WEBVTT 00:12.840 --> 00:16.320 My name is Captain Joshua Montes and 00:16.320 --> 00:18.264 I've been in the military for five 00:18.264 --> 00:20.440 years , I was deployed to Iraq from 00:20.440 --> 00:23.990 October 2006 to January of 2008 . It 00:23.990 --> 00:26.270 was the most pivotal time in the Iraq 00:26.270 --> 00:30.110 war . It's when we made a cognizant 00:30.110 --> 00:32.860 shift from high intensity operations to 00:32.860 --> 00:35.240 counter insurgency operations . Our 00:35.240 --> 00:37.296 responsibility was to win the hearts 00:37.296 --> 00:39.296 and minds of the local population . 00:39.940 --> 00:42.710 Josh was injured in Cider City . He and 00:42.710 --> 00:44.932 his platoon sergeant were standing side 00:44.932 --> 00:47.180 by side and a bullet ricocheted through 00:47.180 --> 00:49.069 that staff sergeant and into josh 00:49.069 --> 00:51.236 monte's leg . And so that's really the 00:51.236 --> 00:53.402 core of what happened in that incident 00:53.402 --> 00:55.513 where one soldier was lost . But josh 00:55.513 --> 00:57.680 was able to survive because the bullet 00:57.680 --> 01:00.560 hit me . I had the luxury of getting 01:00.570 --> 01:02.570 medevacs all the way back to walter 01:02.570 --> 01:04.792 reed Army medical center . Every single 01:04.792 --> 01:07.014 step of that Medevac process from my 19 01:07.014 --> 01:09.050 year old medic on the ground To the 01:09.050 --> 01:11.260 brigade surgeon who continued to work 01:11.260 --> 01:13.550 on me for 15 straight minutes after I 01:13.550 --> 01:15.620 was flatlined . And it goes on the 01:15.620 --> 01:17.970 point that I'm getting at here is our 01:17.970 --> 01:19.803 physically wounded soldiers have 01:19.803 --> 01:21.970 streamlined access to the best medical 01:21.970 --> 01:24.303 care in the world . And because of that , 01:24.303 --> 01:26.192 when I was at Walter Reed , I had 01:26.192 --> 01:28.359 clinical psychologists walking into my 01:28.359 --> 01:30.414 room about every four hours , simply 01:30.414 --> 01:30.290 trying to get me to talk about what 01:30.290 --> 01:32.457 happened and they try to pull a little 01:32.457 --> 01:34.900 bit more out of me each day . Um And 01:34.900 --> 01:37.230 what that did it was preventative 01:37.230 --> 01:39.452 medicine . Um It's a basic principle of 01:39.452 --> 01:41.563 psychology earlier and more often you 01:41.563 --> 01:43.786 talk about a traumatic experience , the 01:43.786 --> 01:46.008 faster you will recover from it . So by 01:46.008 --> 01:48.119 the time I became an outpatient which 01:48.119 --> 01:50.750 is about a month later I had no ptsD 01:50.750 --> 01:52.972 issues from this whatsoever . Nothing . 01:53.540 --> 01:55.860 But what about my soldiers in Iraq ? My 01:55.860 --> 01:58.082 concern is for the soldiers who are not 01:58.082 --> 02:00.082 physically wounded but still suffer 02:00.082 --> 02:02.360 from the emotional consequences of war . 02:02.360 --> 02:04.416 It's not just those with the visible 02:04.416 --> 02:04.300 wounds , it's everybody else in that 02:04.300 --> 02:06.356 small unit . That was a part of that 02:06.356 --> 02:08.522 action . It's a part of that soldier's 02:08.522 --> 02:10.830 life that are affected as well . We 02:10.830 --> 02:13.052 have critical stress debriefing teams . 