Maintaining the Fighting Force: Cohesion and Support Systems
Abstract
There is a large literature on how combat produces stress and the possible levels of psychological casualties in combat. Commanders need to be reminded of the threat of psychological casualties and how to prepare for dealing with these casualties. The incidence of stress casualties is a function of a number of factors. These include: the intensity and duration of the combat, the previous experience of the soldiers in the unit, the tactical situation, the cohesiveness of the unit, the effectiveness of the leaders. Troops do not have to be in the combat zone to experience stress reactions. Support troops may be more at risk to stress reactions than combat troops in part because of boredom, frustration, or lack of perceived contributions to the combat effort. Troops at highest risk are those who lack support systems. Those at risk include: soldiers with family disruptions, or new children; singles with no supports; single parents with children; soldiers in units with low morale or low cohesion; soldiers in units with poor training or equipment. There are a number of efforts in the armed services to assess the cohesiveness of units and to develop social and unit support networks for service personnel. This symposium will focus on: (1) who is at risk and (2) what prevention programs are being implemented by the military services to prevent stress casualties. Prevention efforts by each of the military services (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Coast Guard) were discussed. Keywords: support systems, military units, motivation.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 1985
- Accession Number
- ADA167866
Entities
People
- A. D. Mangelsdorff
- James M. King