SF Soldier kills himself after police confrontation

[shrek]

MONUMENT, Colorado (AP) -- A Special Forces soldier shot himself to death during a confrontation with police about three weeks after he returned from Iraq, authorities said.
Chief Warrant Officer William Howell was following his wife around the front yard with a handgun when officers arrived Sunday night in response to a 911 call from the woman. When police officers ordered him to drop his weapon, Howell shot himself, authorities said.
A police officer also fired, hitting Howell in the right arm, Monument police Sgt. Richard Tudor said. An autopsy showed Howell was killed by his own bullet.
Howell's wife was treated for a head injury. Three children inside the home were not hurt.
The El Paso County Sheriff's Department and the Army are investigating Howell's death, and the district attorney's office is investigating whether the officer was justified in shooting Howell.
Howell, 36, was a Green Beret assigned to Fort Carson, near Colorado Springs.
The military requires troops returning from combat to be screened for post-traumatic stress disorder and other problems. (Bull****) The policy was enacted after four military wives of special forces soldiers returning from Afghanistan were killed by their husbands at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in 2002.
Steve Robinson, executive director of the National Gulf War Resource Center, an advocacy group for veterans of both conflicts, said at least 23 service members committed suicide in Iraq since the war started and six, excluding Howell, killed themselves after returning stateside.


****Screening my ass! How are you feeling today? Fine!
Are you ready to go home? Yes!
Ever had thoughts of killing yourself? No!
Ever had thoughts of killing someone else? Just did!
Enjoy your trip home!

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

I am sure Deuts is based in Colorado when not overseas.

[George W. Bush]

His suicide was an effect of an anti-malaria drug he was forced to take in Iraq :(

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

Lariam has been blamed for this in the past. :|

[Mechanical Ambush]

Thats what happens when your bitch wife starts runnin' around on you! :bash:

[George W. Bush]

Thats what happens when your bitch wife starts runnin' around on you! :bash:

What is your major malfunction, numb nuts?

[Ichhabe]

Lariam has been blamed for this in the past. :|

I refused to take Lariam while stationed in Afghanistan. I used it for about two weeks, but after getting really dissy I checked up more on the side effects of that drug and then would rather take the risk of getting Malaria.(Where we were, the risk of getting it was itsy bitsy.)

[Marsuitor]

I was on the Lariam for two months straight this summer. Apparently it goes for being the most effective when it comes to prevention, but it's by far the most side-effect ****e. Malarone goes for being the next best option, but is quite a bit more expensive.

I didn't get any really bad effects from it, but i had some REALLY vivid and realistic dreams, which at times was no fun. If i remember correctly, one in 10000 gets lesser negative effects, minor depressions and hallucinations, and one in 100000 runs the risk of permanent psychological disorder. Seems like the lad in question might have been the unlucky one... :(

[SOG]

more info from federal:


The string of family deaths started June 11. Fayetteville police said that was when Sgt. 1st Class Rigoberto Nieves - a soldier in the 3rd Special Forces Group who had been back from Afghanistan just two days - shot his wife, Teresa, and then himself in their bedroom.

Officials say Nieves had requested leave to resolve personal problems.

Sheriff's investigators said Jennifer Wright was strangled June 29. Her husband, Master Sgt. William Wright of the 96th Civil Affairs Battalion, reported her missing two days later. Then on July 19, he led investigators to her body in Hoke County and was charged with murder.

Wright, who had been back from Afghanistan for about a month, had moved out of his house and was living in the barracks.

On the same day that Wright was arrested, Sgt. 1st Class Brandon Floyd shot his wife, Andrea, then killed himself in their Stedman home.

The Fayetteville Observer reported that Floyd was a member of Delta Force, the secretive anti-terrorism unit based at Fort Bragg. He returned from Afghanistan in January, officials said. The couple's three children were in Ohio visiting relatives at the time of the deaths.

the article aluded a bit about seperation for one couple. sad and sucks.

http://www.federalobserver.com/archive.php?aid=3400

[Argyll]

His suicide was an effect of an anti-malaria drug he was forced to take in Iraq :(

Where does it say that?..........can you give us another link to give more details?

[JiJoMacLE45]

Sucks to hear.

[fantassin]

Lariam is not popular in France either...last time I had to take some, it gave me the ****, headaches, the worst nightmares ever and nausea...not the condition you want to be in in an operational situation.

Before Lariam and depending on the strength of malaria in the area, the French army gave us "Paludrine"; a little white and blue pill that had the following effects on me; severe runs half an hour after taking it (on a daily basis !) and a lot of cold sweats for about an hour.

[xjym2002]

It is not the first time this kind of tragedy happened. It happened around one years ago if other wars not counted. Is there any official report by the Army? Why most of them SF? Because of more chance to kill than regular soldier? Feel bad heard this again.

