"The Mind Field"

 I am not as qualified as some but here goes! P.T.S.D.’s and T.B.I.’s. I will refer to these as “The Mind Field”. As Point Men, we are the ones who will go out in front of the Warriors who are following. Our task is to lead the way (set a path) through enemy territory and find a safe path for our fellow warriors to follow without getting caught by the enemy in an ambush or caught off guard and have severe damage done to them. Sometimes we come into an enemy “mine field”. Our job then is settling down and finding a safe way through it. This is done by the skills that have come to us from dealing with many others and our own experiences. We have developed skills that are very useful to those who will follow.

        When a warrior returns home he/she returns with “baggage”. In this baggage there are things that have shaped their lives while “in country”. These things are not visible, they are invisible. This becomes the “Mind Field”! Some of these conditionings are more severe than others, all are capable of great destruction. This can be damaging not only to the individual, and to many of those around them. This can be ‘triggered’ by  sight, sounds, smells, and circumstances they walk into or that develop around them. Sometimes even a foreign language they have heard. These “triggers” are what we try and talk the vets through, so they deal with them on a more effective level than having the mine go off and cause massive damage. The resulting damage can range from strange or different behavior (sometimes overlooked) to yelling at a spouse or close family member; some are overly protective of their children. This mind field can also result in suicide, suicide by cop, volunteer for reassignment in order to get killed by ‘the enemy’. This can also take on the form of attacks on other persons, without an understanding or basis for the attack. These and many other combinations of happenings can be brought about by “Stepping on a MINE”. At Point Man we are available and looking for those who are walking in the mind field. We work to help the individual who has these items in their ‘baggage’ so when they are coming up against a mine they can learn how to defuse the massive damage that can take place and “minimize the collateral damage”. I have heard of a case where a man was driving down the freeway and crossed four lanes of traffic (without having an accident). He pulled over to the side of the road and got out. He told his wife she would have to drive. All because he saw a black plastic garbage bag in the median of the highway and it had reminded him of an I.E.D. incident in Iraq.