This is the first in a four-part series about Afghanistan Veterans and how they can get help through VA.
Part 2: Afghanistan: How Veterans can learn from Vietnam Veterans
Part 3: Afghanistan: How spouses, caregivers can support Veterans with PTSD
Part 4: Afghanistan: Resources available for PTSD
Major news outlets for the past few months have focused on the drawdown of our nation’s longest war: Afghanistan.
At its peak, there were more than 100,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan in 2010; the number of troops have steadily shrunk over the past decade. While news coverage debates the decision to cease combat operations, the highest-ranking enlisted service member in the military said Veterans from the war should remember the positive to help reconcile their service.
“Our purpose for being there was to prevent further attacks on the homeland,” said Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramón “CZ” Colón-López. “We wanted to make sure that we denied Al Qaeda, specifically, of sanctuary, training ground and places where they could plan terrorism attacks. If you look at the past 20 years, that is exactly what we did. There hasn’t been a single attack on the homeland. They will think twice about doing it because of our actions over the past 20 years. For our Veterans, be proud of what you did, because you have kept the country safe over the last 20 years.”
Deployment and PTSD
Colón-López has lived the war for two decades. He was an element leader with the 24th Special Tactics Squadron on 9/11. Shortly after, he deployed to Afghanistan on direct action and combat search and rescue missions to capture or kill high value targets. He also provided security for Hamid Kharzai, who later served as Afghanistan’s president. Now, as the senior enlisted service member, he serves as an advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff on all matters involving joint and combined total force integration, utilization, health of the force, and joint development for enlisted personnel.
Colón-López admitted getting to a place of being proud of his own service wasn’t easy. Serving as a special operator in Afghanistan, he’s dealt with tragedy and personal demons. He said one of his personal hardest moments was hearing the death of Air Force Veteran Scott Duffman, who died with seven others on a mission in 2007. He also faced repeated deployments, placing both physical and mental stress on his body. While stationed at Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, a July 4th celebration in neighboring Albuquerque turned traumatic. The combination of the desert, smoke in the air, loud noises and smell of powder triggered his PTSD.
Years of dodging his PTSD led to heavy drinking, moodiness, hiding his trauma during physical health appointments and engaging in reckless behavior. Once, while stationed in North Carolina, he left work for his 45-minute drive home. By the time he got there, he was in tears. He went inside and talked to his wife, Janet, about his PTSD. While talking about it helped him, he said the breakdown was simply “mitigation.”
Seeking help
Colón-López said a mountain biking accident in Germany led to an ultimatum from Janet to get help. He crashed his bike while seeking a thrill to replace his combat experience.
“She said, ‘you’re going to the clinic now,’” he said. “It was liberating by the time I actually went in there. I thought I could fix myself and that is not the answer.”
He now encourages every Veteran to get help for PTSD.
“The first thing I will tell them is there is no shame in doing so,” he said, citing 20 years of combat operations in Afghanistan, as well as Iraq, Syria and other locations. “We’re resilient, we know how to suck it up, and we know how to power through it. But there’s going to come a time to where you won’t be able to do that.”
Dealing with the end of combat
While some troops have reconciled their service, not all have. With the recent news and announcements over the end of the Afghanistan mission, VA facilities also started seeing an increase in Veterans seeking help. Two psychologists from the National Center for PTSD said they are starting to see Afghanistan Veterans bring up issues around their service.
“Reactions aren’t always what people think they are going to be, and that’s okay,” said Dr. Jennifer Vasterling, the chief of psychology at the VA Boston Healthcare System and affiliated investigator with the National Center for PTSD.
Veterans should be on the lookout for red flags if news of Afghanistan starts changing behavior, said Dr. Sonya Norman, director of the National Center for PTSD Consultation Program. These include isolating, using alcohol, drugs or any increase in unhealthy behaviors compared to normal. This could even include things like excess work or video games.
Avoidance
Another unsuccessful coping mechanism many Veterans use is avoiding the topic.
