For folks addressing the commissary’s value, how often does the sailor shop there? I think we as officers look at it a bit through rose colored glasses because paying an extra few bucks per pound of meat, etc, doesn’t bother us but it makes a huge deal to Seaman Timmy.
That said, I would love to see the data from the cac scans at the register. I would 100% agree that if we are basically subsidizing retirees at the majority of places, then we should just shut them down and bump up BAS for all hands.
Having to involve the CO isn't really much better.Must be unique to your platform. I would never involve the Corpsman in something like that. I go VFR direct to the shrink to make that happen.
The CO is going to be informed and become involved regardless, so that makes zero sense.Having to involve the CO isn't really much better.
My overall point is that we could make significant improvement by allowing servicemembers to see licensed psychologists or psychiatrists without referrals. For many people, seeking mental health professional help can be an embarrassing moment, and having to go through people that are not mental health professionals makes it worse. Right now a sailor's self referral options are a priest or someone's wife working at fleet and family.
If a servicemember is seen by an MTF, or referred by one, that MTF must notify the command. If that servicemember freelances their own care, then all bets are off. There's a conflict between getting servicemembers the care they need (which I support) and COs having full knowledge of potentially serious issues that affect those under their command - issues which could have an impact of the safety of others. While I respect people's desire for privacy, the CO also needs to be able to make informed decisions on that person's fitness to work on or fly in aircraft/handle classified materials/employ deadly force/etc.There are ways for a Servicemember to seek out mental health solutions and the CO won’t find out. It’s called militaryonesource, providers can recommend it, and it’ll never appear in a medical record. The Servicemember will have access to licensed psychologists/psychiatrists. The frustrating thing is that most people don’t know this benefit exists.
If the provider gives a hard recommendation to a specific provider, not sure how that works wrt CO.
If a servicemember is seen by an MTF, or referred by one, that MTF must notify the command. If that servicemember freelances their own care, then all bets are off. There's a conflict between getting servicemembers the care they need (which I support) and COs having full knowledge of potentially serious issues that affect those under their command - issues which could have an impact of the safety of others. While I respect people's desire for privacy, the CO also needs to be able to make informed decisions on that person's fitness to work on or fly in aircraft/handle classified materials/employ deadly force/etc.
It's a conundrum and there's no easy answer. Curious as to what others have seen/experienced on this issue.
If a servicemember is seen by an MTF, or referred by one, that MTF must notify the command. If that servicemember freelances their own care, then all bets are off. There's a conflict between getting servicemembers the care they need (which I support) and COs having full knowledge of potentially serious issues that affect those under their command - issues which could have an impact of the safety of others. While I respect people's desire for privacy, the CO also needs to be able to make informed decisions on that person's fitness to work on or fly in aircraft/handle classified materials/employ deadly force/etc.
It's a conundrum and there's no easy answer. Curious as to what others have seen/experienced on this issue.
As CO, could you compel a flight doc to tell you something about one of your sailors, or does that violate HIPAA? I would imagine it would be more along the lines of ‘doc, should initiate a fit for duty on Seaman Timmy?’
I don't have to compel the doc; it's by instruction and completely routine/normal to do so. Technically, anything that happens at medical (with very few exceptions, like a restricted SA situation) is supposed to be briefed to the CO. Common sense applies and most Docs know what reaches that threshold. The CO has a backdoor through HIPAA, but has a responsibility to protect that information.As CO, could you compel a flight doc to tell you something about one of your sailors, or does that violate HIPAA? I would imagine it would be more along the lines of ‘doc, should initiate a fit for duty on Seaman Timmy?’
The CO has a backdoor through HIPAA, but has a responsibility to protect that information.
Just a contrarian view here; I haven't made up my mind whether I agree with you or disagree on this point.3) We need to do better on screening at commission source/boot camp. Bandwidth taken due to pre-service issues take away from bandwidth that Chaps and Psych can spend elsewhere.