Army Chaplain, the human dimension of the soldier, and suicide

[ODB]

Will try to articulate on here the best I can.

1. Is this a product of the changes in society and the Army culture. The way everything has gone politically correct, participation ribbons, etc... A lot of soldiers today do not know how to cope with the stresses put upon them? The change in Army culture that has reduce many of the stresses most of us older soldiers endured that made us stronger, mentally and physically. How does this relate?

2. Is this a product of lowering the entry standards into the Army?

3. Another way the Army culture has changed is in cohesion. Not on a professional level, but a personal level. Some years ago when in the Infantry, on Friday and Saturday nights we basically went out as a Company sized element. Everyone living in the barracks went out together, and at minimum a Platoon size. We all knew each other on and off duty. Over the years this has dwindled drastically into clicks of 3-4 soldiers.

4. Another possibility is as leaders get younger and younger through mandatory promotions, how many have the life experience and maturity to deal with their soldiers problems or to identify them? The Army training video showed this exact issue. The SL telling him to pull his weight, that he wasn't depressed and basically needed to get his sh*t together.

5. What role does a zero defect environment play?

There is an infinite number of variables to take into account.

IMO after sitting through the mandatory suicide training, I came away with a mixed review. Probably one of the better products the Army has produced in some time. The things missing was the teaching point of how to deal with issues, especially those back home. Many leaders and soldiers learn those things only after having dealt with it before.

Through experience I can attest to ones culture being a factor. 1st generation citizen fails a difficult course, comes back gets a DUI, hasn't been with the unit long, thinks his life is over, commits suicide over the weekend.

[Courtney Massengale]

We recently lost a Soldier to suicide, so I feel a little bit compelled to take a stab...

1. Is this a product of the changes in society and the Army culture. The way everything has gone politically correct, participation ribbons, etc... A lot of soldiers today do not know how to cope with the stresses put upon them? The change in Army culture that has reduce many of the stresses most of us older soldiers endured that made us stronger, mentally and physically. How does this relate?

IMO, part of the reason why the suicide rate has increased is a head on colision between the two.

The Army's expectations (the things you refer to as making us stronger, mentally and physically) are still much higher than the expectations of Society. They don't understand how to cope because as a society, we have decided that "cope" is not a method (pun intended). We like to have answers - that might be a pill, a court settlement, getting all your news in 30 mintues - whatever.

Then you have the Army where you have to decide how to "cope" with your issues for as long as your contract states. If you don't like waking up at 0630 and doing PT, there is no pill, no therapy, no note from mom that will make it go away.

Young people who have been raised in that kind of environment aren't equipped with the skills necessary to deal with issues over a long period of time and that's the genisis.

2. Is this a product of lowering the entry standards into the Army?

Yes it is a product of lowering entry standards, but the Army has to lower its standards because the pool of qualified applicants has shrunk.

Its easy for people like me to blame recruiters and TRADOC for not doing their job, but the reality is that if we don't adjust our sight picture, the entire volunteer military concept is in jeopardy.

3. Another way the Army culture has changed is in cohesion. Not on a professional level, but a personal level. Some years ago when in the Infantry, on Friday and Saturday nights we basically went out as a Company sized element. Everyone living in the barracks went out together, and at minimum a Platoon size. We all knew each other on and off duty. Over the years this has dwindled drastically into clicks of 3-4 soldiers.

IMO, this is a direct result of many of the ways the military decided to react to the string of sex scandles in the 90s.

Fortuniatly, the boat seems to finally be turning on this with the new ACE program which *gasp* emphasizes personal responsibility and encrouages Soldiers to become involved to prevent incidents from happening.

4. Another possibility is as leaders get younger and younger through mandatory promotions, how many have the life experience and maturity to deal with their soldiers problems or to identify them? The Army training video showed this exact issue. The SL telling him to pull his weight, that he wasn't depressed and basically needed to get his sh*t together.

This one I'm not so sure about. Contrary to conventional wisdom, I feel that its not the amount of time, its the quality of time.

I would trust the judgment of an E-5 with four years and two tours in Iraq when it comes to identifying PTSD/suicide/etc over the opinion of an E-7 with 15 years and limited experience.

I think a lot of the disconnect is between those battle buddy/team leader folks who are saying "hey something is wrong even if I don't know what it is" and the squad leader /PSG types who are saying "oh suck it up, I don't want to deal with it".

5. What role does a zero defect environment play?

This is the big one. Zero defect is alive and well and anyone who says otherwise is full of it.

And it starts at the top. The day Petraeus comes out and says "You're goddamn right I have trouble sleeping at night after being shot, having a full page add in USAToday saying I'm a traitor, and running Iraq for seven years." instead of challenging Soldiers to push up contests will be a great leap forward.

[Tammie Crews]

I have just read through the postings quickly and have not had time to think about them. But, I think that the culture out of which a lot of young people come is instant everything. Many children have grown up in an environment where they are never told "no." Maybe their parents are never home because it is a single parent household or both parents are working to try to keep up with all the commitments. The early attachments that are necessary for human development and for healthy survival just don't happen. A crisis comes, and the individual doesn't have the coping skills to handle it; suicide becomes a viable option. I think this only one of many aspects. Certainly, the "army culture" is less than perfect and the perspective on is as as different as the number of soldiers in it. There are multiple ways of attacking the problem of suicide. I think awareness and converations about the topic are a very important starting point. I hope this thread will continue as a dialogue because I am very interested in working toward better solutions.