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By Charlene Rubush, July 5, 2010 2:18 pm

A survey published in the Spring 2010 Combat & Operational Stress Research Quarterly used a sample of 2,543 New Jersey Army National Guard members set to deploy.

Study Type

Pre-deployment self-report survey study

The key findings from the survey are:

•  A standard pre-deployment health assessment of National Guard soldiers set to deploy to  Iraq identified significantly fewer mental health problems in this sample, than did the self-report survey used for this study.
• Additionally, soldiers in this sample who have been previously deployed to combat zones are more than three times as likely to screen positive for PTSD and major depression.
• They are twice as likely to screen positive for alcohol dependence and chronic pain.
• They are more than 90% more likely to score below the general population on physical functioning compared to soldiers with no previous deployments.

Implications

Military readiness may be negatively affected by returning medically impaired soldiers to combat.

Pre-deployment mental health screening measures currently in place may be inadequate for keeping soldiers with mental health problems from being returned to deployment, potentially resulting in a weaker fighting force and higher rates of pathology and injury in troops after subsequent deployments.

(Citations: Effects of repeated deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan on the health of New Jersey ArmyNational Guard troops, American Journal of Public Health).

http://www.med.navy.mil/Spring%202010%Research%20Quart

Charlene’s Note:

Common sense dictates that multiple deployments will take a greater toll on the mental health of combat soldiers.

Are these survey’s going to do anything to stop these multiple deployments? I doubt it.  In my humble opinion, our soldiers and their families are being asked to give too much.

What the answer is, I don’t know. I used to have hope that we could actually find peaceful means to end conflict. But I no longer harbor such youthful illusions. I now understand there are other factors that determine the where and why of wars.