May 26, 2011
“Amputee veteran finds winning support in civilian world”
Great new video from The Today Show this morning about Team Red, White, and Blue and what they do.
As a reminder, my friend Sam Cila is riding with Team RWB during the upcoming Race Across America, the team portion of which starts June 18th in Oceanside, CA.
May 24, 2011
Warrior Games swimming medals ceremony. Photo by Pat Cabel from SemperFiSports.
OK, not really (nice idea, though).
Warrior Games Closing Ceremonies Saturday night were overwhelming. It was great to see so many friends, especially wearing medals, and I wanna thank my good friend Damian Orslene (one of those wearing a medal) for inviting us and allowing us to celebrate with him.
The final Canine Companions for Independence graduate medal count was: 1 Gold, 2 Silver, 4 Bronze. Lance Weir with 1 Gold, 1 Silver, and Jason Morgan with 1 Silver, 4 Bronze.
Now, the truth is, I can’t guarantee any medals if you get a CCI dog, and neither would they. I can tell you, though, that CCI was very well represented throughout the Games by these two guys and Susan Katz from US Paralympics, and I know of a number of conversations that took place and team members who are very seriously considering applying for a dog.
Jokes aside, their presence and those conversations helped dispel a few of the biggest misconceptions that are still around and will probably never go away. Not necessarily in this order or a complete list, and there is some overlap between them, but here’s a few of the main ones:
Again, there are more, but those are the big ones. And to answer the ‘Where do I look for a service dog?” question again, because it seems like I can’t say this too often: “Start with CCI, then look at the rest of the organizations on the ADI-accredited list.”
Bottom line: I won’t try to talk you into a dog, but don’t talk yourself outta one, either. And I can tell you that these guys went through that same drill, too.
Plus, it oughtta be good for at least a bronze or two next year.
May 21, 2011
“Marines Sweep Shooting Competition” (photo by Lance Cpl. Kayla Hermann)
That’s pretty much the headline for this year’s Warrior Games.
One person who contributed to that butt whuppin’ is my friend Lance Weir, seen here with his Canine Companions for Independence service dog Auggie during the presentation of his Gold and Silver Medals in the air rifle shooting competition.
Very cool because, besides being a friend and very well known in the CCI world, Lance wasn’t even here last year, and, according to his coach, didn’t even realize it was something he could compete in, and look at the result!
Final event is this afternoon with closing ceremonies tonight.
May 17, 2011
“Airmen Begin Warrior Games At Olympic Training Complex“
There’s so much stuff from yesterday’s Warrior Games Opening Ceremonies, there’s no way in the world I could come close to posting it all here, even just the service dog stuff. I’ll say just like I did last year that it’s really an incredible experience being there, and if you have any interest at all, you should make a point to come out here to Colorado Springs and go to them.
I did want to post this one picture of my buddy Napal, Jason Morgan’s CCI service dog (well, they’re both my friends) from the official Air Force article about the ceremony because, not only is it maybe the best picture of Napal I’ve ever seen, it shows you exactly what a service dog should like when he’s working.
May 13, 2011
“Pentagon expects IED hits to rise”
Not good news, but the reality, and more evidence of what I just wrote about here a few days ago, and here about six weeks ago. Protective gear and preventive measures or not, we’re gonna continue to see very serious physical injuries coming back from Afghanistan.
May 11, 2011
Haven’t said a lot about Warrior Games lately, and that’s mostly because there’s been so much going on, it’s been hard to take a break from it and post anything.
Teams are all here in Colorado Springs now prepping for the Games next week, and I got to catch up with my good friend Jason Morgan and his Canine Companions for Independence service dog Napal at the Air Force Academy Community Center pool yesterday during practice.
I’ve written lots about Jason before – a search will show more, but here’s some pertinent links:
“Canine Companions for Independence Veteran Graduate In Airman Magazine“
“Warrior Games – More Thoughts“
“Air Superiority At The Warrior Games: Air Force’s Jason Morgan And Napal“
May 8, 2011
“After Severe War Injuries, A New Battlefield”
Saw this one via Soldiers’ Angels Germany yesterday. Nothing about service dogs in it, but there are two service dog-related things I wanna mention.
