Lt. Col. Cameron Leiker, Headquarters Command Battalion commander, said the Army continues to improve how it deals with PTSD.

‘‘We’ve had numerous, numerous successes, where we have taken wounded Soldiers and gotten them on the road to recovery, to where they’re going to be a productive member of the Army, to society, to their Families and to themselves,” he said. ‘‘That’s very important to me as a Soldier and a leader.”

Leiker related the story of a Soldier he visited in a detention cell who had been exhibiting signs of PTSD, something he recognized because he’d experienced it himself. He said he referred the man to Walter Reed Army Medical Center where the Soldier got the help he needed, eventually reassuming his role as a leader.

‘‘Not only did we save a person, we saved a Soldier — the most valuable commodity in the Army. That’s a win-win-win,” he said. ‘‘It’s a win for the Soldier and his family, it’s a win for the Army and it’s a win for his Soldiers. It can’t get any better than that.

‘‘I always look back at the Soldier creed, where it says never leave a fallen comrade behind. In my opinion, fallen does not mean dead, it means wounded. When we were in Iraq and we had some Soldiers get injured ... we moved mountains to get those Soldiers the medical care they needed.

‘‘My adage is let’s do the same here and move those mountains. I’ve had great, great assistance in helping Soldiers, all the way from the vice chief of staff to the surgeon general of the Army to Walter Reed, Maj. Gen. [Richard J.] Rowe and Col. [Laura J.]Richardson — everybody is all about getting the right resources to bear for the Soldiers and their Families.”

Leiker said the Army has made a huge push to destigmatize the PTSD issue over the last several years.

‘‘I’m not trying to speak the party line. I’m just being honest. The secretary of the Army and the chief of staff of the Army and the Army leadership have devoted an immense amount of money, time, resources and effort, on taking care of Soldiers and their Families. I believe we’re leading the front, not only in the military, but within the civilian community. We have brought suicide prevention to the forefront. The Army since 2005 has really been leading the front to get ahead of this problem.”

Leiker said it’s important for Soldiers and civilians to keep an eye on their co-workers and to be attuned to mood swings and other behavioral symptoms that may indicate underlying problems.

During suicide prevention training, Leiker asked the military and civilian audience ‘‘Do you really know who you work with to the left and right? You always want someone in the foxhole with you and you want to know who it is because together you’re a team. Do you really know who you work with?

‘‘Say you and I work together. Are you going to know enough about me to where you can identify when there are major changes [in behavior]; to where you can pull me aside and say, ‘Hey Cam, I kind of notice that you’re a little bit more irritable... Is there something going on? Can we help you out? Do you need to go see anybody or something like that?’

‘‘We have to get to that level if you really want to get to the root of the problem,” Leiker stressed.

‘‘If you have a broken leg, are you going to drive yourself to an auto body repair shop or call in a plumber to fix it? If you have a problem, why not seek the medical care you need. It may not be a broken leg. It might be that you have some issues and stress that you need to be dealing with.”

Leiker said Vietnam is often evoked when talking about PTSD, but that it is something that has affected the veterans of all U.S. conflicts, sometimes under other names, like being ‘‘shell-shocked.”

‘‘Have we really stepped back and analyzed the problem?” he asked. ‘‘I’m not a statistician or a medical doctor but suicide and depression and PTSD-like things are very prevalent in the world. All too often instead of trying to assess the situation or solve the problems, a lot of people want to sweep it under the rug or whatever.

‘‘The Army since 2004 and 2005 has devoted even that much more to Soldiers and their Families — the whole Army Family Covenant. I view my job as a commander to assist, ultimately, the chief of staff of the Army and the secretary of the Army in fulfilling the Army Family Covenant and also holding that Warrior Ethos: never leave a fallen comrade.

‘‘That’s one of the reasons I really love my job and would not trade it for anything.”

Leiker said he still has residual symptoms of PTSD, but that as time goes on he continues to get better. ‘‘I’ve moved on. I still have the startled response at 5-o-clock when the cannons go off,” he admits. ‘‘I’m kind of waiting on it, and when it doesn’t go off exactly on cue...”

In being interviewed, Leiker said he just wanted to offer up the opportunity to talk to a person who happened to be on both sides of the issue. ‘‘I’m not alone,” he said. ‘‘There’s tens of thousands of leaders out there who are on both sides of the fence. I wanted the opportunity to say, ‘Hey, it’s OK, you’re not alone. Your Army Family is here to help.’”