Medics help with war stress

  • Published
  • By Capt. Tom Knowles
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA (AFPN) --  Their stories and experiences are harrowing: improvised explosive devices and small-arms fire attacks, comrades killed and injured in action and near-death experiences. It is the unfortunate reality of a combat environment that many U.S. servicemembers are confronted with daily throughout Iraq.

Fortunately, there is an Air Force medical team helping servicemembers cope with the stressors tied to confronting and surviving such experiences.

“We’re responsible for providing battle-front direct mental-health services to commanders and combatants located throughout northern Kuwait,” said Maj. Anthony Hassan, a combat stress-control officer with the Army’s 8th Medical Brigade. “This might include conducting training and education (for) leaders to teach them how to build unit cohesion, talking to patients or debriefing (troops who) have been exposed to the stressors of combat.”

Although major combat operations in Iraq ended more than a year ago, the ever-present and unexpected attacks by terrorist insurgents continue to make the region a dangerous place. Faced with conducting operations in such an unstable area, compounded with potential concerns and issues regarding personal matters back home, can be unnerving and anxiety provoking for many servicemembers.

The concept of addressing combat stress and battle fatigue has been an idea in evolution for centuries but until recently, has never been exercised in a war, said Lt. Col. (Dr.) David Kutz, the team’s flight commander. Common symptoms of combat stress may include feelings of burn out, anxiety, lack of motivation, hyper vigilance and excessive worry.

“Sending combat stress-control teams out to the units is something that was developed by the Army around the time of the first Gulf War but never put into place until after that war was over,” Dr. Kutz said. “This is the first major war in which they’ve actually used combat stress-control doctrine in a war scenario.”

When Army officials decided to do so during Operation Iraqi Freedom, they recognized a shortfall among their available medics.

“The Army came back and said we don’t have enough of these assets to conduct this mission,” Colonel Kutz said. “So the Air Force said that starting with us, we would take the mission. It’s the first time this has been done by the Air Force, and in a war-time setting, this is the first time the Army has really used this paradigm.”

The four-person team, which includes a psychiatrist, social worker and two mental-health technicians, is responsible for providing mental-health support for thousands of U.S. and coalition forces.

“We conduct daily missions to camps located throughout five Army camps in Southwest Asia,” said Senior Airman Bonnie Hayes, one of the team’s mental-health technicians.

The camps serve as staging areas for people heading to, sustaining, or returning home from the war. Reaching the servicemembers at the geographically separated locations has required the team to travel more than 17,000 miles during their four-month deployment. Upon arrival at a camp, the team provides assistance to the servicemembers through a variety of tactics.

“This could mean anything from conducting formal training and counseling sessions or just being someone willing to listen to the problems and issues a servicemember might be struggling with,” said Tech. Sgt. Theodore Kraszka, another mental health technician.

To better posture themselves to do so, the team embedded themselves with the Army’s 8th MB upon arrival in the area.

“Our access to these warfighters is critical in responding to their combat stressors in a timely manner,” Major Hassan said.

The 8th MB, an Army Reserve medical unit responsible for coordination of medical services throughout the region, retains tactical control of the team while the Air Force’s 386th Expeditionary Medical Group maintains administrative and operational control.

“Being embedded with the Army has really placed our team into the Army combat mission and culture,” Major Hassan said. “We felt it was important to not only work for the Army, but to live with them in order to establish personal relationships and credibility. As a result, we’ve developed a lot of good relationships out here.”

The team’s closeness to the Soldiers has also allowed them to identify and treat servicemembers’ stress problems before they lead to dysfunction or stress casualties; critical to the retention and recovery of mildly and moderately over-stressed Soldiers.

The experience is a rare opportunity for Air Force mental-health officers and technicians alike, Major Hassan said.

“This has been a really different experience. Most mental-health officers get deployed to a base and they stay there and run a clinic,” Major Hassan said. “For us to go out and live with the Army, including traveling across barren desert to visit Army camps and personnel, has been both challenging and rewarding work. It’s also allowed us to help a lot of people cope with the issues they might have been facing.”