02:13.640 --> 02:15.751 And when something like what happened 02:15.751 --> 02:17.973 to josh occurs , we make everybody come 02:17.973 --> 02:20.029 together and tell that story because 02:20.029 --> 02:22.029 oftentimes what happens is you walk 02:22.029 --> 02:24.084 away from a moment in combat and you 02:24.084 --> 02:26.251 remember it like you saw it , but when 02:26.251 --> 02:28.473 you come together as a team and someone 02:28.473 --> 02:30.696 mediates the story and helps you put it 02:30.696 --> 02:32.751 all together , you learn the rest of 02:32.751 --> 02:34.751 the story and it makes it easier to 02:34.751 --> 02:36.751 balance what really happened , what 02:36.751 --> 02:38.973 your role was in it , what you were and 02:38.973 --> 02:38.420 were not responsible for . And you 02:38.420 --> 02:40.364 don't go away from that moment and 02:40.364 --> 02:42.620 create your own story in your mind and 02:42.620 --> 02:44.564 go on feeling guilty or anxious or 02:44.564 --> 02:46.731 otherwise and that doesn't have to end 02:46.770 --> 02:49.200 right there . That kind of help that 02:49.200 --> 02:51.200 kind of group discussion , group 02:51.210 --> 02:54.280 therapy or otherwise can facilitate the 02:54.280 --> 02:56.502 ability for a soldier to come back from 02:56.502 --> 02:59.330 a combat trauma at any time , reach out 02:59.330 --> 03:01.330 to those teammates and reach out to 03:01.330 --> 03:03.441 those networks of providers that were 03:03.441 --> 03:05.608 given . I think it takes real strength 03:05.608 --> 03:07.774 and courage to just raise your hand if 03:07.774 --> 03:10.190 you need help and uh , what we need to 03:10.190 --> 03:12.460 do what I need to do as a senior leader 03:12.460 --> 03:14.627 is to make sure that , you know , when 03:14.627 --> 03:16.710 they do that , that we can follow 03:16.710 --> 03:18.432 through and take care of their 03:18.432 --> 03:20.377 emotional needs . I'm just a small 03:20.377 --> 03:22.488 piece of senior leadership , but from 03:22.488 --> 03:24.920 the higher echelons , the vice chief of 03:24.920 --> 03:27.087 Staff of the army general chiarelli is 03:27.087 --> 03:29.480 very passionate about removing the 03:29.480 --> 03:32.510 stigma for asking for help . If there's 03:32.510 --> 03:34.677 not a clearer message right now in our 03:34.677 --> 03:36.843 army , I don't know what it could be . 03:36.843 --> 03:38.954 And I guess all I could really say to 03:38.954 --> 03:40.788 soldiers who currently feel like 03:40.788 --> 03:42.954 there's a stigma is that they're wrong 03:43.640 --> 03:45.862 because there are too many programs and 03:45.862 --> 03:47.696 people out there who are ready , 03:47.696 --> 03:49.473 willing and able to help from a 03:49.473 --> 03:51.529 leadership standpoint . I think that 03:51.529 --> 03:53.362 real warriors show strength when 03:53.362 --> 03:55.473 they're willing to reach out to their 03:55.473 --> 03:57.410 soldiers and prove to them and 03:57.410 --> 03:59.790 demonstrate to them that they genuinely 03:59.800 --> 04:02.820 care . That's how you defeat stigma . I 04:02.820 --> 04:05.240 firmly believe that it comes down to 04:05.240 --> 04:07.120 one thing and that is involved 04:07.130 --> 04:09.290 leadership , but what we got to learn 04:09.290 --> 04:11.940 from this is that everybody experiences 04:11.940 --> 04:14.150 emotional distress , everybody has a 04:14.150 --> 04:17.940 breaking point and the best way to 04:17.940 --> 04:20.790 prevent serious problems from occurring 04:21.040 --> 04:23.151 is to talk about it early and often , 04:23.151 --> 04:25.429 and they get help early and often . Um , 04:25.429 --> 04:27.540 and and there's there's nothing wrong 04:27.540 --> 04:29.762 with doing that . I think it shows real 04:29.762 --> 04:31.873 strength when a soldier is willing to 04:31.873 --> 04:34.150 step up and approach his peers and 04:34.150 --> 04:36.370 approach his leaders and even 04:36.370 --> 04:39.320 approaches importance and simply talk 04:39.320 --> 04:41.600 about the experiences in detail that 04:41.600 --> 04:43.620 they've had in combat in order to 04:43.620 --> 04:45.731 address the emotional health needs of 04:45.731 --> 04:46.160 of everyone .