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Afghanistan massacre brings alcohol addiction in the military to the forefront Mixing alcohol and emotional trauma like PTSD is one reason why booze is banned in war zones Comments NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Published: Friday, March 30, 2012, 6:00 AM Updated: Friday, March 30, 2012, 6:00 AM Print Sgt. Robert Bales had a 15-shot pistol and a fearsome rifle/grenade launcher on his killing spree. Photos by AP Spc. Ryan Hallock/AP Sources have reported that Sgt. Robert Bales was seen drinking with other servic e members -- a violation of military rules -- before the attack. BILL: Dave, I don't think I am especially nave, but when news that a US soldier -- Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales -- is charged with killing all those people in A fghanistan first came out, I bought the party line about him being a good guy wh o had head injuries and maybe PTSD and just "snapped." Not an official word back then about his drinking. DR. DAVE: But now the details are coming out about Bales' trouble with drinking and trouble with the law, including drunken assaults, drunk driving arrests and a hit and run charge. Sources have reported that Bales was seen drinking with ot her service members, strictly against the rules, before the attack. BILL: You know, Dave, all this reminds me of Vietnam, when GI drug addiction un dercut the American effort. DR. DAVE: Bill, all the best military equipment and strategies may not overcome the damage to our current military effort in Afghanistan caused by our country's ingrained alcoholism denial. BILL: According to a history assembled by the LA Times, Sgt. Bales started out w ith an arrest for public drinking in 1998, was charged with a drunken assault at a casino in 2002, had a DUI in 2005-all before the drunken bowling alley sexual assault and brawl in 2008. DR. DAVE: In 2008, the same year as the bowling alley incident, he rolled his ca r and was seen fleeing into the woods. He said he "fell asleep" while witnesses reported him running away and smelling like alcohol. DRINKING IN MODERATION TIP BILL: Yet those same reports lead with talk about Bales being a "man of honor" a nd emphasizing his war zone duty, or, as his attorney, John Brown said: "Everybo dy (who) has had three or four deployments to the Middle East is probably going to have some form of PTSD," Browne said, adding that his client, "had a concussi ve head injury that can be as serious, if not more serious than PTSD." Surely, t hat factored into it, Dave. DR. DAVE: Just like the Washington State Supreme Court Justice who was also invo lved in a hit and run, was found drunk and stumbling outside her auto. She blame d her problem and having a Blood Alcohol Level of .22, almost THREE times the DU I limit, on her depression not mixing well with her drinking! BILL: making your case again that denial of alcoholism is ingrained even in our l

egal system designed to protect us from its worst social impacts -- including ca rnage on the highways. DR. DAVE: Exactly, Bill. One of the major symptoms of alcoholism is drinking des pite increased medical risks. Any good brain injury doctor will tell patients no t to consume alcohol because if there is any unseen tear in the blood-brain barr ier -- they will have much greater chances of intoxication and alcohol overdose. As for problems with alcohol and emotional trauma like PTSD, it's one of the re asons the Army bans alcohol from war zones! BILL: Doc, with Afghan war effort put at risk by a sergeant who represents a sym ptom of our country's denial, what should we change because of this horrific eve nt? DR. DAVE: I would have the military start learning lessons about their denial ri ght back at his home military facility, one of the nation's largest, of Joint Ba se Fort Lewis-McChord. In the 1980s, that base had one of the best rehab-outpati ent addiction treatment systems anywhere in the world. Run by Director Howard Ha rriman, I count him as one of my early mentors who taught me about addiction, fa milies, the military and denial. In the grip of what I would actually call "mili tary denial", they closed down that facility in the late 1980s while they focuse d on just exiting, not treating, soldiers with substance problems from the milit ary. BILL: The San Diego Veterans Administration Hospital still houses what I call th e Center of the Known Universe in human resources for treating the disease of ad diction -- Dr. Marc Schuckit and his staff of health care professionals. Every d ecade or so, he is asked to gather the country's best chemical dependency resear chers and clinicians to revise the American Psychiatric Association's diagnostic criteria for assessing and treating addiction. Why not do the same task with a committee to rebuild the health care system around addiction for the military? DR. DAVE: Good idea! As our first Medical Director at Scripps McDonald Center, I think of Dr. Schuckit as the wise old mentor who would brainstorm things like d ealing with the burnout prevention needs of our addictions counselors more than the leading scholar on chemical dependency. But that's what makes his work so po werful -- he sees both the person's humanity and the destructive illness of addi ction. BILL: Instead of using the humanity to cover up and enable the disease to contin ue. Dr. David Moore is a licensed psychologist and chemical dependency professional who is a graduate school faculty member at Argosy University's Seattle Campus. B ill Manville's most recent work, "Cool, Hip & Sober," is available at all online bookstores. A Book of the Month novelist too, Bill privately teaches "Writing T o Get Published" - whmanville@yahoo.com