/  Letter to President Obama


In October 2009, Senator Kit Bond gathered a small group of senators to write this letter to President Obama.  Bond and Obama had been co-authors of the bill to halt personality disorder discharges.

Bond and the other senators were disappointed that Obama had not spoken about PD discharges during his presidential run and upset that he had done nothing to stop the dismissals since becoming commander in chief.

"In 2007 we were partners in the fight against the military's misuse of personality disorder discharges," wrote the senators.  "Today, we urge you to renew your commitment to address this critical issue."

 
 



 
 

  /  Letter to Secretary of Defense


Weeks before the Congressional hearing on personality disorder,
31 senators from across the political spectrum joined forces to write this
letter to the Secretary of Defense.

The letter urges Secretary Gates to investigate the PD discharge process.  Signees include Senators Barack Obama, Kit Bond, Hillary Clinton, Joseph Lieberman and Elizabeth Dole.


 
 


 
 

  /  Letter to President Bush


On December 14 the Senate passed the Defense Authorization Act, which included the Personality Disorder Amendment.  The amendment requires the Secretary of Defense to report to Congress on PD discharges.

One week later, a bipartisan coaltion of 15 senators wrote to President Bush, urging him to go further.  Their letter asks the president to establish a Special Discharge Review Program, which would examine PD discharges.


 
 





 
 

April 19, 2007  /  Letter to Director of the GAO


Part 1 in my investigation of PD discharges was published on April 9.  Ten days later, nine senators wrote to the director of the Government Accountability Office, urging him to investigate those discharges.

Their letter highlights problems at Fort Carson, known as a hot spot for PD discharge problems.

In the new Defense Authorization Act, the head of the GAO will be required
to report to Congress on personality disorder issues
.


 
 

 
 

June 19, 2007  /  Letter to Fellow Senators


Four senators, led by Kit Bond (R-MO) and Barbara Boxer (D-CA), write to their colleagues, requesting their support in pressing the Secretary of Defense to perform "a comprehensive review" of the PD discharge process.

 
 

 
 

September 19, 2007  /  Letter to Fellow Senators

Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Kit Bond (R-MO) collaborated to create an amendment to the Defense Authorization Act halting PD discharges until the process could be reviewed.  In this letter they join with eight other senators in asking colleagues to cosponsor that amendment.

Obama and Bond were successful in getting the amendment inserted into the Act.  In the end, however, facing pressure from the Defense Department, the moratorium was removed the amendment.


 
 


 
 
 
 

 
 

June 9, 2008  /  Pentagon's PD Report

In January 2008 President Bush signed a law requiring the Pentagon to investigate personality disoder discharges.  Five months later the Pentagon released its report, written by Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness David Chu.

Chu's report concluded that no soldiers had been improperly diagnosed and none had been wrongly discharged.

In a recent statement, the Pentagon says that Clifford Stanley, the current undersecretary, fully embraces Chu's findings.

 
 


 
 

March 23, 2007  /  Army Surgeon General's PD Report

The Chu report is not the military's first investigation of personality disorder discharges.  In 2006 the Army's acting Surgeon General, Maj. Gen. Gale Pollock, was presented a stack of PD cases.  Pollock promised to review them.

Five months later Pollock released the results of her personality disorder review. 

The Surgeon General said her office had "thoughtfully and thoroughly" examined the PD cases and determined that all of the soldiers, including Town, had been properly diagnosed.  Pollock commended the doctors who diagnosed PD for their excellent work
.

 
 


 
  March 27, 2007  /  Army's Personality Disorder Memo

Four days later the military followed up with press release signed by Lieut. Col. Bob Tallman of the Army's Public Affairs office.  The Tallman memo says that the Surgeon General "thoroughly evaluated and reviewed" all the cases from the last four years at Fort Carson, where Specialist Jon Town was based, and determined all of them to be properly diagnosed.

Asked later about the document, Tallman said, "I know nothing about the memo and little to nothing about the review."  The Army later admitted that the release was ghostwritten by the Surgeon General's office.


 
 

 
  November 12, 2007  /  Surgeon General's Letter to Editor

After my second article on personality disorder was released, acting Surgeon General Gale Pollock wrote to The Nation, objecting to the article's content.


 
 






 
  May 21, 2007  /  Reader's Response

Part 1 in my series on personality disorder was met with a flood of anger
from veterans and mental health experts.

Among those who wrote in was Dr. M. Tracie Shea, a recognized expert on personality disorder and PTSD.  Shea later destified at the Congressional hearing on PD discharges.

 
     
 




             

 
Tel.: (646) 456-7738                                                   joshua@joshuakors.com