Going home fast may not be good
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,402622,00.html
Not that this is new news, or surprising but it does highlight the fact that it is a challenge and I am not sure there is an easy answer. Living a year on natural juice (adrenalin) is an awesome experience. I have talked about it many times in my blog and what a powerful drug adrenaline can be. I have also talked about how “boring” life is after first getting back from combat because of the lack of a thrill in every day, mundane life.
This is the reason soldiers come back and take on high-risk activities like extreme sports, motorcycles, and even drinking and driving. As of Aug 15th 43 soldiers have been killed in the Army on motorcycles alone. This is a huge jump over last year (37 in all of FY2007 and we still have 2 months left in this FY) and is a problem recognized by the Army, including the highest levels. SMA Preston has sent out several All-Army messages talking about motorcycle safety, etc.
As much as there is a rush of adrenaline that must be weaned out of the system, there is also physical and emotional pain, memories, and other thoughts that need to be dealt with or suppressed in some cases. It is these issues that are sometimes dealt with by consuming large amount of alcohol or even legal or illegal drugs.
Now all of this is an issue with any soldier coming back that has experienced ‘real’ combat first hand, but it is even worse among reserve component (Reserves and National Guard) soldiers. This article highlights something I have been saying in military circles since 2004, while most of my company was in Iraq. Having gone to war before while on Active Duty I recognized that there was really no mobilization (pronounces mobe) or de-mob time. No mob time is fine as Active Duty soldiers are training all the time since that is their full time job. No de-mob time outside of a mandatory 14 day block leave was fine too, because as soon as we got back from leave, we were all still around each other. We could talk about our experiences, the things we saw, the smells, the feelings, etc. We de-mobed within the unit and with each other. We recognized issues with certain guys and we either handled it ourselves or referred them to professional help if we thought they needed it.
While my company was in Iraq in 2004, I realized that they would not have that time. Originally the Army was calling for a 1-3 month demob time where the soldiers would stay on active duty, go through extensive medical and mental de-mobing and even do some training to ensure they were still at the level of soldiering needed to perform as a National Guard soldier. However not long after they left, we got word that because of the op-tempo of units the de-mob time would be cut down to one week, if that (another problem of the one year and go deployment doctrine). Of course after being gone for a year away from family and friends, that was fine with the guys. They were ready to get away from war and even the military for a few months. It was while they were gone that I started raising this issue with higher command, with the veteran counselors and even with the families themselves (during FRG meetings). It was clear to me that reserve component soldiers aren’t afforded the same “natural” de-mob time that active duty soldiers are afforded.
As soon as a National Guard soldier is released from Active Duty, they are without income. Because of the laws on the books protecting reserve component soldier’s jobs, they are not required to return to work for 90 days after being mobilized for 180 days or more. However, most cannot afford to take 90 days off without pay. So they usually take 2-3 weeks off and then they are back to the work place. Typically 4 weeks after walking out of a combat zone and being armed to the teeth where people are trying to kill them, they are back working in a cube, driving a UPS truck, selling clothes in the Gap, or whatever they did. They are back among civilians who have no idea what that person gone through and cannot even relate if they tried. They are back among a country that is so great and powerful, it has not really sacrificed at all while that soldier has sacrificed every friggen day for the last year. A county at the mall, while that soldier has been at war.
So the soldier is on his/her own, trying to cope, trying to deal with a severely drastic re-adjustment back into civilian life, trying to live every day like status quo. The soldier wants to get home, and they will take the fastest track to do that. This means saying they have no medical issues and they are fine, that emotionally and mentally they are fine and they can be handed back over to society. While this is great for the soldier and the people close to the soldier in the short term, it is not always good in the long term. The demons will start to come out of the shadows around the 30-45 day mark. The honeymoon will be over, reality will set in that they are not going back, that this is not R&R leave and that they must face life of a-hole drivers, oil changes, paying bills, and nagging significant others (wives, girlfriends or even parents).
This is why I know we have the problems highlighted in this article and other problems that are known in the military community, but not necessarily known by the civilian populous. I am not sure of the correct answer or way to fix this, and I am not sure anyone else is either. I think the right answer would be to get back on the path that the military initially promised of 90 days of continual active duty in order to help soldiers naturally de-compress amongst each other. However almost nobody, including me when I got back, would like that. We want to just go home and spend time at home, not going to formations, or reporting into the armory every day.
The New York National Guard has instituted 30, 60, 90 day reintegration program but from what I have seen of it, it is primarily focused on married soldiers. However I think there is some attempt to aim it towards soldiers with fiancés, girlfriends/boyfriends, and parents. I don’t think it has really been tested yet, and it has just recently been introduced so I think it will be a while before we can see any metrics or results on it. Who knows if it will help, but at least they are trying.
