Stephen Akins was a 31-year-old veteran with a history of 11 years in the United States Army and 4 deployments; three with combat exposure. He was found dead shortly before the 4th of July, 2015.
While the circumstances of his death are not yet fully established, it is clear his career in the United States Army was a major factor in his death. His body and his skills as a combat arms soldier, 11 Bravo in Army language, were rented by the Army for 11 years. But when his brain, in all the eloquent and complex functions that make us human, began to malfunction from his repeated traumatic brain injuries, Post-traumatic Stress Disorder, and recurrent seizures, the Army determined he was broken, his behavior incompatible with Army values, and he was administratively discharged from the Army without benefit of a comprehensive and completed Medical Evaluation Board. He was denied the highest level of care the Army could provide and the VA system failed to meet his needs.
Essentially the Army rented his life, submitted his life to repeated trauma, destroyed his ability to cope and threw him on the trash heap without the careful hand-off and follow-up his condition demanded. Predictably, Stephen could not cope after his discharge but his death was preventable. His command and a Major General did not take the time to look at the life they had rented and trashed. Stephen admitted his inability to cope with the stresses of garrison and civilian life. He did attempt to meet the lofty expression of “Army Values.” But the Army did not even attempt to meet their standard of values and did not take responsibility for this life; after all, it was just a rental.
These documents are the Army remnants of Stephen Akins life: two Memorandums from a Major General. These frivolous statements are followed by a letter of appeal in attempt to change the level of care Stephen earned and deserved. The appeal failed without the attention of two Generals taking the time to consider the value of this one rented life.
In published documents the Army continues to maintain that it is the province of the line commanders to determine the level of medical care rationed out to soldiers with behavioral problems related to neurological injuries and Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. They do not listen or clearly ignore the recommendations of the Army Behavioral Health service. There is no doubt this policy has failed miserably and continues to be negligent at best and in many cases borders on the criminal.
