FORT CARSON — In the six weeks that Maj. Gen. Mark Graham has been the top general at Fort Carson, his mantra has been clear: Provide the best care possible for soldiers returning from Iraq.
Graham announced Friday he is expanding the Warrior and Family Community Partnership program and is asking experts locally and nationally to offer recommendations to Fort Carson on how to provide comprehensive care for soldiers and families.
“We do a lot of work here with post-traumatic stress disorder, mild traumatic brain injury and also other soldiering issues and challenges that we’re having because of the war on terror with our soldiers and families,” Graham said. “We care about soldiers.”
Graham, a father of three, lost two sons within a year. His son Kevin took his own life in 2003 and 2nd Lt. Jeff Graham died of injuries caused by a roadside bomb in Iraq in 2004.
Graham said Fort Carson will team up with civilians in the Pikes Peak Region and “also to Denver and beyond to bring in health-care professionals … educators, chaplaincy, other folks around the nation to find the best and the brightest. Who’s out there? Who is making great progress in this area because, as you know, this is a hard solution.”
Elizabeth Hawkins, executive director of ONE Freedom, a Boulder-based nonprofit that has been helping soldiers return to the homefront after battle, is one of the civilian groups that has helped Fort Carson soldiers.
“Graham is potentially building one of the first bridges, as I see it, between not only the service members and care providers but a bridge between the military and civilian world,” Hawkins said. “It sounds like an outstanding first step to me.”
Fort Carson estimates between 20 percent and 30 percent of soldiers returning from Iraq have a behavioral health issue. A survey by the Mountain Post showed nearly one in five soldiers suffered a mild traumatic brain injury while deployed.
Graham said he wants to bring experts to Fort Carson to talk and “bring their thoughts and recommendations directly to me so that we can make sure we’re doing the best we can for America’s sons and daughters that are fighting this war.”
Graham has asked experts with interest in helping soldiers to call Army Community Services at Fort Carson at 719-526-4590.
Erin Emery: 719-522-1360 or eemery@denverpost.com