“It can feel really good in the short term,” Norman said. “In the longer term, avoidance breeds more avoidance. It felt so good that one time that you begin avoiding more and you start doing less. Your world becomes so small, time over time, as you avoid more and more.”
Norman said that numbness can spread and snowball, where people aren’t feeling pleasure or joy. She said people can feel danger in relatively safe situations. For those people with PTSD, replacing traumatic wartime memories with thoughts and activities that make them happier can be difficult without treatment and may feel reluctant to let the memories out.
“It’s pretty hard to do on your own without treatment,” she said. “If you actually let the emotions from the time of the trauma flow, they kind of do their thing and someone feels a lot of relief. There’s room to bring in other positive memories and experiences, which are just as real.”
As an example, she used an analogy of a 17-room mansion, saying the traumatic memory may still have a room, but there will be 16 other rooms for positive memories.
‘Be proud of what you have done’
According to Colón-López, one of those positive memories Afghanistan Veterans should be proud of is the fact that U.S. troops arrived home safe. The last U.S. combat death was Feb. 8, 2020, more than 17 months ago.
“We had been there for 20 years, and I know because I was one of the first people to go out there on the first rotations. What we have done from then to now is phenomenal,” he said, pointing toward the progress made in Afghanistan, including helping stand up a government and building a military force. Both of which denied safe haven to al-Qa’idah.
“For any Veteran out there listening, be proud of what you have done,” he added. “Our government has made the decision and we have followed lawful orders.”
Watch Colón-López talk about mental health:
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I truly sympathize with my fellow vets who are struggling with the aftermath of the Afghan War. Please allow me to offer another outlook on the statements critical of the VA health system. I understand that many of us have had bad experiences at VA medical facilities, but I myself have found just the opposite to be true. Over the past five years, I’ve noticed a dramatic improvement in the timeliness and quality of my visits to the VA medical center here in Minneapolis. Appointment times are much quicker, and I rarely wait when I arrive for an appointment. The staff all seem quite dedicated and are very protective of the veterans in their care. We have some of the finest medical facilities in the world here in Minneapolis ( University of Minnesota Health Care system, Mayo Clinic, etc.). As far as I’m concerned, the VA hospital here is as good or better than any of them. I’d like to extend my sincere thanks to the physicians, nurses, social workers and administrators at the VA who make my life better every time I leave the building. I’m not diminishing the experiences that others have had. I simply want to offer another outlook that many guys that I know share. In the USN, our most important core value was to take care of our sailors. We should support and inspire those at the VA as well. Just my two cents worth. Thanks.
Thank you Ben; well thought out post and very much appreciated.
Ever since Vietnam, I have been saying, we must stop involving ourselves in other countries civil wars. If attacked from another country, go in blow the hell out of the origin and get the hell out and leave it to that country to fix the problem. WE HAVE NO BUSINESS in the middle of nation building or staying in a conflict for years and years.
CWO-3 USMC RETIRED / VIETNAM VETERAN
Dear U.S. Veterans,
On behalf of the Afghan-American community in San Francisco Bay Area, California, I would like to thank you for your hard work in helping Afghan families evacuate Afghanistan.
Without your persistence, dedication, and humanitarian acts to save the lives of Afghans in Afghanistan, the ongoing evacuations in Afghanistan would not be possible. Please know that your efforts have led to the evacuations from Kabul International Airport and the difference your making in each Afghan’s life is immeasurable.
There are currently over 200,000 Afghans in Afghanistan that worked with the U.S. Military over the last 20 years and do not have an SIV (Special Immigrant Visa) case filed due to the many hurdles in the SIV application. Over 50,000 SIV cases are pending review, which means their lives are in great danger by the Taliban and at a high risk of being killed, tortured, and executed without any help from anyone in Afghanistan.
Thank you once again, we owe our sincerest gratitude for your support to evacuate Afghans that are in danger of being killed by the Taliban.
Michael: that is a PJ in the opening screen. An Air Force Pararescueman (PJ); Air Force’s ground special operations combat medic.
