Social Psychological Issues in the Adaptation of US Army Forces to Peacekeeping and Contingency Missions,
Abstract
The participation of United States military forces in United Nations sponsored peacekeeping operations has increased dramatically in recent years. This is especially true for "forward-deployed" American forces in Europe, even though since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, their numbers declined from over 300,000 to about 150,000 today. The role of these forces has also shifted from one of defense against possible Soviet aggression, to active involvement in "out-of-sector" peacekeeping, contingency and humanitarian assistance missions. While much is known about soldier stress and adaptation in more traditional military operations, the U.S. military has little experience with peacekceping operations generally, and even less with United Nations' operations. How combat-trained soldiers adjust to this new role is of crucial importance to (1) organizational capability to contribute positively to such operations, (2) individual soldier health and well- being, and (3) overall continued readiness of military forces. The present chapter summarizes results from recent social-psychological studies conducted by the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit-Germany with American personnel deployed to Croatia and Macedonia for United Nations peacekeeping operations under "UNPROFOR" (United Nations Protection Forces).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1995
- Accession Number
- ADA301643
Entities
People
- Amy B Adler
- Mark A. Vaitkus
- Paul Bartone
Organizations
- Walter Reed Army Institute of Research