Military brass warned mentally ill vets bullied
Mentally ill targeted by fellow soldiers
Veterans with mental illnesses, some dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder, are being bullied online by fellow soldiers, Canadian military commanders have been warned.
In a December 2015 email to senior officers, Col. Brock Millman, since retired, described a cyber civil war in which serving and former military personnel from the Toronto area were fighting with each other and harassing injured veterans.
It’s feared the situation could result in suicides, reports the Citizen’s David Pugliese.
“I think this is going to end with a body,” Millman wrote.
In one of three warnings Millman sent in 2015, he noted that a perception existed that some of those involved with the harassment had support from army leadership. Army spokesman Lt.-Col. Andre Salloum confirmed that the problems were centred on a Facebook group, the 32 CBG Veterans Wellbeing Network.
Canadian military commanders have been warned that veterans with mental illnesses are being bullied online by their fellow soldiers, a situation it is feared could prompt some to commit suicide.
Though warnings were sent to senior officers in 2015, and the Canadian Army told the Ottawa Citizen it believes it now has the situation under control, others told the Citizen the online bullying continues.
In a December 2015 email — one of three warnings he sent to commanders that year — Col. Brock Millman, since retired but who held various senior positions in the army reserves in Ontario, described a cyber civil war that had broken out in which serving and former military personnel from the Toronto area were fighting with each other and harassing injured veterans. Though the veterans subjected to online harassment often responded with hostile comments of their own, many of those targeted were among the most vulnerable — those dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“I think this is going to end with a body,” Millman warned, requesting “command intervention” to deal with the situation. He noted in one of his warnings that a perception existed that some of those involved with the harassment had support from army leadership.
Army spokesman Lt.-Col. Andre Salloum confirmed Jan. 12 to the Citizen that the problems were centred on a Facebook group, the 32 CBG Veterans Wellbeing Network. According to the group’s Facebook description, it exists to help current and former members of the army reserve’s Torontobased 32 Canadian Brigade Group dealing with operational stress injuries.