7-1-09 - MORE DIFFICULTIES FOR OUR TROOPS

NCHERM Partner Scott Lewis blogging this week.

Dear Friends,

This week marked the official beginning of the well-publicized withdrawal of troops from Iraq. The media and government trumpeted the end of these operations and I saw at least one report (USA Today) that commented on the mass return of these troops.

What was less publicized was that the order actually withdrew troops from the urban regions of Iraq, with the relocation of some troops to the rural regions. Also underway is the redeployment of many of our troops to Afghanistan. Why this is significant has to do with the highly documented incidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), substance abuse/misuse and Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) related mental health issues in our returning veterans, and also more critically some of the reasons behind these issues.

The difficulties our troops may face in the rural regions in Iraq may mirror the difficulties that they face in the mountainous regions of Afghanistan – difficult terrain, lack of contact, difficulty telling the “friendlies” from the “hostiles,” etc. Some of these issues for soldiers have been exacerbated not just by these conditions (they existed in other wars as well), but by the number of days the troops are exposed to these difficult conditions.

To explain: with the Stop-Loss provisions implemented by the Bush administration increasing the number of tours, the increase in the length of tours, and the shrinking of the required number of days between tours, our veterans find themselves facing combat and/or hazard at a level three to five times the number of days per year, and two to three times the total number of combat days as were served by veterans of past wars. (NOTE: technology has played a significant role here as well over time, especially in the area of troop movement.)

This is even more significant when you consider the number of Reservists and National Guard members who have served, as the data seems to indicate increased difficulties with those populations versus “regular” military http://www.defenselink.mil).

Almost 2 years ago, we at NCHERM predicted some of these continued difficulties, as well as the difficulties a struggling job market may have on this group and on colleges and universities (this was pre-recession too). And what we said then is even truer today, with two notable adjustments.

First, we understated the initial impact this will have on community colleges and open enrollment institutions. These schools will see more than just an initial surge of returning vets (they already are), but the pressure on these institutions to increase their counseling services with counselors able to respond to these very serious issues will increase proportionally.

Second, as the Millennials continue to tax current mental health services and the evolution of the BIT continues to increase the need for qualified assessments to be performed (for not only students, but faculty and staff), there will be an increased need to find a way to do these assessments through an independent (probably off-campus) resource.

We will continue to monitor these changing dynamics and hope that we can help one another in these trying times.

Have a great holiday.

W. Scott Lewis, JD