Michael McCaul correct on military not screening recruits for mental health

The second shooting at Fort Hood in less than five years reopened wounds — and debates.

During this week’s Sunday morning political shows, typical questions over base security and conceal-to-carry rules on military installations were revisited.

Our colleagues at PunditFact spotted bipartisan consensus around the idea that the military take a closer look at the mental health of enlisted service members.

On Fox News Sunday, U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul, an Austin Republican who chairs the House Homeland Security Committee, said the effort should start at sign-up. “When people enlist in the military, there is a physical check but there’s not a mental health evaluation when people enter the service,” McCaul said. “I think this will be a good idea to, No. 1, screen out individuals that may have mental illness problems. No. 2, have a baseline so that when they return home, we can compare that to where they are when they come back.”

There’s no pre-enlistment mental health evaluation in place?

That’s right. Compared to the physical medical examination enlistees go through, there is no separate, specific examination of a recruit’s mental health, though the armed services review medical records for a history of mental health treatment and allow each applicant to offer additional information.

See the full check here. Watch McCaul’s appearance in the video to the right, where we’re also posting other fact checks of the Texan.