Technical Evaluation Report
Abstract
This HFM Symposium represents the penultimate activity of four years of engagement within the NATO research community on the topic of Stress and Psychological Support in Modern Military Operations (Human Factors and Medicine-081 RTO Task Group, HFM-081\RTG). The symposium's title, Human Dimensions of Operations: Military Leaders' Strategies for Addressing Stress and Psychological Support, reflects one of the main objectives of the working group: to develop a training booklet for junior military leaders to assist them in managing the stresses of operations on their troops. A tool like this will prove of enormous assistance for commanders as they struggle to deal with the complexities associated with maintaining their troops' mental health. One of the most important findings of the Military Leaders Survey (MLS) conducted by the working group was that most military leaders receive little or no specific training on dealing with mental health issues in subordinates, other than the same general stress education that unit personnel receive. In the absence of leader-specific training, the booklet will provide an overview of the key issues of concern regarding mental health of unit personnel on deployment in order to support the general adjustment of troops across the deployment cycle, including the psychological response to traumatic events experienced on deployment. The goal of the symposium was to provide a forum for discussion of these key issues, to obtain feedback on the development of the booklet, and to actively engage operational leaders in the discussion of mental health issues associated with deployment. Many military forces provide general deployment-related stress education to their personnel, but the benefits of providing a standardised resource to NATO leaders will be enormous in terms of integrating the support provided to NATO forces on operations.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 01, 2006
- Accession Number
- ADA472724
Entities
People
- Tony Cotton
Organizations
- Australian Defence Force