Look to Legion, VFW posts

Our country has just entered the 18th year of military service in Afghanistan, and, sadly, many at home are unaware of the roughly 15,000 troops still “boots on the ground.”

I have been a psychiatrist at the Clement J. Zablocki VA Medical Center in Milwaukee for more than 11 years and have witnessed investment in resources and personnel that has doubled our mental health department. We now have teams of experts in suicide prevention, substance-abuse treatment, military sexual trauma, evidence-based treatments for PTSD, anxiety and depression and state of the art inpatient and residential facilities. We have embedded mental health providers in the emergency department, primary care clinics and have a fully staffed mental health walk-in clinic.

Yet veterans need more than we can provide at the VA.

Every day I hear veterans describe a hunger for purpose and opportunities to serve in the community. Military culture places the “mission first,” and all soldiers, sailors, marines, coasties, air men and air women have this ethos deep in their identity. We need innovative options in our communities to provide new missions and connections to others.

Veterans of Foreign Wars and American Legion posts have successfully served generations of veterans and are located in most communities across the country. They are struggling to attract this younger generation of veterans. A core value of military culture is physical and mental fitness. Every U.S. military installation around the world, including bases I served on in Iraq and Afghanistan, have activity centers, gyms and a host of recreational opportunities to maintain and improve the physical and mental health of troops.

We should adapt VFWs and Legion posts into community MWRs (morale, welfare, and recreation) where veterans, their families and dedicated civilians can join together to create new missions and opportunities.

I encourage vets to stop in at the local VA and enroll for care. I also encourage them to consider sharing their experience and expertise as VA employees and to check out their local VFW and American Legion posts and help them adapt and improvise.

Michael McBride Local Recovery Coordinator Zablocki VA Medical Center Milwaukee