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Broken Wing is a multi-phased program
developed by soldiers for soldiers with Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder (PTSD) which is now known as Operational Stress Injury
(OSI). These terms carry a certain connotation behind them
- strange and decadent self-absorption, drugs and alcohol,
shame, or, to some - just the realization that this is
the person that you used to love, used to know so intimately and who
is not quite that person you knew such a short time ago.
Broken Wing is a live-in program conducted at Peacekeepr Park with
the pilot program being held in the summer of 2011. There is no cost
to any veteran who wishes to apply.
Broken Wing will be the veteran's new platoon and will
put the veteran back into a military-style setting where he/she will
be assigned to a five man Section of fellow veterans at the
beginning of the program. The initial phase will encompass
lectures, debates, and information lessons, all of which will have
flexible and open timings dependent upon how well the flow of
discourse and feedback progresses. There will be an emphasis
on the benefits of healthy living and healthy eating and there will
be physical fitness training each day that, along with sporting
activities, will be a secondary reinforcer as a way to achieve
success. We at Broken Wing will stress the achievement of
goals, self-awareness and innovation through each veteran finding
his own voice and own identity. The intention is to get
soldiers to treat their brains and behaviours as a weapon system, to
be taken care of, studied, and ultimately utilized better.
This will draw upon the earlier conditioning of various combat
schools except that this time, instead of learning how to fight,
they will be learning how to live, ultimately becoming very in tune
with the need for an approach to their lives in a way that mimics
the various different skills they learned while in the military.
The desired outcome is to have the veteran become professional and
proud of the new accomplishments that they can have outside of
military life.
The next phase of the program will deal with social
isolation, widely regarded as one of the most deadly residual
effects of PTSD and the biggest obstacle to assimilation and
success. A series of training and inter-active socialization
exercises designed to increase the amount of time interacting
productively within normal social construals will allow the veteran
a greater amount of time outside of isolation. The
socialization phase will prepare the participants for entry into the
next phase which will be centered around the search and the drive to
achieve a new vocation or occupation.
Broken Wing will fill in what we believe to be some of
the missing gaps in current programs offered in Canada even though
there have been great strides forward have been made by the Canadian
Forces, Veterans Affairs and Manulife Financial. There will be
assignments to be completed between the various phases of the
program and there will be detailed follow-up procedures at the
completion of the program.
For more information, telephone 519-269-1118 and leave
a message with your contact information. To apply for the
program, print off the application form by clicking on the link
below, print it off, fill in the details and mail to Peacekeeper
Park, 3864 Avon Drive, PO Box 421, Belmont, Ont. N0L 1B0.
WE DON'T
LEAVE OUR WOUNDED ON THE FIELD OF BATTLE - WE WILL
CERTAINLY NOT ABANDON THEM WHEN THEY RETURN HOME!
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