When, has the government ever show genuine care for anything but itself? The govt, in its every representation, cares about as much about the well being of its veterans and its citizenry as it did in ensuring its military commitments would be capable of vindicating and justifying the lives it would cost. How long were ground troops trying to train this Afghan army and how long was it apparent to every troop involved they were not being taken seriously by this to be Army for Democracy? More importantly, how long where you in harm’s way while this was apparent? The degree to which the DoD cares and respects you is proportionate to the degree of care and sincerity taken in drafting the message Lopez Colon parroted for you. YOU, will only care for its victims in so far it feels political pressure to……. Seems the relation that the DoD and the VA has to its grounds troops is similar to the relation a narcissistic spouse has to his or her codependent husband or wife. All you have is yourself and each other, the freedom to speak your mind, and the potential to make your sons and daughters maybe a little more skeptical of government’s good nature than you were when you joined.
Exactly. Well said
Amen!
Biden is a piece of s***.
Ditto.
This statement and the rest of what is said is pure BULL-SHIT!!!
“Our purpose for being there was to prevent further attacks on the homeland,” said Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Ramón “CZ” Colón-López.
Do you think we’re stupid, can’t read, lack logic or common sense??????
ONE – When did the Taliban “ever” attack the US? Short answer. NEVER!!!! They (some) grow poppy so heroin is sent here but no ATTACK has ever been launched at us by them!!!
TWO – We went to that country hunting for Bin Laden who was not a citizen of that land, he just hid there. Once he was killed the war there should have ended
THREE – The Russians got their hats handed to them and we now have ours. Politicians filled with ignorance and greed allowed 1000’s to die w/o a justifiable reason other than to try and control someone else. We should have NEVER invaded Iraq, WE ALL KNOW THAT and we should have left Afganastan when Bin Laden died.
FOUR – The question that all have and will be watching is.. how will YOU (us govt) treat the men and women who come back w/F’d up boodies & minds???? If history proves itself to repeat itself you will deny them much-needed services and toss them on the curbs of this country!!
V N 2.0
OEF 2004-2005- an ETT embedded with the Afghan Army. From the very beginning, we knew that trying to train these people in the Western way of war was absolutely ludicrous. They may be good fighters, but they are terrible soldiers. Having said all that, I have no problem with us leaving Afghanistan; there is absolutely nothing there that represents a legitimate national interest, or at least anything that would provide the return on investment needed to offset the cost of occupation. I personally don’t care what happens to the Afghan people at this point- much like the people here in the US, they get the leadership they allow. You got what you asked for, now live with it.
My problem is not that we left, but how we left. This was no orderly withdrawal, no synchronized drawdown. This was a mad rush for the exit, a military rout of epic proportions, because our doddering Commander in Chief picked an arbitrary date and demanded we be out by then. We now have a confident, resurgent Taliban, in control of more of Afghanistan than they were in 2001, and fully equipped by Uncle Sugar with the latest military gear needed for a light infantry force. Great job! We sure showed them, eh?
And where is the accountability? Will even ONE of those “woke”, deceitful idiots on the Joint Chiefs, resign? How about our national intelligence leaders- will any of them “be held accountable?” Of course not. Standards only apply to the little people.
The world has learned the truth of Biden’s America- “harmless as an enemy, treacherous as a friend”.
you are so right! thank you for your service
Two tours…..obvious to anyone ANA wasn’t in it to fight. Just sucking American blood and dollars.
l am 88 years old, retired from the Army after combat as an infantryman in Korea1950/51, wounded, two tours in Vietnam, wounded twice one with an American unit and one as an advisor with a Vietnamese Battalion. As to why the Afghans fell apart so fast l feel the advisors in Afganistan were told the same as us in Vietnam”NO NEGATIVE REPORTS” on their fighting ability. Sure the reports showed great strides, however, all of the boots on the ground knew it was not so. The generals pushed the “GOOD” reports forward and all the civilian power ate up the reports as the truth as they wanted to get the Hell out ASAP. l will say one thing there were some VN units that fought like hell, however, they were not the norm. We had one Company in the Battalion that l was with that were the best fighters l was good enough to be around. I’ll bet if you ask the SF soldiers and others they will tell you the same. A few good ones, the rest no. So when you hear “Why did it fall so fast”you will have an idea as to what probably happened.
