There are lots of commercials for the U.S. military in December. Not only does the U.S. military buy up truckloads of television commercial ad space, with taxpayer money during college football bowl games, there is even an Armed Forces Bowl. And one of the teams playing in the Armed Forces Bowl is Air Force. The messaging in these commercials will no doubt speak of leadership, character, honor and duty. And all of these things can be found in the military, just as they can also all be found in civilian life. If our government is going to spend our money promoting our military to our kids, then shouldn’t our kids receive a well rounded message? Who will tell potential recruits about the inability of Soldiers like Private First Class Jeffery Meier– who can’t tell his Fort Carson psychiatrist his thoughts for fear of prosecution on war crime charges after two tours in Iraq? We think this is a relevant account of life as a Soldier in today’s U.S. military, and one that potential recruits should hear. But the dollars for these ads go to the Pentagon, and they aren’t interested in well rounded messaging. So we reach kids in our own way, through our growing membership and their sharing of information– making real contact with a real message.

Learn of Meier’s ongoing struggle at — www.CAMMMO.org

Lawrence Korb, Assistant Defense Secretary in the Reagan administration and now a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress in Washington, calls the Pentagon’s past efforts to downplay negative data, published from reports studying the effects of multiple deployments on the Soldiers who serve them, an outrage. Korb says, "The Pentagon has tried to downplay these problems, and now it’s a moral and strategic outrage that we’ve got on our hands. They’re in essence playing catch-up." But "playing catch-up" is certainly not the messaging that the United States Army Recruiting Command is pushing with the Army Experience Center in Philadelphia at the Franklin Mills Mall. In fact, there is not any information on this report available anywhere on GoArmy.com or within the center. So while peace advocates continue to protest at the Philly mall, the funding that is needed to make the People’s voice heard continues to go only to those who seek to downplay negative findings, if not bury them altogether.

Read the whole story and help us fight back at — www.CAMMMO.org

Former Oregon National Guardsman Jessie Bratcher, on trial for the murder of Jose Ceja Medina, has been found legally insane and not guilty by reason of insanity. Veteran rights’ groups have claimed a victory in the decision, the first exoneration of a major criminal offense linked to posttraumatic stress disorder. Some Veterans’ advocate groups are pointing to an impending epidemic of returning Vets with mental problems, and the lack of attention it is getting from the DoD. Still, other groups seek to caution against any stereotyping of returning troops that might stigmatize them- in the same way that the Vietnam era troops were stigmatized as unstable "baby killers". But what is not being addressed in the manner that it requires is the intake valve on the meat grinder that is the military recruitment of America’s young people. So while experts within the field point out an epidemic on the horizon, the source is still yet to be addressed and recruitment standards plummet lower and lower in order to fill boots and expand war, as Obama has indicated will be the case until at least 2017.

Learn more about this Guardsman’s case at — www.CAMMMO.org