The National Guard

The Department of Defense is focusing more attention on post traumatic stress disorder, estimating that over 300,000 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan suffer from PTSD. Thousands of them are "civilian soldiers" — members of the Army Reserves and National Guard.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says combat vets are more likely to commit crimes or suffer effects of psychological trauma. Military officials are actively looking for new ways to help them heal and rejoin civilian life.A group in Saranac Lake hopes Patriot Hills, a new vets' center proposed for the village, will be a good fit. This week, they got some encouraging words from the Army national Guard's medical commander. Martha Foley has more. More...

The Glens Falls Armory goes back on the auction block next month. The 115-year-old stone building—complete with turret—has been up for auction twice since the National Guard moved to new quarters last summer.

The state’s Office of General Services owns the Armory and has lowered the minimum bid for the building. No one entered a bid at 500,000 dollars in October or 350,000 during the second auction. Now, department spokesperson Heather Groll tells Jonathan Brown that bidding will start at 200,000 dollars.

A North Country officer chosen by the White House to head the Army National Guard has withdrawn his name from consideration. Major General Joseph Taluto, who lives in Fort Ann, in Washington County, was chosen by President Obama to lead the Guard nationwide back in May of 2009. But his nomination was held up by the controversy surrounding the murder of two of his officers during a deployment to Iraq in 2005. In a statement issued yesterday, Taluto said that the confirmation process had become a “distraction.” He also announced that he will retire as head of New York state’s national guard, ending a 44-year career. Brian Mann’s report on Taluto’s nomination first aired last May.

Yesterday marked the 147th anniversary of the Civil War battle at Antietam in Maryland. It was the single bloodiest day in US history, with more than 20,000 men killed or wounded. Three hundred New Yorkers are still unaccounted for from that battle, their remains lost in the farm fields and the woods. But last summer, a hiker in an area known as the Corn Field discovered the remains of a soldier. His buttons and his belt identified him as a volunteer from New York. That soldier was finally laid to rest yesterday at Saratoga National Cemetery. In just a moment, we’ll hear from the historian who arranged the long-delayed funeral. First, here’s Brian Mann’s audio portrait of the ceremony. It begins with the rumble of a motorcycle honor guard, which accompanied the soldier on his final journey from Maryland.

The National Guard has mostly solved its recruiting problem. Most units around the country are at full strength, after being hit hard by the pressures of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Guard units are still searching desperately for clergy willing to serve as military chaplains. As Brian Mann reports, more than 250 chaplain posts are unfilled nationwide.

Yesterday we reported that New York’s National Guard is struggling to hire enough clergy to serve as part-time chaplains. The problem reflects an aging clergy and also a growing shortage of priests across the North Country - and across New York state. Brian Mann spoke with Father Douglas Decker. He’s the priest at St. Cecilia’s in the Jefferson County town of Adams. He also serves with New York’s Air National Guard.

The top soldier in New York state is facing new questions and new scrutiny following his nomination by President Obama to head the Army National Guard. Major General Joseph Taluto, who lives in Fort Ann in Washington County, had been expected to win easy confirmation by the U.S. Senate. But now the widow of one of his officers killed in Iraq says General Taluto mishandled discipline and morale during a deployment in 2005. Brian Mann reports.

Last week, the U.S. Army announced 2008 saw the highest soldier suicide rate on record. Now, the news is even worse. The Army believes 24 more soldiers committed suicide just last month, six times the number from January 2008. One Army official told CNN, "this is terrifying, we do not know what’s going on." Inside the Army and out, experts agree back-to-back deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan are taking a devastating toll on mental health among soldiers. The Army has been trying to catch up on treating post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury. Tom Tarantino says it's still not enough. Tarantino is an Iraq veteran and is a policy associate for Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. The group was lobbying Capitol Hill last week for more mental health care for veterans. Tarantino told David Sommerstein there is still a stubborn stigma among soldiers attached with seeking help.

Last week, about 30 New York National Guard soldiers from armories in the North Country left for a training mission in Thailand. The troops will spend three weeks training with the Thai Army and Royal Thai Marines. Jacob Resneck caught up with some of the soldiers at the armory in Saranac Lake just hours before they left and has our story.

Governor David Paterson is on the last leg of a pre-holiday trip to visit soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Paterson and the two Congressmen who accompanied him say that, while Iraq is looking up, the situation in Afghanistan is deteriorating. Karen DeWitt reports.