Rob Bates, owner of Bates Counseling Services in Quincy, WA and himself a military veteran, told The Center Square that Travis Decker came into his offices last month seeking services, after being repeatedly denied care and support from Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM). Bates noted that veterans comprise a higher percentage of the population in rural communities than in urban areas. They may also face greater challenges in accessing mental health services that can range from PTSD to depression, to anger and anxiety to substance abuse.

Heather Hill, a licensed psychotherapist, owns Central Washington Veterans Counseling and supports veterans with therapeutic services or readjustment counseling. Hill said, “For the last six months, we haven't been able to bring anybody new into services,” and like Bates, told The Center Square the need is outpacing resources. Small counseling centers and individual counselors in rural areas are simply underequipped to serve the needs of every veteran in crisis, especially while JBLM - the largest military base in the PNW - are denying veterans in crisis access to medical care by denying them access to the installation (an act that violates Federal law: 10 USC 1074, 1076).

According to ABC News, Travis Decker struggled with mental health issues, including PTSD, and was unable to receive help through veterans' resources". Decker made multiple attempts to receive help at Madigan Army Medical Center (MAMC), located on JBLM, but was repeatedly denied access to the military base by the JBLM Directorate of Emergency Services (DES). Unable to access JBLM, Decker was unable to receive the care that he so desperately sought at MAMC. His repeated requests for help were ignored as were multiple complaints submitted through JBLM's ICE Comment System.

A source in the JBLM DES informed us that JBLM has received hundreds of complaints through the ICE Comment System expressing concern that veterans are being denied access to critical care on JBLM, along with being denied access to other rights, benefits, and services earned through military service. According to our JBLM DES source (speaking with a promise of confidentially for fear of retaliation by JBLM DES senior leadership) "JBLM considers any Service Member, military Family Member, military Retiree, or Veteran in crisis a threat to good order and discipline and bars these individuals from accessing post."

This policy of barring those seeking help from accessing JBLM effectively denies them access to medical care at MAMC and other critical services that should be available to veterans on the base.

Arianna Cozart, the attorney for Whitney Decker, the ex-wife of Sergeant Travis Decker, stated "If somebody would have provided Travis with the help that he needed, those girls would be alive."