Report Finds North Carolina Soldiers Bear Disproportionate Share of Burden of Wars

Veterans for America's Wounded Warrior Outreach Program Releases New Reports: The Consequences of Churning: A State-by-State Account of the Toll of Deployments on Frontline Active-Army Units

Weekend Warriors to Frontline Soldiers: A State-by-State Account of the Toll of Deployments on National Guard Brigade Combat Teams

WASHINGTON, April 7, 2008 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- VFA's Wounded Warrior Outreach Program has chronicled the experiences of the units of the U.S. Army, on a state-by-state basis, that have been among our nation's most heavily used in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. VFA has aggregated information on each frontline unit's number of deployments, intensity of combat, and dwell time.

Our reports make clear that the Soldiers who have seen the most combat are the ones who are deployed repeatedly for extended periods of time. Unfortunately, Department of Defense studies prove that with each deployment, Soldiers are 60% more likely to develop severe post-combat mental health problems.

VFA found that North Carolina's active-Army Brigade Combat Teams (BCT's) and National Guard have borne a disproportionate share of the burden of our wars in Iraq and Afghanistan:

-- The frequency with which the 82nd Airborne Division's BCTs have
deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan caused the division to lose its status
as providing the Army's "Division Ready Brigade" for rapid deployment
in 2007.
-- The 82nd's 1st BCT is currently serving its fourth tour.
-- Each of the 82nd's four BCT's has served or is serving a 15-month tour
in Iraq. Those currently deployed will continue to serve 15 months
regardless of the expected return to 12 month tours later this year.
-- In 2009, the 30th BCT of the North Carolina National Guard is scheduled
to deploy to Iraq for the second time.

Veterans For America's Wounded Warrior Outreach Program has worked closely with Soldiers and their families across the country and we are deeply concerned with the toll that our deployment cycles have taken.

"When elected representatives talk about the 'readiness' of the military, they must also talk about the health of our troops," said Bobby Muller, President of VFA. "We cannot consider our military 'ready' while we have Soldiers at Fort Bragg returning to Iraq multiple times for excruciatingly long tours with insufficient time at home. Our Soldiers are beginning to unravel."

Reports can be found at www.veteransforamerica.org

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: Veterans for America

CONTACT: Adrienne Willis, +1-202-557-7509,
awillis@veteransforamerica.org, for Veterans for America

Web site: http://www.veteransforamerica.org/

2008-04-07 22:37:51 0330147 PRNEWSWIRE