In my job, I see firsthand the ruined lives of young people sent off to AFG to fight the endless war to impose democracy on a country with no history of or desire to embrace such a system. All of it began with a lie about WMD’s and then we were basically stuck. Perhaps engaging “the enemy” in Afghanistan did stop terrorist attacks on American soil, but that is not something we can ever provide or disprove so I believe that our SM’s and vets made the best choices they could with the information available to them in that moment without having a crystal ball. They trusted our leaders and acted on their beliefs with integrity. I do, however, think that there were plenty of leaders who always knew this would end as it now has. But, they don’t really live with the impact of it, do they? I understand that war may sometimes be a necessary evil but, I wish that when the president and congress were making these decisions, a few of our veterans were at the table to speak up and serve as a reminder of exactly what they are committing to and the true long-term cost.
The war was a money making scam. The victims died for nothing.
“Veterans from all eras are reacting to the events in Afghanistan, such as the U.S withdrawal and the takeover by the Taliban.
You are not alone.
Veterans may question the meaning of their service or whether it was worth the sacrifices they made.”
Above are statements from the VA. One thing is clear the United States has had a crisis in national political leadership that has been exacerbated by politicizing all aspects of society and it emanates from a two party Congress. Veterans are caught in this web and they may be part of the solution for the nation now in the the future from elective office to school board members to members of organizations promoting good government.
I worked in Germany in the late 70’s as MP-Security. We got shot at a few times, about once a month. When we got a new commander, he pulled a surprise inspection and used a master key, without knocking, to enter my room. I jumped out of bed and kicked him in the head, breaking his nose and giving him a concussion. Though I was cleared of any wrongdoing, our commander took every opportunity to torment me. I was assigned every dangerous or tedious assignment. I applied for transfer and needed to extend to be eligible. My extension was approved and my transfer denied. In June of ’81, there was a racial incident with a threat written on a door. Our commander accused me, though there was no evidence. I was taken to our HHC company and locked in a room with bars on the window and a door that locked from the outside. It was Thursday morning and the HHC was on training. The CQ was told that I was dangerous and not to allow me out. The HHC first sergeant found me on Monday morning. I had been over four days with no food or water in a room that was eighty during the day and sixty at night. I was severely dehydrated and close to death. During questioning of the people in my platoon the day after my confinement started, one of the guys that I served with confessed to writing the threat. He was never punished.
As a former active member of the Marine Corps I am crushed and feel for my fellow comrades that lost family members and friends in all of the armed services. Tomorrow, I am going to hang my American Flag upside down to represent my anger. PS Thanks BIDEN ‘REMEMBER LEAVE NO MAN BEHIND’. WE ARE LEAVING A LOT BEHIND (KIA)
Reconciling one’s service is all well and good. But after everyone is adjusted, healthful coping behaviors are in place, and people are taken care of … one undeniable truth remains: What has just transpired did not have to transpire in the way that it did. It, as is now widely observed, was an unforced error. We are all a little bit less safe today as a result.
I left this on the VFW and Legion magazine pages. I hope it is published and I hope all Afghanistan veterans take it to heart. Many of us, myself included, may be feeling angry, frustrated, or are otherwise experience negative feelings about what is happening in Afghanistan now. This is perfectly understandable. We all need to know and remember some things. For 20 years, the US did not experience a major terrorist attack because of what we did (as well as other service members in other places around the world), for 20 years, Afghan women and girls could go to school (as a teacher, I find this VERY valuable – you can’t take education away), bin Laden was brought to justice, and we served with honor. These are all accomplishments we can be proud of no matter what is going on in Afghanistan today.
Thank you Gregory, I needed to read that even if it left me in tears.
May I also share this?
