Here are the top stories this week related to our soldiers here and abroad, taken from the Our Troops Newsladder.

A soldier with a history of mental health problems
that may have made him ineligible for Army service at any other time
dies in Iraq. The attrition rate for the first months of service has
dropped 45% since 2004; has the Army lowered its standards for
graduation from basic training so low that soldiers unfit for combat
are being sent into battle? (newsweek.com)

A controversial new drug
that dampens the memories of events that cause extreme stress is being
tested as a treatment for soldiers with PTSD. Tests of the beta-blocker
drug propranolol, which reduces hormone production to people exposed to
such stress has so far been successful in reducing the emotional
intensity with which sufferers recount traumatic experience.
(prospect.org)

The Army is locked in a delicate conflict
between treating PTSD and dealing with soldiers accused of
"malingering" - feigning a mental lapse or derangement or purposely
injuring oneself to avoid deployment. Since the invasion of Iraq,
twenty-one soldiers have been punitively discharged since 2003 after
being convicted of malingering. (chicagotribune.com)

Nine U.S. Soldiers who fell ill guarding a part of Iraq's oil infrastructure
are accusing defense contractor KBR of knowingly exposing them to a
potentially deadly carcinogen. The DoD believes that about 250 soldiers
came into contact with sodium dichromate, the same substance best known
as the one that poisoned California residents in the the film "Erin
Brockovich". (boston.com)

Over the past 3 years, a small number of PTSD sufferers have been treated in "Virtual Iraq",
a virtual reality video game where the latest video game technology,
combined with a vibration platform and a smell machine helps jog
soldiers' memories of combat back to the service where they can,
according to proponents of the treatment, talk about their memories
more clearly with therapists. Only 50 soldiers have undergone the
treatment, not a large enough sample size to be considered conclusive
evidence of the treatment's effectiveness. Doctor's administering the
treatment, however, have found it remarkably effective.
(baltimoresun.com)

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