For Maryland National Guard Staff Sgt. Jon Story, going from combat to Mr. Mom ? without any preparation ? was as tough as any Blackhawk helicopter mission he experienced in Iraq.
“It was stressful a lot of the times, and I would find myself yelling about the little things with my [two] daughters,” said Story, of Edgewood.
While his wife, also a Guard member, was overseas, Story had to wait 90 days before seeking counseling.
“It?s like running going from 120 miles an hour to 30 miles an hour, and sometimes it takes six weeks to realize there are problems,” said Brig. Gen. Edward Leacock of the Maryland National Guard.
Several Guard members shared the hardships of reintegrating into society with Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., and Gov. Martin O?Malley on Thursday at the Guard?s Fifth Regiment Armory in Baltimore City.
Guard members said getting counseling and medical assistance is difficult, because the federal government does not provide the same services and benefits their enlisted counterparts receive.
When Guard member Sgt. Leanna Stewart returned to Maryland, her children were in Hawaii. But she had to pay for their airfare to Maryland, find a job and home ? an active-duty enlisted soldier would have received those benefits.
“We need to look at breaking down all the barriers. All that fight the same war should get the same benefits,” Mikulski said.
Last year, the Maryland National Guard employed a new reintegration program that requires evaluations 30, 60 and 90 days after returning from combat, said Col. David Carey, the Guard?s personnel officer.
The Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program is modeled after the Minnesota National Guard, which saw a significant decline in psychological problems experienced by its Guard members, he said.
But officials said more money is needed, but the federal government hasn?t funded it.
Mikulski said she will push for $45 million to help the Guard in all 50 states.
O?Malley has put $800,000 in the pending state budget for Guard reintegration. He also said the state should assist the Guard?s fundraising foundation.
“We can?t wait for the federal government … and I think [the funding] is a step in right direction,” he said.