Your comments have left me in tears. We, your fellow Americans, have failed to challenge the politicians, and have left you without the help you need . Fly overs and flag waving isn’t enough. I spent time as a doctor in the VA , I’ve seen the best and worst. You are all heroes to me.
I served as an infantry Platoon Leader in Viet Nam. I think that every person who served as Commandiing General in Afghanistan anytime in the last twenty years should be called before an open meeting and be forced to answer the question of why did we not accomplish our original meission in Afghanistan? I think the American people desirve answers so that this does not happen again. Thank you to the enlisted men and wemon who served!
Todd,
It isn’t complicated. The question should be how we can ignore a couple thousand years of behavior and think we can force our way of life on other countries. They don’t care about democracy, they care about their tribes and their religion.
In VN, the locals, for the most part, had no idea what democracy meant. They had a village elder that managed things. They didn’t care who the president was.
But the US, in all it’s wisdom, backs the crooks and incompetents because ; they hate communism; they hate ISIS; they hate the Taliban…..Apparently, all they have to do is express some sort of disdain for the enemy and they become our ally. We don’t seem to care if their country supports them. We send them billions and it disappears into some Swiss bank account but it doesn’t trickle down to the soldiers or the police. No wonder they rolled over so easily. The Taliban gave them some money. The government gave them lies.
If you really want to get over PTSD, realize that your efforts were for naught. Don’t try to rationalize something that was irrational from the start.
I went to Iraq for the invasion after 9/11. I went as a Marine Gysgt. I remember after the 9/11 attack our country was out for blood and wanted payback and rightly so. So we invaded Iraq to get that payback though I was happy to go and do my part I could never justify us being there. I wonder how many other vets feel the same way ? I still struggle with something that I was involved in over there and ended up getting help at the vets center it seemed to help.
OIF 1, 3, and whatever they called June 2007 thru August 2008 here. I was in AIT when I learned we were building a coalition for an invasion of Iraq. I remember thinking “wtf?” That opinion never changed thru my 37 cumulative months there. We had no business there. What compounds my depression is that I knew many Iraqis personally. They didn’t deserve Saddam, but they sure as hell didn’t deserve what we brought in after us. We failed Iraq, we failed the Iraqis, and we failed the Kurds numerous times this last decade alone. It’s a shame, it’s a disgrace, and the blame lies soley on our elected representatives in Washington and a State Dept. steeped in political appointees.
Anywho, I know you did the best you could, Jeff, as I. You ain’t never alone, bro.
It’s all well and good to say, “Our government made the decision, we followed lawful orders.” If that lets you sleep at night, I am glad for you.
Smedley Butler published a fantastic tract on what he thought of his lawful orders, it’s called “War is a Racket.”
The vast majority of 9/11 hijackers came from Saudi Arabia, but the Saudi’s play nice with the oil. A lot of companies made a lot of money in Afghanistan, many American servicemen/women died, and even more Afghani’s died. It’s all well and good if the USG thinks it was all worth it, and I am sure the companies think it was worth it. Neither of them had to bleed for it, or worse, directly cause suffering for others for it.
Expect PTSD to continue to soar for as long as we keep asking otherwise decent people to do morally reprehensible things for the benefit of a select few, and then try to lipstick that pig. Some won’t be able to articulate exactly what it is, but almost everyone will be affected by questions of “Why?” All respect to the SEAC, but you wouldn’t be trying to convince us that there was meaning, purpose, RIGHT, to what we did over there unless it was obvious that many are questioning it.
If your response is, “We prevented attacks on America,” keep in mind that Al-Queda’s fundamental problem with us stems from our interventionist foreign policy. Blow back is real. We aren’t to blame for the 9/11 attack (only the actor is ever to blame for any action), but we created the environment and provided the motivation to make it possible. We are to blame for all the places we stick our noses uninvited, with no right. We are now stuck in a cycle where we pissed in peoples cheerios, so they are mad and threatening us, so we invade countries to terrorize them first before they can terrorize us, and then claim, “Look, we kept America safe.”
