FORT HARRISON — The task force charged with reviewing the Montana National Guard’s post-deployment atmosphere and how it can better respond to the mental health needs of its soldiers will pass on its recommendations this week to the state’s top military leaders.

The task force, appointed in April by Maj. Gen. Randy Mosley, adjutant general of the Montana Guard, has spent the last few months reviewing the Guard’s Post Deployment Health Reassessment Program.

“We’ve been looking closely at that program,” said task force member Joe Foster, director of the Montana Department of Veterans Affairs. “We looked at whether it was adequate, and we came up with some recommendations on making it better.”

The post-deployment reassessment program was a good-faith effort by the military to educate soldiers on the normal human responses experienced in combat.

The initial hope was that through education, each soldier would offer an honest and full disclosure of his experiences in battle and of his feelings upon returning home. The soldier could then receive proper care, and the military could maintain its readiness.

But the system came under fire in March after the suicide of Spec. Chris Dana, a member of the Montana National Guard, who shot himself a year after returning from Iraq.

Responding to Dana’s death and a rash of post-deployment suicides elsewhere in the nation, Mosley commissioned the task force to identify Montana’s own post-deployment atmosphere, and to determine what new policies could help address PTSD within the state’s military ranks.

“If the recommendations are implemented as a whole, or even some of them, I believe we’ll see greater resource availability and access for Montana veterans when they’re having mental-health issues,” Foster said. “I anticipate there will be quite a number of folks who will want to take a look at this report.”

Foster said the current document is about 17 pages long and includes three pages of recommendations. The report will be completed and given to Mosley by Friday.

“When Gen. Mosley receives the report, he’ll review it closely,” said Maj. Garth Scott, public relations officer for the state Guard. “He wants to put together a task force to implement the plan.”

Mosley is expected to forward the plan to the governor’s office, along with the state’s congressional delegation and a host of other health care providers as well.

Scott Celley, vice president of external affairs with TriWest Healthcare Alliance, said the state is on the right track in analyzing the mental health needs of its service members.

TriWest, which helps provide access to behavioral health care for 2.9 million service members in 21 Western states, has followed the progress of Montana’s task force these past few months.

Only a handful of states, including Minnesota and Oregon, have tackled post-deployment mental health issues, Celley said.

“The opportunity is there now to make some headway in this area,” said Celley. “The issue has risen to the top levels. Hopefully that will embolden and invigorate the local efforts that are going on. We’re in a much better place now than we were five years ago, back when the global war on terrorism began.”

Adam Pimley, spokesman for the governor’s office, said Gov. Brian Schweitzer was eager to review the study. The governor asked Mosley to expedite the review process in May.

“The governor is looking forward to reviewing the recommendations,” Pimley said. “He looks forward to working with General Mosley in moving forward.”

Reporter Martin Kidston can be reached at 447-4086, or at mkidston@helenair.com