Fort Hood Holds Town Hall in Response to Operation Recovery Demand

After two months of pressure from the Operation Recovery campaign, Fort Hood Commander announces he will hold a town hall.

Help keep the pressure on by posting a message on Fort Hood's Facebook wall before tonight's virtual town hall event.

Since November, the General has received postcards and emails from IVAW members and thousands of Operation Recovery campaign supporters urging him to hold a town hall community forum to address the crisis of untreated trauma at Fort Hood.

Tonight's virtual town hall is strictly for the Fort Hood community, and soldiers and their family members will be asking questions via Facebook and phone calls. But we want General Campbell and the Fort Hood community to know that thousands around the nation care what happens to soldiers there. 

Today, before the town hall takes place, will you post this simple message on the Fort Hood Facebook wall?

I support Fort Hood soldiers' rights to heal from military trauma.

Then let us know you took action by sending us an email. It's that simple.

Please make your post BEFORE 2:00 PM Pacific, 3:00 PM Mountain, 4:00 PM Central, or 5:00 PM Eastern. We don't want to clog up Facebook and prevent Fort Hood soldiers from asking important questions tonight during the actual town hall. This is a forum we have fought for, and we don't want to undermine the opportunity for service members' voices to be heard.

This virtual town hall is not perfect

We are pleased that General Campbell has agreed to hold this event, but the virtual format makes it easy for him to avoid answering the tough questions about untreated military trauma plaguing his base. To ensure these issues are addressed, we are co-hosting a simultaneous public gathering with Under the Hood Cafe and Outreach Center, where soldiers and their families will submit questions that address the critical issues at Fort Hood, including:

1) inadequate access to behavioral health counseling

2) commanders overriding the advice of medical doctors

3) over-medication of soldiers

4) a culture that allows sexual harassment and assault to occur

Making a town hall virtual also reinforces the alienation and anonymity experienced by soldiers who who need help. Naomi, whose husband serves in Fort Hood's 2-5 Cavalry says, "Having a virtual town hall doesn't bring people together in a visible way to see and discuss our common experience." Our in-person gathering will bring soldiers together to let them know they are not alone.

Imperfect as it is, this virtual town hall is an important first step, but Operation Recovery will continue our work to end the deployment of traumatized troops and ensure that soldiers have the right to heal at Fort Hood and around the nation.

NOTE: Base commanders don't hold town halls regularly. The only other town hall in Fort Hood's history was in 2010 after the major crisis of the mass shooting that killed 13 soldiers. Clearly, the Fort Hood community is in crisis again with thousands of troops cycling out of Iraq after multiple tours of duty. A recent Army report shows that despite expanded efforts at suicide and substance abuse prevention, Army suicides are at a record high and violent sex crimes by active duty service members has increased by a whopping 30%.