European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 16, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 6 stars and stripes june 2007 Dod study mental health care still lacking Pentagon has six months to consider task Force recommendations by Lisa Burgess stars and stripes the Mili tary is falling significantly Short of providing servicemen Bers and families with adequate mental health lacking the personnel and financial resources to support the Force in much less according to a task Force not since Vietnam has the military been organized to Deal with Large numbers of troops exposed to combat Navy vice Donald co chairman of the mental health task told Pentagon report ers during a news conference Fri Day to discuss the reports find hundreds of thousands of ser Vic members have been involved in two wars without a with repeated and extended deploy ments in environments where you dont know where the enemy is Arthur the current operational Tempo has exposed fundamental weaknesses in the military approach to psychological the task Force on men Tal health study Congress chartered the task Force in May 2006 to assess the care provided to military Mem Bers by the different and the Pentagon As a and offer recommendations for in the task forces seven military members and seven civilian men Tal health professionals visited 38 military facilities worldwide and interviewed hundreds of service the team developed 92 recommendations for improvements to the including the follow ing every service member should undergo an annual psycho logical health needs mental health specialists should be embedded in military units to help eliminate the stigma against seeking give psychologists up to in annual raises to help hire and retain the military health care should raise its reimbursement rates for mental health care increase care staff so there is a ratio of five mental health care including a for every to improve which is now insufficient and inconsistent across the military military assistance programs should reach More Alco hol related car accidents and arrests for troops have but the num Ber of troops seen in Alco hol pro Grams has Ward assistant Secre tary of de sense for health of Casscells said Friday that the Pentagon now has six months to consider the recommendations and decide which ones to adopt and improving mental health care in the military has become Job 1 for Casscells on the task Force brought the report to bar Bara one of the lawmakers who requested the study Joe and members of the House and Senate armed service in a news conference later Boxer and Lieberman pledged to seek Money to fund the task forces recommend according to the associated the lawmakers also said they would request a meet ing with defense Secretary Rob Ert Gates to urge the Pentagon to make those changes that do not involve email Lisa Burgess at  nato backs instructors for afghan army the associated press Belgium nato allies agreed Friday to deploy More trainers with the afghan aiming to build it up so it can eventually replace the International troops in Afghani the offer fell Short of requirements and natos top Diplomat joined Afghanistan de sense minister in urging a greater commitment from Allied governments to provide More instructors and we have to do More to train and equip the afghan National nato Secretary Gener Al Jaap de hoop we do need More training teams to keep up the to increase the Speed at which we can help with train in not yet Satis nato command ers Are seek ing to deploy almost 50 teams with about 50 military experts each who can integrate into afghan units and provide infield train ing As they take the Battle to Tali ban they Are seen As essential for building up the effectiveness of the local armed at a meeting of nato defense ministers that wrapped up Fri de hoop Scheffer France offered to form three such Romania and Slovakia also stepped de hoop Scheffer told a news Confer ence those offers would bring the total to almost joining his nato counter afghan defense minister Abdul Rahim Wardak said an eventual handover to local forces was the Only Way to sustain Lon term Security in the coun we do not want to be a Perma nent Burden on the International he told we want to stand on our own two the afghan army currently numbers about soldiers and but is due to increase up to by the end of next nato to Widen military training for Iraq forces Belgium nato defense ministers agreed Friday to Widen the Alliance training mis Sion for Iraq Security forces to include instruction for paramilitary police units As Well As the Mil the ministers responded to a request from the iraqi govern ment to provide gendarmerie training to complement the Mili tary said nato spokes Man James the paramilitary training is due to begin in with about 50 extra nato personnel deployed to the alliances training Center in the outskirts of Bagh Europe seeking made transport planes Belgium euro Pean nations Are quickly moving ahead with plans to acquire a airlifted to improve their transport capabilities to far Flung Heaters of operations such As Africa or Southeast a spokesman said eighteen european members of nato and Neutral Sweden Are planning to form a consortium to buy three or four Boeing c17 Globe master these would be used for to aug ment natos transport capabilities and also to provide strategic logistical support for european Union from the associated press missile defense plans met with silence by Lolita Baldor the associated press Belgium de sense Secretary Robert Gates assertion that the Bush administration will not replace its plan for a missile defense system in East Ern Europe with russian counterproposal for a radar site in Azerbaijan was met Friday with is Gates met briefly with russian defense minister Anatoly ser and told reporters after Ward that the hotly debated mis Sile defense plan simply did not come i guess i would have to i was somewhat sur said who is attend ing a today meeting of nato defense ministers i dont know How to read to be Hon the silence came a Day after other russian officials blasted the and warned that the new Sites could be Gates said he did not bring the matter up in his session with ser Dyukov because i Felt id been pretty explicit yesterday in the session so i didst feel the need Gates they talked about plans for an upcoming meeting Between president Bush and russian president Vladimir during a session on Gates told the allies that the will proceed with its plans for a radar system in the czech Republic to watch for missile threats and 10 interceptor rockets in Poland to shoot Down any he flatly dismissed any notion that russian push for joint use of a radar station in Azerbaijan could replace the broader he also said he doubts there could be any agreement with Russia by next when Bush meets with Putin at Ken i was very explicit in the nato meeting that we saw the azeri radar As an additional Capa that we intended to proceed with the band radar in the czech Gates said russian officials earlier this week called for a freeze on the arguing that it would undermine russian nuclear de and they reportedly issued threats against the planned Sites in Poland and the czech re pub nato ordered its military experts to draw up plans for a possible Short Range missile defense system to protect nations on the alliances Southern flank that would be left exposed vhf whoa Mayhap defence Secretary Robert shakes hands on Friday Wei by proposed antimissile russian defense minister Anatoly Serdyukov at nato Headquarters in units in Central