[Nawlins]

Probably a PTSD case that slipped through the cracks. I don't think the evaluations they do after deployment are nearly thorough enough. I think a short course of counseling should be mandatory for readjustment. Even if the deployment wasn't that rough, the length of separation that is common now is very stressful for families and reunions can be tense at best. (My undergraduate thesis was on this topic.)

I would guess that these cases are mostly SF because in Afghanistan (I don't know as much about Iraq), they are the soldiers that had the most exposure to the high-stress, hostile environments within cities, whereas the conventional soldiers spent much more time in the US-controlled areas (airbases, etc.). Just a guess.

[Marmot1]

I had malaria couple of times while I was in Nigeria thus I can' be blood donnor but never had suicide feeleng while taking pills

[gilgoul]

His suicide was an effect of an anti-malaria drug he was forced to take in Iraq :(
that sucks, but what the point with LARIAM anyway? isn`t paludrine enough?

[cut]

His suicide was an effect of an anti-malaria drug he was forced to take in Iraq :(
that sucks, but what the point with LARIAM anyway? isn`t paludrine enough?

my thoughts precisely and paludrine isn't the only one I took a another different one last year when I was in south america. Even if lariam is the cheapest it's not by much.

[fantassin]

Lariam is stronger than Paludrine; it depends on the strength of the Malaria of the area where you are going and on how resistant the Malaria is to treatment.

Plus you only take Lariam once a week instead of everyday with Paludrine.

The USMC had a total of over 40 Marines going down with Malaria after their last Liberia job, apparently they had not followed (or not properly followed) the treatment.

I have always taken it during my deployments in Malaria infested areas and I am so far Malaria free, so I suppose it works. At least for me...

[shrek]

In Afgh. we took Mefloquine (sp?) Man did it give you some f..ked up dreams though!!

[fantassin]

From http://www.gruntdoc.com/archives/000334.html



Liberia Marine Malaria: Inexcusable
CNN.com - Sources: Marines who were in Liberia contract malaria

Twelve U.S. Marines who were in Liberia last month in support of a West African peacekeeping mission have contracted malaria and 21 others have symptoms of the disease, defense officials said Monday.

Two of the Marines were flown from the USS Iwo Jima warship off the coast of Liberia to a U.S. medical center in Germany on Saturday and 31 others were flown from the ship Sunday to the Bethesda Naval Medical Center in Maryland, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Marines, members of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit based at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, were in Liberia in mid-August as part of a U.S. quick-reaction force of about 150 U.S. troops. They operated from an airport outside Monrovia, the capital.

This is Inexcusable. The Navy medical department has known about malaria for decades, and has specific, well publicized guidelines to prevent it in their deployed Marines and Sailors.
From the US Navy GMO Manual:
(9) Malaria Prevention
(a) Essential concepts
1. Assessment of risk and selection of appropriate chemoprophylaxis.
2. Use of personal protective measures.
3. Command enforcement of chemoprophylaxis and personal protective measures.
4. Early identification and investigation of possible cases.
5. Mosquito vector control measures, if appropriate.
(b) Personal protective measures
1. Avoid night-time exposures when possible.
2. Wear long sleeve shirts and long pants with sleeves rolled down.
3. Use insect repellent (long acting DEET preparations) and treat uniforms with permethrin.
4. Use mosquito bed netting.
5. Spray mosquito bed netting with permethrin spray.
(c) Chemoprophylaxis
There is a (stupid, Western) contempt of mosquito-borne illnesses, and it meets its zenith in Marines, especially Marine officers. I genuinely admire Marines, but their inability to accept the germ theory of disease (or the protozoal theory of malaria) boggles my mind. When this many troops come down with a preventable and debilitating disease it means that they didn't take their medications.

Why? Bad Leadership.

There. I said it. This is a Leadership Failure of the First Order. Thirty three hard-charging US Marines weren't told (forced, impelled, browbeaten, take your pick) to take their medications and malaria prophylaxis wasn't taken seriously (see above, 9.a.3). I guarantee senior people rolled their eyes when the corpsmen and Preventive Medicine Techs (PMT's) talked about the daily drugs, and the juniors got the message: this is for wimps, real Marines don't take pills for no-seeum bugs.

The Sea Services re-learn about Malaria frequently. After Somalia there was a stink about the number of preventable malaria casualties that occurred, and while I was in there was Religion about malaria (rumor was it cost some careers, which is the career officer motivator-par-excellence). I took a MEU to Singapore and Thialand and sent a detachment to the Phillipines, and we had zero cases of malaria, because prophylaxis was important, and because we had command support from the top down.

I sincerely hope for two things: all these Marines and Sailors recover fully, and that this costs some senior Marine careers, to encourage the others.

[Mr Gently Benevolent]

Anti-Malarial drugs and bad hygiene were the two things that stuck in my head when I was offered a job in Kenya, I had been told a few tales by mates who had taken anti-malarial drugs.