Perhaps the best way to expose the pathology of the WTU system is to look at a different model of care: let me share a perfect example of how the trauma of war and life can approached to actually reduce and heal the emotional wounds of our soldiers. It is the antithesis of the reactive attachment model of the US Army. Once again the soldier I will describe is a combat medic. He is a little older, in his early 30s and after 12 years in the Army he is now a senior NCO. After he last deployment he has been serving as the NCOIC (THE most important person in any Army unit) of an outpatient clinic. He has been deployed 4 times, serving each time as the medic for a combat unit; each time he experienced combat scenarios where he lost friends and battle buddies . His memories and flashbacks are filled with blood and death that he can not eliminate from his consciousness and his dreams. When he came home he had a 2 year old son and shortly thereafter his 26 year old wife became pregnant.Tthe pregnancy was uneventful and this soldier was able to cope with his combat demons without revealing his constant anxiety. He states he was always careful walking in the hospital because he did not know what was just around the next corner; he was combat trained and he still takes measures to protect himself before he rounds turns any corner. Then, shortly after his wife delivered a healthy boy, she felt extreme fatigue and weight loss. Shortly thereafter it was discovered she had acute leukemia; after an intense period of chemotherapy with relapse she died 18 months ago. This left the soldier with the primary care of a 4 and a 2 year old, and still he battled with his combat memories. The only way he could cope was with alcohol and while he continued to fulfill his duties as a soldier and father, he understood he was headed for a disaster. He volunteered to come to ASAP for his alcohol dependence. His command recognized his struggle but did not sedt him to the WTU. They supported his coming to ASAP, to seeking outpatient behavioral health services for his PTSD and possible traumatic brain injury. They did not abandon him or threaten his career. He is an honored, decorated, highly trained and experienced professional soldier. He remains a member of his unit and he will NOT be left behind. His children where distressed, perhaps terrified, that their father was in a hospital, in the rehab program, but he was able to see them on a daily basis so that they could understand he was not going to leave them. Of course these circumstances are unique. In every case the circumstances are unique. Each soldier is autonomous in their circumstances; they deserve to be treated as honored soldiers who served voluntarily to protect our way of life. They do not deserve to be traumatized, isolated, abandoned and scorned over and over. Are we really treating the soldiers of the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan fundamentally different from the soldiers who returned from Vietnam? The only difference seems to be that the scorn in the 1970s came from the uninformed public and now the scorn largely comes from the system as represented by the Warrior Transition Command. The next, but probably not final, post on the this subject will be to conclude the formula: WTU (Warrior Transition Unit) equals RAT (Reactive Attachment Disorder).