So there was
this thread which I started and which raised some comment. Now,
this story, with some interesting observations, to quote the bulk of it:
As a proportion of the number of troops deployed, that is more than a third higher than the rate for the US army as a whole in 2003.
The army says it cannot find any clear reason for this but there is concern about whether more can be done to bring the rate down.
At the same time, the US military says the rate of suicides among soldiers in Iraq and Kuwait is still lower than the equivalent civilian population of young males.
Fifty-two percent of soldiers reported low or very low morale. Seventy-two percent reported low or very low unit morale.
The team suggested this was in part the result of the particularly difficult living and combat conditions at the time of its survey - from late August to early October last year.
But it did also find inadequate training to deal with medical health problems, and in some cases that there had been shortages of medication such as anti-depressants.
That however is merely part of the picture, not entirely negative but not thrilling either. A DoD story can be found here, while the actual full report is available here. A direct quote from the report which includes some of the information noted above:
This snapshot of the behavioral health concerns of OIF Soldiers was taken at the height of summer heat, when living condition infrastructure was immature, and redeployment dates were uncertain. Although 77% of surveyed Soldiers reported experiencing no or mild stress, emotional, or family problem, 16% reported moderate and 7% reported severe levels of such stress. Additionally, 7.3% of surveyed Soldiers screened positive for anxiety, 6.9% for depression, and 15.2% for traumatic stress. Conversely, 83% of surveyed Soldiers did not meet screening criteria for behavioral health related functional impairment. Fifty-two percent (52%) of Soldiers reported low or very low personal morale and 72% reported low or very low unit morale. Soldiers who expressed a desire to receive help with mental health problems perceived barriers to receiving that assistance greater than other Soldiers surveyed.
A final part of the report also puts a core point simply and flatly:
Expectations Management - DoD leadership rotation/redeployment policy is obviously not a MH responsibility. However, until a clearly defined policy is established for all Soldiers in the OIF theater, many of the MH issues affecting Soldiers and their families will remain unresolved.
― Ned Raggett (Ned), Friday, 26 March 2004 01:42 (twenty-two years ago)
Waiting through a deployment = really rough for those back at home too, though. No boy of all sudden, and when you do get to talk to them for a few minutes, it's hard. My Boy at least gets into a "I still like you, but you're not on this ship, I'm not going to spend a lot of time thinking about you right now" mode- and it can be hard to deal with when you're at home & spending a lot of time worrying about them & trying to write upbeat letters. On top of which, I get a lot of "why are you waiting so many months for him" BS from friends- so not helpful. Eh, so not to excuse the "I realized I can't deal with this so I'm dumping you" thing, but I see now how it happens.
― lyra (lyra), Friday, 26 March 2004 03:36 (twenty-two years ago)
three years pass...
at least, AT LEAST, we're at the point in human history where this shit makes the front page of papers, instead of all of it being treated as Whiteside's CO would have it treated, e.g. "this is nothing but cowardice and treason, bury it, nobody need know"
― El Tomboto, Friday, 1 February 2008 07:54 (eighteen years ago)