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Second Class Citizen
- 1. Second Class Citizen A 501c(3) organization We are Second Class Citizen. We are an organization founded by Veterans, for currently serving military of all branches, law enforcement, and Veterans.
- 2. Second Class Citizen A 501c(3) Organization Mission Statement: We are Second Class Citizen. We are an organization founded by Veterans, serving active duty military of all branches, law enforcement, and Veterans. Our mission is simple and straightforward: to help servicemembers (SM) and Veterans maintain their bearing, preserve their dignity, and keep their compass needles true as they endure one of the most brutal experiences anyone can go through: the US family court system. Our mission is directly tied to one third of military suicides. Second Class Citizen accomplishes this mission by: âą Working to improve treatment of SM and Veterans in family courts through legislative action âą Confronting military commands and Judge Advocate offices who fail to properly support SM or unlawfully interfere in civil matters IAW military regulation and UCMJ âą Educating SM and military commands on rights and responsibilities in family court disputes âą Directly aiding SM and Veterans when possible, especially those in danger of self-harm due to desperation and loss of hope
- 3. Second Class Citizen A 501c(3) Organization This award-winning video graphically portrays the reality of what we are facing with Service Members, Veterans, and the family court system. The Reality: âPurple Heartâs Final Beatâ, SFC T. Popp, 2/75 RNGR (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AVUHalR8P0I)
- 4. Second Class Citizen A 501c(3) Organization Service Members and Veterans have been committing suicide in record numbers. We know this. Second Class Citizen has gone over three years of data and discovered factors that are not being mentioned. The Suicides: Analysis
- 5. Second Class Citizen A 501c(3) Organization Nearly one third of military suicides are affected by family issues â divorce, family court, custody battles. One third. Those are just the ones we are absolutely certain of.
- 6. Second Class Citizen A 501c(3) Organization What Second Class Citizen Does: ï¶ Provide counseling in a language a service member or Veteran understands. ï¶ Provide resources and advice for maintaining their bearing during a trying time. ï¶ Help the service member or Veteran understand what a family court can be expected to do, and what their response should be. ï¶ Address Toxic Command and JAG issues ï¶ Conduct in-depth analysis of data to identify vulnerable groups within the service member & Veteran communities.
- 7. Second Class Citizen A 501c(3) Organization What Second Class Citizen Needs: ï¶ Access to Grant information for Veteransâ organizations. ï¶ Access to the DCIPS database, within reason and with expected constraints. ï¶ Consideration for funding. ï¶ Exposure.
- 8. Second Class Citizen A 501c(3) organization Thank you for your time and attention. The Operators of
Editor's Notes
- We are Second Class Citizen. We are an organization created by former special operations and intelligence Non-Commissioned Officers (NCOs). Our current staff is entirely drawn from US Army Veterans. To avoid confusion and differentiate ourselves from the civilian medical or legal fields, we refer to our staff as Operators rather than counselors.
- Bottom line up front: this is our mission statement. We are not here to provide legal advice, although we do know where to find it and how to ask. We do not provide psychological counseling, but we do counsel service members and Veterans in the manner NCOs have always counseled soldiers. Nobody knows how to talk with, and what we are thinking, better than one of our own. No civilian can ever hope to approach the level of understanding between two service members or Veterans. This is our core belief.
- This video is Purple Heartâs Final Beat, an award winning 5:50 minute film created, co-directed, and performed by SFC Terrence Popp, 75th Ranger Regiment and US Army Special Forces Senior NCO. It is a dedication to his friend Major Lance Waldorf, the inspiration for the creation of this film.
- When Second Class Citizenâs Operators went through the data from 2009-2011, we discovered that the majority of suicides are in the upper end of what is considered âlower enlisted ranksâ. The predominance of suicides is in paygrades E3, E4, and E5. These soldiers have several âstand outâ features. One; they are near, or at the end of, their current contract of enlistment. They are at the cusp of a very large decision in their lives â especially during that time period when Operations Tempo was high. Two; they are at the prime age when most military personnel consider starting a family. Three; in most cases, their entire adult life has been spent in the military. They typically have no real external context for civilian life, pitfalls, and crises. We have more data from other years and are in the process of analyzing it at this time, but we are reasonably certain this pattern holds true for the post-9/11 military through the current date. Now we come to what we consider a very disturbing finding.
- Second Class Citizen came into being when we realized just how badly service members and Veterans get chewed up and spit out by the family court system. It happened to us, as NCOs. We, each of us, barely made it out alive â literally. A lower enlisted or junior officer is no match for even a run-of-the-mill civilian divorce attorney, and typically cannot afford one of their own. Lower enlisted & junior officers have just truly learned to follow orders and have not yet started learning to lead. Consequently, they are extremely susceptible to pressure, suggestion, threats, or just plain being told what to do. By the time they have started to figure out what is truly going on, they have already lost everything. Home. Paycheck. Dignity. Spouse. Children. It is a wonder that this number is not higher. Some MOSs (Military Occupational Specialty) have divorce rates of 92% or higher. Second Class Citizen believes this number will be higher once we can accurately analyze data from surrounding years, for service members and Veterans. We believe it may even be as high as 65%, based on preliminary studies.
- Second Class Citizen provides counseling for service members or Veterans dealing with the family court system. Our counseling is categorically not legal or medical advice in any professional sense. It is tailored to get that individual focused, thinking straight, and away from thoughts of self-harm. In short, it is NCO counseling â a language they understand and are receptive to. Second Class Citizen has curated resources â legal libraries, veterans organizations, legal services, and more. We will make these resources available to anyone who asks. We also cultivate relationships with other organizations that may be able to assist a service member or Veteran in distress. Family court is a treacherous battlefield at best. The sooner a service member or Veteran realizes this, the better. Second Class Citizen can demonstrate with examples from previous cases how they should comport themselves during depositions, in responses, and in the court room itself. The process is very similar to standing a promotions board; composure is everything. Within the military there exists a phenomenon known as âToxic Commandâ. These commands believe themselves above regulations and have been known to break laws. This applies to JAG lawyers as well â JAG lawyers must operate within certain boundaries defined in AR 27-26 & 27-27. In the case of custody or divorce, they may not intervene. A JAG who does so may even be disbarred. Second Class Citizen is in the process of producing a thoroughly researched letter for a service member to hand to a Toxic Command or JAG, advising them that they have been reported to their superiors, MACOM (Major Command Element), and Public Affairs Office, essentially putting them on notice â âStay in your laneâ, as the Army puts it. We have also begun preliminary research into judges deliberately ignoring the SCRA (Servicemembers Civil Relief Act) and how we may in the future call those judges out for legal and ethical violations. Second Class Citizen believes there is a tremendous amount of research that still must be done to truly be able to support service members and Veterans; there is currently no organization that we have been able to identify which specifically helps military and Veterans navigate the family court systems.
- Second Class Citizen needs what pretty much any Veteransâ organization needs. We need to know where and how we might apply for grants or funding for our studies and operations, and what reciprocation may or may not be required. We need to access DCIPS (Defense Casualty Information Processing System), but only in a very narrow scope with very specific parameters. We understand that any such access comes with privacy strictures as applicable by DOD/HIPAA, and we would treat all data accordingly. Of course, Second Class Citizen requires exposure. Our goal is to be an available resource for all military personnel within every MACOM and all main CONUS posts within two years, with consideration for expansion at a later date. Likewise for Veterans, we would like to be an available resource at all major VA locations within the same time frame.
- We greatly appreciate your time and interest in Second Class Citizen. If you have any questions at all, please feel free to ask. This presentation was assembled by Operator Six.