Overwatch ride

PLEASE READ OR AT LEAST SHARE    During my Afghanistan deployment in 2010-2011, I was sent home after the death of one of my team members had left me mentally broken and no longer fit to fight. From these memories I can recall feeling weak; with the conscious idea that everyone else felt these things about me too. Shortly after I returned home, I carried on with life, hiding behind this façade that I was strong minded, mentally impenetrable and that these past events would not unhinge me as they were a part of the job. 6 months later I found myself biting the barrel of my 45-70; I had driven myself and my dog to Gun Point Beach, NT to commit suicide; but you know what stopped me from pulling the trigger? Not my brothers in the battalion, not my civilian friends, not my family, not even the military mental evaluators, it was the idea of my own dog eating my dead body in that car.     As soldiers we are perceived as powerful and selfless, yet I couldn’t even find the courage to ask for help, the words mental instability bore a weakness to them; however, would you dare label those 241 returned servicemen who have committed suicide, weak? NO, because ALL military personnel signed the exact same piece of paper to say WE would do the utmost courageous acts and lay down our lives, suffer the mental and physical pains of war, we would sacrifice out everything. Since the war in Afghanistan began in 2001 and Iraq in 2003, there have been more soldiers die from suicide at home than in combat overseas; we struggle to protect out mates on our own home soil; 2015, there was a period of 2 weeks where there were 5 soldiers who took their own lives. We work to save each other’s lives overseas on a daily bases, why can’t we do the same at home?  So why are we, as soldiers and ex-servicemen, so afraid of discussing mental health? We take such pride in sheltering one another from gun fire during physical combat, why can’t we do the same during mental combat? Is it too hard? Too ‘weak’? this stigma behind depression, PTSD, anxiety etc, is killing us!     So, for those of you who don’t know, I am setting out on a month long trip around the eastern half of Australia. I will begin in Sydney; make my way to Mildura VIC, up to Coober Pedy SA, through the centre of AUS to Alice Springs NT, rest in Darwin NT for about a week, then tackle Cape York QLD via the Gulf of Carpentaria. On my decent back down to NSW I plan to stop in at as many little country towns along the way. Did I mention I was doing this all on dirt bike, alone? My adventure will include many traveling updates, hoping to raise awareness of Veteran suicide, Overwatch Group, and to prove to those suffering and those without mental illness, that we are still capable of extraordinary achievements and being trapped in your own head with these issues should not hold you back. Self-funded groups such as the Overwatch Group are implemented as a practical means to help struggling veterans, whether it be by supporting members through their psychological traumas to assisting in the prevention of physical triggers, such as financial stressors. They are a group comprised of veterans located in all states and territories across AUS, who utilise social media to monitor the wellbeing of their fellow veterans; they work towards maintaining crisis intervention and where necessary, financially supporting all members of the Australian Defence, eg. Employment assistance and psychiatric appointments. Overwatch aims to give immediate care to those on the brink of suicide, with only the help of volunteers and small money donations. My ride will be purely in support of the Overwatch Group and their efforts, they are a veteran to veteran support group who can provide practical care within the veteran community, they have already given so much to my partner and I.    I have created a go fund me page for those of you who would like to help Overwatch help our veterans. These funds go directly to their group, my ride is entirely self-funded and only to raise awareness. Please Share or spread the word of Overwatch   You can follow my instagram at  moto_vagrant   You can follow my exact location by clicking this link    http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0QHdPyUKrD4Id8cWgCV9xf6eOKW98eS77   You can see how big the ride is and the route im taking by clicking rhe link here     https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zlzOvDKcGKe4.kWGVSf8XU6Zo