Confused reporting on Khanadar massacre

[Don Coyote]

I bet it's some guy from 2/2 which used to be 5/2, and that brigade is fucked up. Most other units on JBLM aren't as fucked up.

And yes the kill teams were from JBLM and from 5/2.

[East Coast Hustle]

From what I hear, a lot of soldiers have concerns about the leadership of that base, and the leadership there seem to have a very cavalier attitude towards PTSD and the like.

That would seem to dovetail with their seemingly abnormally high suicide rate.

[Don Coyote]

From what I hear, a lot of soldiers have concerns about the leadership of that base, and the leadership there seem to have a very cavalier attitude towards PTSD and the like.

That would seem to dovetail with their seemingly abnormally high suicide rate.

The number of suicide prevention/intervention classes I have been forced to sit through here is mind-numbing.

[Doktor Howl]

If they wanted to stop suicide in the ranks, not treating them as jannasaries seems more helpful than sitting through some lame-ass class on the subject.  I remember those classes, but they were very occasional for us...Maybe one every 12 months or so.

They were kind of like:

"If you feel like the unnecessary stress and weird treatment inflicted on you by your chain of command may lead to suicide, please go straight to your chain of command and tell them you have a problem."

Saw one kid do that.   

He was reffered to Community Mental Health Services, who asked him how much he drank, he said about once a week, so they referred him to the army alcohol program ("THIS GUY IS YOUR PROBLEM, LOL"), and his clearance got yanked, so he couldn't perform his job.  Since he had to work out of his MOS, he couldn't get promoted.  The resulting hilarity ended in him getting a few article 15s, and being separated "for the good of the army", 2 years into his 4 year term.

[Don Coyote]

If they wanted to stop suicide in the ranks, not treating them as jannasaries seems more helpful than sitting through some lame-ass class on the subject.  I remember those classes, but they were very occasional for us...Maybe one every 12 months or so.

They were kind of like:

"If you feel like the unnecessary stress and weird treatment inflicted on you by your chain of command may lead to suicide, please go straight to your chain of command and tell them you have a problem."

Saw one kid do that.   

He was reffered to Community Mental Health Services, who asked him how much he drank, he said about once a week, so they referred him to the army alcohol program ("THIS GUY IS YOUR PROBLEM, LOL"), and his clearance got yanked, so he couldn't perform his job.  Since he had to work out of his MOS, he couldn't get promoted.  The resulting hilarity ended in him getting a few article 15s, and being separated "for the good of the army", 2 years into his 4 year term.

That sucks, but things have changed a lot. I was going to behavior health a lot about 6 months before I separated, never had my clearance revoked, still had my job and no one in my chain of command would have dared to fucked with that.  But at the same time there are a still a lot of "old school" douchebag 'NCOs" around that dog on soldiers for getting any kind of help, mental or physical, which in turn discourages them from seeking the help they need, and a lot of them think it's weak to get help.

Oh and by the by, I am a certified suicide intervention specialist. 

[Doktor Howl]

Oh and by the by, I am a certified suicide intervention specialist. 

I need to get into that gig.



TEH DOKTOR IS IN!

[Don Coyote]

Oh and by the by, I am a certified suicide intervention specialist. 

I need to get into that gig.



TEH DOKTOR IS IN!

I had FUN in that class. Straight up told the instructor, who was the brigade chaplain's assistant, that I saw nothing wrong with suicide and that short of strapping someone to a bed with a bite guard, will stop someone, and that at that point you might as have killed the person.
And in the final student made scenarios, I committed suicide by driving off a cliff.

[Doktor Howl]

Oh and by the by, I am a certified suicide intervention specialist. 

I need to get into that gig.



TEH DOKTOR IS IN!

I had FUN in that class. Straight up told the instructor, who was the brigade chaplain's assistant, that I saw nothing wrong with suicide and that short of strapping someone to a bed with a bite guard, will stop someone, and that at that point you might as have killed the person.
And in the final student made scenarios, I committed suicide by driving off a cliff.

I think I would excel in that field.

"Here, kid, drink this rotgut while I drive you around to the meatmarket bar.  If you strike out there, we'll go sunroofing and then see if we can't get you fixed up at The Meetrack.  Your problem isn't that you're depressed or anything, your problem is that I have been given your case.  When we're done, if the process doesn't kill you, I will have given you new purpose in life; ie, to kill me."

[Don Coyote]

Oh and by the by, I am a certified suicide intervention specialist. 

I need to get into that gig.



TEH DOKTOR IS IN!

I had FUN in that class. Straight up told the instructor, who was the brigade chaplain's assistant, that I saw nothing wrong with suicide and that short of strapping someone to a bed with a bite guard, will stop someone, and that at that point you might as have killed the person.
And in the final student made scenarios, I committed suicide by driving off a cliff.

I think I would excel in that field.

"Here, kid, drink this rotgut while I drive you around to the meatmarket bar.  If you strike out there, we'll go sunroofing and then see if we can't get you fixed up at The Meetrack.  Your problem isn't that you're depressed or anything, your problem is that I have been given your case.  When we're done, if the process doesn't kill you, I will have given you new purpose in life; ie, to kill me."

Sounds like win.

[Cain]

Pentagon is sticking to the "lone gunman" theory of Sunday night.

[Doktor Howl]

Pentagon is sticking to the "lone gunman" theory of Sunday night.

Aw, for Chrissakes. 

Are they blaming Rambo?

This is starting to look more and more like My Lai, except with less Lt Colin Powell helping to try covering it up.

[Don Coyote]

Aren't Afghans armed? Wouldn't a lone gunman been gunned down rather quickly? Last time I checked an M16 is not quiet.

[Cain]

I'm pretty sure every Afghan villager is allowed by law to keep an AK-47 to hand...if only because trying to disarm everyone in the country would be impossible.

And yeah, I did find it unlikely that he would be able to kill 16 people on his own...I mean, unless they were all huddled together in the same room, and he got the drop on them...which we know didn't happen...

I'll be interested to see if the US Army carries out a proper investigation.  Forensics should be able to tell pretty quickly if there was more than one shooter...if they bother to investigate it at all, that is.  If the soldier confesses to all the killings, well, then they may just declare it open and shut, time to move on.

[Junkenstein]

So the likely options are

1 - 1 guy left base armed and/or became drunk then shot civilians.
2-  2+ people left base armed and/or became drunk then shot civilians

What seems to be in contention is the likely level of cover up and number of other people potentially involved.

Given that shit rolls downhill in the military, I'm pretty sure everything is going to be focused on the one guy. One nut is a bad apple. Several nuts is a bad barrel. It's a lot of hassle and likely tons of bad PR to investigate the environment that produces the desire to do this.

[Prince Glittersnatch III]

http://rt.com/news/afghanistan-us-drunk-shooting-373/

Russia Today is running the multiple soldier angle.