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SALT LAKE CITY -- The mental health of some Utah National Guard members came into question Wednesday at a state legislative meeting.
The comments came from the combined Army and Air National Guard, in reaction to a bikini calendar video shoot filmed in part on the grounds of Camp Williams. Guard leaders previously confirmed a non-commissioned officer granted the British production company access to the installation.
"We have pretty strict guidelines for what we do," Major General Jefferson S. Burton said as he addressed the Veterans' and Military Affairs Commission.
Burton also said most of the individuals involved were combat veterans. Some, he said, are purple heart recipients.
"Several have been deployed as actual shooters kicking in doors 5 to 6 times in the last 13 years. So I'm also very concerned about them and their personal state of mind that would allow them to do something like this."
Retired Director of the Utah Division of Veterans Affairs Terry Schow also attended the commission meeting.
"My take on it was 'what were they thinking'," Schow said. "Because it was obviously poor judgment and potentially embarrassing to the National Guard."
However, Schow also said military veterans return home from combat dealing with all sorts of emotional trauma because of the type of combat some of them have seen.
"They will make decisions in a split second that could affect them for the rest of their lives," he said. "And so the war is tough on them but we also have a responsibility to help those folks when they get back."
Schow said suicide among veterans is extremely high "something like 22 a day nationally. And that's why I'm such a big fan of mental health counseling."
Schow recommended military veterans seek help at centers across the state.
