to our throats. But
that bump, it's a pretty sizable bump. And the
reason why is because that veteran, they leave
a hole and they leave. And that hole most of
the times gets filled. The family turns inward.
It's a state of homostasis. And then when the
veteran comes home, The family has to learn how
to open up and to accept that veteran. So a veteran
can re -assimilate some of their same duties,
some of the duties they won't have anymore. And
when I left, before I left, I paid the bills.
I was in charge all of my answers. Now I'm home,
I've been home six months. I haven't paid a bill
since I've been home because my wife has assumed
the responsibility. And she, yeah, she's... I
don't know. She likes holding the checkbook,
I guess. I don't know. I was going to say we
have a question from a caller for you three gentlemen.
We have Joan. Joan, you're welcome to Veterans
Radio. Well, thank you. I'm so glad that you're
speaking about this topic. And I was just wondering
if veterans are having difficulty with a therapist
or something with the VA. Can they contact you
or what should they do? Mr. Anderman, do you
want to go ahead? Do you have an answer for that?
Well, again, that's an individual case, but depending
on the level of treatment and the level of dissatisfaction
a person is experiencing, I mean, ideally, a
mental health professional is going to help assist
a client to achieve you know, maximum benefits.
So if they're feeling like, well, OK, I notice
you're not doing well here. Let me try and hook
you up with somebody. But if they're frustrated
with the VA, the real issue becomes in every
stage. Excuse me. Could you speak a little louder?
I can hardly hear you. Sorry about that. Yes.
What I look for is the availability of treatment
providers in an area. If somebody comes to me
and they say, well, I've been seeing the VA,
but I'm not happy about it, then my job is to
try and hook somebody up and make a referral
so that they can get the help they want as soon
as possible. And that's one of the things for
the STAR Behavioral Health Program is to, we're
going to have a registry of ideally a thousand
therapists in the state of Michigan where people
are going to be able to go online. and identify
who's had the training in their area that is
accepting clients. And at that point, it's almost
an immediate referral system. The question outlines
one of the problems that exists and one of the
founding reasons and establishment for the STAR
Behavioral Health Providers Network. Chappam
Wepley, do you have anything to add? If I understand
the question is, what to do if a soldier's having
problems with the services they're receiving,
is that correct? Yes, that's correct. Okay. Now,
I'm always available, but I can't do everything.
So I'm more than happy to help out. Soldiers
in my unit come to me and they often deal with
an issue of, you know, I was in therapy and the...
therapists, they just don't get it. They're a
quack. First off is I try to listen to what the
problem is. If I'm not able to fully understand
the problem, then I can't fully help them. And
that requires time. Listen to what's going on.
Sometimes I just need to vent. And then don't
be shocked either if a soldier complains about...
the services they give to VA because Michigan
was rated the worst VA in the U .S. and we were
beat by Guam and Puerto Rico. We're so far down
on the food chain when it comes to VA services.
So that's very common for soldiers to complain
about VA services. It's awful that soldiers go
overseas, they... to fight a different demographic
of people and a demographic of people that's
very similar to them happens to work at the VA
quite a bit, especially with your doctors. Soldiers
view some of those individuals that are treating
them at the VA as the enemy. Why did I go overseas
and fight this particular type of person just
to come home and be treated by them? And so that
creates an immediate wall. And just like Tom
said, I have a network of mental health counselors
that I'm friends with, that I hang out with,
and I can refer a soldier on if they're having
a problem. They need somebody who understands
what they're going through a little bit more,
or maybe not even understands, but who is good
at working with them. And so I'd refer them.
Okay, and it sounds like, I'm sorry to interrupt
Chaplain Lepley, it sounds like one of the problems
that, correct me if I'm wrong, Joan and Chaplain
Lepley, is that Joan, your problem is where to
find this information if somebody's not getting
the help that they need. And I believe some of
this information can be found on the website,
starproviders .org. Am I correct, Chaplain Lepley?
