Unfortunately the same phenomenon struck during
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AmericanPride
Are these trends unique to Ft Campbell/101st? Or is it the tip of the spear for underlying Army-wide problems? Why are American soldiers dying by suicide and recklessness at rates at times higher than those killed in action? What can junior leaders do to mitigate these problems in their units?
both the Korean and Viet Nam wars. As Schmedlap says, sort of goes with the job. I doubt much can be done without a significant improvement in the US K-12 educational system and / or better parenting, both of which are unlikely. All you can do is try to educate without hectoring or being condescending -- that'll just make 'em push harder.
Part of the problem is that we treat them like children so they act that way. Instead of punishing miscreants, we punish all by restrictive and corrosive measures so they get their petty revenge by doing dumb stuff. I suspect the Legions had the same problem with they younger troops -- but a 25 year enlistment probably kept some of that down...:wry:
I've been accused by experts of being deranged...
What is this 'real job' stuff -- not I, not I... :D
Traumatic Stress as a growing experience
The Comprehensive Soldier Fitness program plants lot of flags on resiliency and growing from traumatic events. http://www.army.mil/csf/
Good order and discipline
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Originally Posted by
Ken White
both the Korean and Viet Nam wars. As Schmedlap says, Part of the problem is that we treat them like children so they act that way. Instead of punishing miscreants, we punish all by restrictive and corrosive measures so they get their petty revenge by doing dumb stuff. ...:wry:
Struck a chord Ken... Long ago in a battery far away... I used that approach...
Soldiers deserve to be treated (rewarded/disciplined) as men and women - Since we are all human, second chances are appropriate for offenses that don't warrant immediate dismissal... a third strike was not a given... of course we could administratively remove under-performing soldiers back then... point being... my Soldiers had the lowest DWI and serious incident rate in the Corps... when asked for our unit's "secret" and I explained why... The senior leaders were usually dissatisfied with the response.
Now I caveat.... I had to deal with long deployments with tax free dollars, but not the mental aftermath of close combat stress...
beginning of a trend unfortunately no
Quote:
Originally Posted by
AmericanPride
Are these trends unique to Ft Campbell/101st? Or is it the tip of the spear for underlying Army-wide problems?
Well the army has been walking down the High-risk behavior and suicide prevention. I have seen a lot of attention in that direction as it is a serious issue but I don't know how much we have improved at preventing these tragedies but God knows we try.
Number one rule is the guy that takes care of me is to my left and my right and i take care of them but sometimes it just ain't enough.