Military/Veterans

Living through war leads to in-group solidarity
War experiences have a long-term effect on human psychology, shifting people's motivations toward greater equality for members of their own group, according to research forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science. Eurekalert!

Civilians Meet Military’s Psych Epidemic
A Civilian Medical Resources Network (CMRN) uses phone counseling and telemedicine to address the growing epidemic of mental and physical health problems among military personnel, say researchers. The health issues -- including suicide, substance use disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and traumatic brain injury (TBI) -- have emerged as a major public health epidemic, reported Mario Cruz, MD, from the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque. MedPage Today

New UCLA Center to Work with U.S. Military on Challenges of Healing Wounded Warriors
UCLA has launched the first university-based military medicine center on the West Coast, thanks to a generous donation from two sons in honor their father, the inventor, entrepreneur and philanthropist Ronald A. Katz. The Ronald A. Katz Center for Collaborative Military Medicine at UCLA, established by an initial $2 million gift from Todd and Randy Katz and their families, will work with the U.S. military to address the unique challenges of healing and caring for the nation's most critically wounded warriors. NewsWise

Women heading to Navy Riverine combat jobs
The military services are struggling to figure out how to move women into battlefront jobs, including infantry, armor and elite commando positions. They are devising updated physical and mental standards — equal for men and women — for thousands of combat jobs and they have until Jan. 1, 2016, to open as many jobs as possible to women, and to explain why if they decide to keep some closed. The common requirements for men and women for each post would be based on specific tasks. Military officials say standards will not be lowered in order to bring women into any combat posts. AP