....US Army, 22 years, Command Sergeant Major, he is the senior enlisted advisor to the Commanding Officer, 2 deployment to Iraq.
Since his diagnosis with PTS. He wants to ensure his soldiers to understand the it is okay to ask for help. We all know that soldiers are strong men and women so asking for help is the sign of strength and not weakness. As we sat that Saturday morning I was scared and nervous, why because he was the first Veteran that I was able to photograph for the project, with 2 years of COVID restrictions and my own family crisis I was unable to photograph anyone or anything.
We sat and talked, I fidgeted with the camera settings and we off. One of the most important thing that come out of our conversation, to me, was PTS will not hurt their career. PTS has also hit him, yes at first he was a little apprehensive to ask for the help, but he needed too, Aaron has a wife and kids just like a lot of us do. He knows when he is having an “episode” coming on just like everyone else, but his wife will also. She will let him take control of it, by going for a run, go work out and it available to him at the time go hunting. Aaron’s wife will also make sure that their children will also leave him alone while he is getting himself back together. His support system is amazing!!!! He has a couple of dates that tend to make his anxiety rise, April and August, just like a lot of other war Veterans, whether they are WW II, Korean War, Viet Nam, Gulf War and OEF OIF. One of his signs that his symptoms are becoming exacerbated is that he may not have worked out in awhile because of him being out on the road. Aaron can not stress how important it is to get help do not try and self medicate, drink too much or do something stupid, do the right thing, ask for the help, call him!!!!!