Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
To the surgeon general, you referenced the self-delay in seeking treatment...soldiers don't think they need help. What's been explained to me is that in some circumstances the individual doesn't recognize treatment is needed until they're ready to blow. They're a volcano about to erupt. That may not occur during the hours of operation of the mental health unit. Consequently, military police may be called in, but the option at that point is for the soldier who in crisis to go willingly into a psychiatric hospital.
For a soldier, willingly going and submitting for psychiatric help in a hospital is akin to surrendering. I'm sure you're with that military ethos. So the only way they can go in their minds is against their will. That action often has even greater consequences on the soldier's future in the military, and even civilian life. Civilian police can obtain a form from a physician ordering or allowing the police to take the individual to a hospital for psychiatric care. I understand a similar situation does not exist for the military police. So is it possible to get a similar measure in place so that the military police can force a soldier to a hospital for psychiatric treatment so that a crime does not have to be first committed before they're apprehended?