An Army mental health expert told the special commission investigating last October’s mass shooting in Lewiston that the Army has less authority to order reservists to receive treatment than active-duty personnel and often has less access to medical information.
Col. Mark Ochoa's testimony was part of the commission's ongoing probe into the events leading up to Oct. 25, including how the Army Reserve handled concerns about the gunman’s mental health months before the shooting. Ochoa said the Reserve's psychological health program, or PHP, is available to help connect reservists with services and to make recommendations to commanders navigating a complex situation. But there is no obligation for reservists or commanders.
"We are there to assist commanders to help them make the best decisions that they can," Ochoa said.
Within days of Robert Card killing 18 people and wounding 13, reports began emerging that he had been hospitalized for two weeks because of his paranoia and erratic behavior while training with his Army Reserve unit in New York. Card was then sent home to Maine with orders to undergo counseling and to keep his commanders updated on his treatment.
But Card apparently never followed through, nor did he respond to calls or emails from the Army Reserve’s psychological health program, or PHP, seeking to connect him with treatment. So it no surprise that commission members spent much of Thursday's virtual meeting focused on the psychological health program, even if they had to do it with hypotheticals because Ochoa was not authorized to discuss Card's specific case.
Commission member Paula Silsby, a former U.S. attorney, asked Ochoa whether it was appropriate for PHP staff to "close the case" if they have been unsuccessful reaching a reservist because that person won't answer phones or emails.
“No ma’am," Ochoa replied.
"Let's assume that this goes on ad infinitum," Silsby continued. "What are the expectations from the non-response reservist in this situation?"
"From a medical perspective, we are always here so I would say that would be a command decision as far as how they move forward," Ochoa said.
But as the commission heard in April, Card's leaders in the Saco-based Reserve unit didn't follow-up to make sure he was receiving mental health treatment even after a fellow reservist raised concerns that his friend might commit a mass shooting.
Captain Jeremy Reamer told commissioners in April that he was relying on Card's family to remove any guns from his Bowdoin home because, once reservists are back in civilian life, he has no control over their personal weapons. He also laid much of the blame on the Sagadahoc County Sheriff's Office for not doing more to intervene — including using Maine's "yellow flag" gun seizure law — after he requested they conduct a welfare check on Card in September.
The differences between full-time soldiers and reservists came up repeatedly Thursday.
Ochoa said commanders have less authority to order a reservist into treatment unless they are at a training event or deployed.
That was the case last July when Reamer ordered Card to submit to a mental health evaluation at a military hospital in New York after he got into an altercation with another reservist, locked himself in his room and repeatedly accused others of calling him a pedophile. But Card was transferred from the West Point hospital to a private facility where he would spend two weeks.
Ochoa testified that while active duty service members can receive behavioral health treatment in their unit, reservists are often referred to private health care providers. And in the civilian world, those providers don't carry the same obligations as military facilities to share medical information.
"Our team only knows what they know," Ochoa said. "So if they don't get medical records from that civilian health care provider or that soldier is not releasing it, it is hard for us to shape or modify (their recommendations)."
That's a point that former judge Geoffrey Rushlau picked up on as well as he questioned Ochoa.
"Even if they are still under orders, it is the soldier's willingness to share information with their commander that controls," Rushlau said. "If they're not willing, then it is not shared."
"Correct," Ochoa replied.
The commission expects to release its final report this summer. Army officials, meanwhile, have said they are finalizing their internal report on the military's involvement with the Lewiston gunman. The Army's inspector general is also conducting a separate investigation.