That is correct. When you go to the website,
the first thing you'll see is a picture of the
continental United States. and you'll see Michigan
and Indiana are highlighted in blue. Click on
Michigan, if they are from Michigan, and it'll
ask a question, are you a provider or are you
a service member? If they're a service member,
then click service member, and it'll take them
to a page where they can click the link that
says along the line to find a provider. That's
a provider registry. And then all that registry
states is that that practitioner has received
the Tier 1 training that they have malpractice
insurance, that they have a license in good standing,
and that they're taking on new clients. We'll
also, on that spreadsheet, also indicate whether
or not they take TRICARE or are boarded by Military
One Source. Military One Source is an hour grade
tool, too, for referrals. All Military One Sources,
it's just a referral agency. So a soldier can
call up Military OneSource and request mental
health counseling and they can get 12 free sessions
of mental health counseling through Military
OneSource with a local practitioner. And the
other nice thing with Military OneSource is they
can take and if they have a problem with their
therapist, which is the heart of the question
here, that they can call Military OneSource.
Again, the person's a quack and Military OneSource
will actually terminate the sessions for the
soldier. and get the soldier hooked up with another
mental health professional because not all therapists
are going to work for all people. I hope that
answers your question, Joan. I want to thank
you for being on Veterans Radio today, for joining
us. We're going to take a quick break. We'll
be back with Tom Anderman, Captain Nicholas Anderson,
and Chaplain Paul Lepley. Stay tuned. And welcome
back to Veterans Radio. Again, if you have a
question for our guests today, the number is
877 -573 -7825. Again, 877 -573 -7825. And Chaplain
Lepley, I have something I wanted to get to and
talk about. One of your other distinctions is
you're the secretary of board for Zero Day. I
know you talked about with me earlier this week
that that is a program that you were launching
this week. Can you tell me a little bit about
Zero Day, what it is and how it can benefit everyone
out there? Zero Day, we are still in our infancy
so there's only so much I can say. But we have
a group of people who are very successful in
working with vets and more towards the job retraining,
comprehensive work therapy type models that we'll
be using to take a veteran who may have fallen
on hard times and get them retrained. We have
an accredited teacher, a master carpenter. who
can actually teach a class that they can actually
get college credit for. We're working towards
getting the college credit so we can award them
legally so that way they can transfer to other
universities. And it's more along the construction
trades right now, but we look at branching out
into a bunch of other trades. And one thing about
Zero Data sets us apart from all these other
agencies who try to help veterans with job retraining
or... just job placement is that Zero Day actually
has a support services branch. So all the veterans
that come in, they'll be screened by myself or
another mental health counselor. And we'll see,
do a little bit of maybe a Myers -Briggs type
inventory or something along those lines to figure
out what type of jobs may be interesting to them
or something that they may want to do. And also
we'll be able to assess their biopsychosocial
status. So we're not just going to take a soldier
and feed them to the wolf, so to speak, and say,
oh, yes, you're going to go work in construction
and they're quadriplegic. Or you're going to
go work in construction and they might have severe
PTSD where a nail gun going off may make them
flinch every single time they hear it. So we'll
match them with a career that's more suited for
them, and plus we'll work with them through it.
So myself or another therapist can actually go
on the job site and see how the soldiers are
doing, or the veterans are doing, make sure that
they're assimilating well, that everything's
going well for them. And at the end of the day,
they pick up a valuable skill, a valuable trait
that they can take with them anywhere. They have
the time to get back on their feet. It falls
under the idea of you've got to stabilize and
then assess and then relaunch. So yeah, it gives
them that time to stabilize and get things under
control before they move on with the rest of
their life. OK. Mr. Anderman, something I wanted
to ask you. When I spoke to you earlier this
week, you had told me that you're present for
all the reintegration ceremonies, correct? Yes.
And I'm assuming that's like the yellow ribbon
ceremonies that soldiers we partake in a couple
months after we return from deployment, correct?
Yes, sir. Okay, so I wanted to get that information
out there because I'm sure we have a lot of listeners
inside the state of Michigan who still have soldiers
deployed. and this way they know what to look
for. They can come speak to you about any problems
that they might have or issues that they might
have once their soldier comes home from deployment
to let them know that. I'm going to interrupt.
What was your yellow ribbon ceremony called?
Captain Anderson, do you want to inform a little
bit about the yellow ribbon that we partake in?
