"Autobots: Roll Out!"

OR: "Men: Move Out!"

In the face of deployment, there is immense amounts of pressure, stress, and emotion weighing upon soldiers and their families. Even though they are trained to withstand such pressures, how do they deal with it in the weeks just before they leave and once they arrive?

War has been around for a very long time, and military powers almost as long, and from all over the world. So to discuss this in a sense that encompasses the entirety of wars and soldiers would not be fair to those who participated. Each war is different, each deployment is different, each soldier, their training, and their personal situation is different. For these reasons, I will be discussing the pressures of deployment in terms of modern-day warfare and, in particular, the soldiers of the United States military.

The death toll in modern warfare has lowered substantially in the modern-day, and although there is actually more of a risk of death every time you drive your car than being killed in war, there is still that possibility, and every soldier and their family has to be prepared for it.

Most people hear about post-deployment stress, such as PTSD or PTSS, or depression. "Although the mental health focus has been on symptoms and quality of life following exposure to potentially traumatic events in the war zone, there is also ample evidence that troops poised for deployment may experience considerable anticipatory anxiety and distress, which may place them at higher risk for mental health difficulties after deployment" (Maguen).

There are the rare cases that don't make it to deployment, but the majority of soldiers make it through the tough weeks of preparation, physically, mentally, & emotionally, before they board the plane to war. Each soldier undergoes basic training, roughly 3 months of intense physical exertion, technical training, combative skills, shooting skills, specialty driving skills, and other skills specified to their specific jobs. During the training, for most combat-related position such as Infantry, the soldiers are subject to high degrees of mental stress from sleep deprivation, bullying by the Drill Sergeants, time constraints, constant hunger, loneliness/detachment, and of course the mental strains caused by the physical exertion. The constant pressures and stress chip away at the material-driven mindset the soldiers first arrived to training with, and give them a view appreciative of the small things with no patience for over-sensitive reactions as the trainees fight over toilet paper & hot water. After training and getting stationed and settled into their specific jobs and base-life, the soldiers are still in constant training of physical fitness and in the technicalities of their jobs. When deployment time comes around, they have to uproot their lives, whether single or with a family, pack up, and leave. It does not matter what may be going on in their personal lives, or with themselves mentally, they must be ready to go.

There are numerous reasons as to why soldiers experience elevated mental health levels before deployment: "... Military personnel face a number of stressors that may cause nonspecific distress [such as] saying goodbye to family members and friends, preparing to be away for an indefinite amount of time, making sure that finances are in order, dealing with last minute business, and preparing for an emotionally challenging deployment. [Also] personnel who have participated in previous deployments may be reminded of prior traumatic events as they prepare for future deployment... Anticipatory stress may cause elevated levels of mental health symptoms in military personnel" (Maguen). "Stressors" before deployment also have effects on the mental health of the personnel. "Before Operation Desert Storm, health care personnel reported a mean of 1.44 negative life events in the past year and those stressors were related to anxiety, depression, and PTSD symptoms" (Maguen).

And not only are the soldiers affected by their home life, but their families are too. A study conducted on stresses experienced at the time of deployment showed that: "Rates of individual deployment-related stressors, the global perception of stress, and depressive symptoms are high among spouses as their family members deploy to war. Under such circumstances, the interactions between the realities of stressful events and the appraisal of such events are complex and an area for further research. These reactions to deployment warrant ongoing and expanded programs to military families prior to, during, and following deployment" (Warner).

These situations where both the military personnel and their spouse and/or various family members are feeling the stress, just bounce the the stress off of each other before deployment, which could easily lead to mental health issues in an already mentally stressful situation.

Luckily for some soldiers though, their families and commanding officers are there to stand by them and allow for the heart-felt moments that the soldiers hold so dearly to their hearts and touch hearts all across the world, such as Staff Sgt. Bennethum of Fort Dix: "Four-year-old Paige Bennethum really, really didn't want her daddy to go to Iraq. So much so, that when Army Reservist Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum lined up in formation at his deployment this July, she couldn't let go. No one had the heart to pull her away. The commanding officer allowed Paige to say goodbye as her dad prepared to ship off from Fort Dix" (Lattanzio). (Refer to photo above.)

Overall, there are many stressors that are felt by the soldiers pre-deployment, and they can cause even more serious mental-health issues. It is up to the families, the offcers & surrounding personnel, as well as the soldiers themselves, to be prepared for the deployment, and to seek support and help when they need it.



Works Cited

Lattanzio, Vince. "Little Soldier Girl "Didn't Want to Let Go"" TV Network for Primetime, Daytime and Late Night Television Shows - NBC Official Site. NBC, 06 Oct. 2009. Web. 19 Oct. 2009. .

Maguen, S., D. Turcotte, A. Peterson, T. Dremsa, H. Garb, R. McNally, and B. Litz. "Description of Risk and Resilience Factors among Military Medical Personnel before Deployment to Iraq. " Military Medicine 173.1 (2008): 1-9. ProQuest Medical Library, ProQuest. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.

Warner, C., G. Appenzeller, C. Warner, and T. Grieger. "Psychological Effects of Deployments on Military Families. " Psychiatric Annals 39.2 (2009): 56-63. Research Library, ProQuest. Web. 19 Oct. 2009.