First, I always like to remind people whenever I see stories about troops rehabbing at Naval Medical Center San Diego (a.k.a. Balboa Naval Hospital) that Canine Companions for Independence Facility Dog Tommy is there. That’s because, even in the wounded warrior world, most don’t know that CCI Facility Dogs exist, much less that there’s one at NMCSD Comprehensive Combat and Complex Casualty Care (C5) and has been for two years now (“CCI Places First Facility Dog At A Major Wounded Warrior Medical Care Center”).
Second, note this key phrase: “The number and rate of double- and triple-amputees have risen dramatically in the last 18 months. “
More confirmation of what I’ve been saying here for some time. Namely, we already weren’t effectively reaching the existing population of physically injured veterans from all eras about service dogs and what they can do for them, and that population continues to grow daily. In addition, while the ongoing focus on “the invisible wounds of war” (i.e., post-traumatic stress) is very definitely appropriate and needed, and I mean no disrespect to anyone living with it, let’s not forget that we still have plenty of troops coming home with very visible wounds as well.
May 8, 2011
Still catching up.
Followup video of Sam Cila accepting the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation check for the Canine Companions for Independence veterans initiative.
Note particularly Sam’s description of what his service dog Gillian does for him – all specific physical stuff, in stark contrast to the inaccurate description in a national news magazine last year.
Apr 16, 2011
Another “in case you haven’t already seen this elsewhere” post.
My friend Sam Cila and his service dog Gillian accepted a National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation $10,000 grant check for the Canine Companions for Independence veterans initiative at NADA’s McLean,VA headquarters Tuesday. NADCF is a long-time CCI supporter who’s expanding their support for CCI’s veterans’ effort: “Auto Dealers Raise Awareness of Assistance Dog Program for Wounded War Veterans”
“Dogs help wounded vets recover”
I understand there’s a PSA to follow – I’m looking forward to seeing it.
Apr 13, 2011
It dawned on me that I haven’t mentioned the new VA directive on service dogs and guide dogs here, and since it came out last month without a lotta fanfare, I should. And also mention the two corresponding bills in Congress designed to put the directive change into law.
The intent of the new directive is to correct a long-standing issue that I’ve written about here before (“AMVETS Addresses Two Tough Issues Concerning Service Dogs For Veterans”) where veterans with service dogs (even those approved by VA) were not allowed to take those dogs into VA medical facilities. In the past, each facility director was allowed to make their own policy, VA in DC couldn’t (or wouldn’t) step up and create a uniform policy for service dogs (as had been done long ago for guide dogs), but they have now done that.
I’ve included the entire directive in the images below, just click on them for the big versions. You can also download the PDF here:
“VHA Dir 2011-013, Guide Dogs and Service Dogs on Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Property”
VA says they have done a lot internally to educate their people about the new directive via publications, e-mail, and conference calls. I’ll be interested to hear what veterans encounter in individual facilities.
Note there are also two bills in Congress intended to codify this change, the concept being that, while directives are nice, faces change and we need to get this one into the law. If you’ve been here more than once, no secret to you that I’m not a big fan of trying to do things via the law for a number of reasons, not the least of which is you never really can count on what you’ll get. (All you need to do is look at the Stolen Valor Act – we have judges who’ve ruled that lying about your military service record is free speech protected by the First Amendment. Yeah, right.)
Nonetheless, I think this is a great idea and needs to be done. The House bill is H.R. 1154, “Veterans Equal Treatment for Service Dogs Act”; the Senate one is S. 769 – you can track those here:
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h112-1154
http://www.govtrack.us/users/events.xpd?monitors=bill%3As112-769
If you are so inclined, contact your representatives and let them know you support these two bills.
I'm very active with Canine Companions for Independence as a volunteer, to include being a past member of the Veterans Task Force and puppy raiser. Retired US Air Force Chief Master Sergeant with my last assignments at the Air Force Academy as the Fourth Group Sergeant Major and Dean of Faculty Superintendent. More...