So what we do for Michigan National Guard airmen
and soldiers. About 45 to 60 days after post
deployment, after they come home, we do a reintegration
workshop weekend. We bring in the unit. to a
resort -like facility, Grand Traverse Resort
or Amway Grand. And we spend the weekend with
the service member and their family and talk
about what resources they have available. And
also we discuss issues or topics of what they
may be facing as far as anger management, unemployment,
just you name it, marital issues. And Tom Anderman,
he speaks about multiple different things as
far as emotional and mental issues that the service
members or the family members might pop up post
-deployment more or less. Mr. Anderman, do you
want to add to that a little bit on what you
speak about to the soldiers and their family
members? Well, the regular presentations are
on addiction and traumatic brain injury. Try
to number one make people aware of what kind
of problems they're going to incur with the use
of alcohol or any illicit substance or abuse
of legal pharmaceuticals. The emotional process
of reintegration to assuming, trying to reintegrate
and assume normal life, it's just impeded by
use of those. how that complicates family matters,
and then try to displace some of the misunderstandings
regarding traumatic brain injury, what can be
done, what can't be done, what people need to
do to take care of themselves. And then I try
to get people to understand that when you come
home, Suffering from whatever experience you
had in deployment is really, you know, doesn't
have to be an ongoing lifelong disability. Treatment's
available for people and there really are some
very good established therapies that help people
with PTSD if that's what they have. And then
the big thing is trying to get people to understand
that a lot of the symptomology that is identified
with PTSD, just because you're experiencing that
doesn't mean you have PTSD. And that those symptoms
can be treated and you can go on your life without
having that bother you. A lot of people think
they're just, well, that's going to happen. I'm
this way now. It's really not the case. I try
to get people to understand there's good ways
to treat these things to resume normal life.
Because we focus mainly on the reserve component,
the Army Reserve, Army National Guard, Air National
Guard. You know, I had an active duty officer
ask me one time when I was in Afghanistan, when
I go home, what am I going to do? And I was like,
well, you know, I'm probably going to go back
to my civilian career. And it was almost hard
for him to fathom that you could be in a combat
zone. And then, you know, a month after you go
home, you go back to working at the bank or you
go back working at Best Buy or something. And
that's one of the issues that our soldiers face.
is that it's getting back to the civilian lifestyle.
And also on the active duty side, you come home
from a deployment, you take your leave, but then
you go back to your base with all your buddies
that you were deployed with. In the National
Guard and the Reserves, you don't get that. You
come home and you just go to the four ones of
the state of Michigan. And like myself, I was
on a team of 12 guys in Afghanistan and I didn't
see some of them for six, seven months. And it's
not so much the... the stress of coming on. But
there's like the separation that that was what
hurt the most is that I spent 15 months with
some of these guys and then they were just gone.
And it was, you know, they were my security blanket
for a year and a half almost. And that's what
hurt the most, I think. Yeah. I know that's what
the chaplain monthly and I spoke about earlier
this week is that there is no active duty base
in the state of Michigan. We have such a large
veteran population in this state. So and a chaplain
lovely any last thoughts I Know just I would
like to encourage anybody who would like to attend
the training we have one coming up next week
itself rich Registration closes today. So hurry
up And they can register website they can register
at star providers org that is correct Yeah, and
it's it's about creating awareness and respecting
the military subculture and being able to help
those who sacrifice so much for the freedoms
that we all enjoy. Okay. Well, I want to thank
you gentlemen for being on today on Veterans
Radio. I really do appreciate it. We got some
good awareness out there on this topic, a lot
of good information out there for our listeners,
and I think a lot of people will benefit from
this information. know that there is a change
being made across the state, across mental health
providers, and that soldiers don't have to worry
so much about going to see those mental health
providers. They're now going to get the help
that they need, and the providers are going to
understand where they're coming from. Absolutely.
Okay. Brian, I think you did a great job today,
and I want to make sure that you... This is Brian's
solo flight as a host, and we want to thank him
so much for putting the program together and
bringing his guests on. I think it's very, very
valuable, and I want to thank all the guests
today that have been on Veterans Radio. So good
job. Thank you. All right. Mr. Anderman, thank
you. Chaplain Mupply, again, thank you very much.
I do appreciate it very much for coming on air
with us today and sharing what you've been doing
around the state. Appreciate it. Thank you very
much for having us. Thank you. All right, Brian
good job as I said whew now you can breathe a
little bit. It's been one of them It has been
an unusual morning, but we want to thank everybody
for listening to Veterans Radio We'll be up next
week with some new authors. There's going to
be kind of exciting stuff We've got women in
the military coming up POWs and a whole bunch
of other stories If you've got something you
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