Pardon us if being able to say “We followed lawful orders” isn’t enough to reconcile the guilt and crushing sense of meaningless loss.
thank you for writing this Ben, my son served over there and has ptsd, and by your words, and as his dad, i now have a better understanding why he is depressed, and so I thank you for sharing your thoughts, this situation he is in brings me to tears, and hopefully your courage to write this down, will give me the strength and commitment to be a better dad for him, and be there for him, for the long haul, and so yes, i agree the ripple effects go far and wide. god bless
Since 2007 I’ve try getting help at the VA here in Houston an it’s never been a priority It became obvious when my doctor would ALWAYS come out late on purpose to make our session shorter, so I file paperwork to switch doctors an BOOM I’ve never gotten another appointment since then they HATE VETERANS I feel like they targeted me for trying to get rid of her
There is no substitute for victory. If a person fights over a piece of land for a protracted amount of time, loses his or her fellow fighters, and winds up giving the land back to his or her enemies then no matter how good the things that were done they have no value when the conflict is lost. As a Marine tanker, and Army air-cavalryman in Vietnam for two and a half years, the above fact slaps me in the face every day, and has done so for the last forty nine years. It hurts on a daily basis that I’m one of the nation’s war losers. It’s like the saying goes, “death is light as a feather, and duty is heavy as a stone”. I’m pretty sure that there are Iraq and Afghanistan veterans now echoing what I’ve just said. If we don’t fight to win, what’s the use?
It’s one step further than your last question:
If we don’t fight to win, what’s the use? -> If there was no use, why were we killing people?
Almost no one does that on purpose, it just happens in war. When war has a purpose (stopping Hitler’s conquest of Europe / Japanese imperial aggression), it is possible to accept that collateral as the “lesser of 2 evils.” It is possible to sleep knowing that everyone that died fire-bombing Dresden or when we nuked Hiroshima/Nagasaki was the lesser evil compared to the war dragging on. That doesn’t mean the argument is correct, but at least its an argument you can defend in good faith.
I was told we were protecting American interests in Iraq/Afghanistan. Since then, I have asked numerous Americans if they have any interest in that part of the world. Most can’t even point it out on a map, let alone have an interest. There are only a handful of people interested in that part of the world and our involvement there, and they have profited immensely by our involvement.
Thank you for your service! I was a member of a WMD-CST teams on 9/11. I deployed to AFG in 06-07. I went on to have the honor of being selected a to be a Command Sergeant Major. Your story hits home! I hid my mental and physical injuries for many years, Now retired, I continue to struggle.
Thank you for getting your story out there.
This is the same policy that was done in Vietnam that brought it to become Communist. Then thousand of refugees will swam into our cities like a locust. Afghanistan is dead within 3-4 months and once again no victory no gain and thousands will be murdered by the Taliban! like what happened in Vietnam and Cambodia!. The next time US troops go to any war is that the strategy is to WIN. We have not won one war since WWII! that is disgusting! Asia a Vietnam vet I hope those that served athere understand they are the best in the world today but our leaders are cowards!
That looks like a PJ in the opening screen, very senior, Master chief of AF?? I’m old Army so forgive my ignorance. Who is that? My nephew, Beau Wagner was (is) a PJ. SO PROUD OF HIM!
Not sure. The rank on his sleeves isn’t right (we don’t have anything like that). Whatever lapel insignia that is is beyond me. I’m questioning it
https://www.jcs.mil/About/The-Joint-Staff/Senior-Enlisted-Advisor/#:~:text=Senior%20Enlisted%20Advisor%20to%20the%20Chairman%20(SEAC)%20is%20a%20distinct,the%20United%20States%20Armed%20Forces.
It is correct.
As a veteran of both Afghanistan and Iraq, I find it very disheartening and disrespectful that refugees from Afghanistan are now starting to receive support in the form of housing assistance and other benefits while homeless veterans and veterans with disabilities and other struggles have to fight for their benefits often taking a significant amount of time. This is a huge slap to the face.