bootsontheground 11/13/09
Morale and Meaning
The AP recently published an article calling on two recent studies from the U.S. Army Medical Department's Mental Health Advisory team. These reports polled soldiers in combat and non-combat units in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and found that unit morale is dropping in Afghanistan and holding steady in Iraq.
As President Obama continues to mull his response to General McChrystal's request for more troops, and in the wake of the cowardly killings of 13 Soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, the media is asking lots of questions about the mental health of America's military. And these reports seem to be more fuel for the theory that our men and women serving overseas are being stretched to the breaking point.
I read both reports. Some of the statistics in them fall neatly into the, "Well, Duh!" category. Soldiers on their third or fourth overseas deployments are more likely to have marital problems, and are more likely to be planning to get out of the military than those on their first or second deployment. Okay, that's a no-brainer.
But other findings had me scratching my head. The morale of individual soldiers seemed to be holding steady, but reported "unit morale" (the term wasn't defined) was dropping in Afghanistan but fine in Iraq. The AP writer speculates that this has to do with the "record violence" that combat troops are experiencing in the country, and with a sharp drop in combat seen in Iraq.
In my own experience in Afghanistan, I didn't meet a single American who said the war wasn't worth winning. What affected their morale the most was the perception that their government wasn't willing to give them what they needed to win.
My friends currently deployed to Iraq, on the other hand, report being bored out of their skulls and feelings of worthlessness because they all know the real fight is in Afghanistan. And if they have to be away from their families for a year they'd rather be doing something worthwhile rather than guarding concrete barricades on bases in Iraq.
Some other interesting tidbits from the studies: combat troops reported that a little time to "off-gas" by playing video games or surfing the internet provided a significant amount of stress reduction, but too much (more than 2 hours daily) had the opposite effect. I would venture to say the same goes for young men and women back at home.
Also, it was reported that physical conditioning of any kind or duration had a substantial stress-reducing effect on the troops.
Men don't join the military to be political chesspieces moved around the global board. When they begin to feel like they can't make a difference, they get dissatisfied and disillusioned. Those who feel they are making a positive difference tend to want to stay.
Last week I attended the funerals of two special operators who were killed in a helicopter crash recently. While there, I met some of their fellow warriors who had returned from the war zone to pay their respects. These men told me "We came back to hug the families of our fallen brothers, but we made [our leaders] promise to send us back to finish out our tour."
Despite their tragic losses, the morale of these special operations units remains very high - that's because they know they are making a difference.
As usual, the media doesn't get that.
As President Obama continues to mull his response to General McChrystal's request for more troops, and in the wake of the cowardly killings of 13 Soldiers at Fort Hood, Texas, the media is asking lots of questions about the mental health of America's military. And these reports seem to be more fuel for the theory that our men and women serving overseas are being stretched to the breaking point.
I read both reports. Some of the statistics in them fall neatly into the, "Well, Duh!" category. Soldiers on their third or fourth overseas deployments are more likely to have marital problems, and are more likely to be planning to get out of the military than those on their first or second deployment. Okay, that's a no-brainer.
But other findings had me scratching my head. The morale of individual soldiers seemed to be holding steady, but reported "unit morale" (the term wasn't defined) was dropping in Afghanistan but fine in Iraq. The AP writer speculates that this has to do with the "record violence" that combat troops are experiencing in the country, and with a sharp drop in combat seen in Iraq.
In my own experience in Afghanistan, I didn't meet a single American who said the war wasn't worth winning. What affected their morale the most was the perception that their government wasn't willing to give them what they needed to win.
My friends currently deployed to Iraq, on the other hand, report being bored out of their skulls and feelings of worthlessness because they all know the real fight is in Afghanistan. And if they have to be away from their families for a year they'd rather be doing something worthwhile rather than guarding concrete barricades on bases in Iraq.
Some other interesting tidbits from the studies: combat troops reported that a little time to "off-gas" by playing video games or surfing the internet provided a significant amount of stress reduction, but too much (more than 2 hours daily) had the opposite effect. I would venture to say the same goes for young men and women back at home.
Also, it was reported that physical conditioning of any kind or duration had a substantial stress-reducing effect on the troops.
Men don't join the military to be political chesspieces moved around the global board. When they begin to feel like they can't make a difference, they get dissatisfied and disillusioned. Those who feel they are making a positive difference tend to want to stay.
Last week I attended the funerals of two special operators who were killed in a helicopter crash recently. While there, I met some of their fellow warriors who had returned from the war zone to pay their respects. These men told me "We came back to hug the families of our fallen brothers, but we made [our leaders] promise to send us back to finish out our tour."
Despite their tragic losses, the morale of these special operations units remains very high - that's because they know they are making a difference.
As usual, the media doesn't get that.