Introduction
“All combat is strengthened, but irregular warfare with its ambiguity, no end in sight feeling, and horrific targeting of civilians, which ground troops observe up close, as well as the constant 360º threat environment from unseen enemy, produces uniquecircumstances resulting in an unusual number of mental wound casualties.”
—Brig. Gen. David L. Grange (USA, ret.)Since the attacks of September 11 2001, almost 1.7 million military personnel have beendeployed to combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of those 1.7 million, about onethird, or approximately 450,000 have been deployed multiple times.
These patrioticservicemen and women represent active duty, reserve and National Guard volunteerswhose lives have been forever changed by the experiences they encountered whileengaged in combat operations. Compounding this challenge is the irregular nature of this conflict—no front or rear lines—characterized by the adversary often disguisinghimself within the neutral population, and using asymmetric tactics such as ImprovisedExplosive Devices (IEDs) to wage war upon U.S. and coalition forces.As a result, much like any war, military personnel have experienced severe stressorsand trauma that manifest themselves in troubling ways and make the challenge of re-integrating into domestic society a difficult, but necessary task. Whether thesemanifestations are categorized classically as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or are simply the natural outgrowth of sustained combat deployments, the statistics of returning veterans facing serious re-integration challenges involve, not only the veteransand the military, but our society as a whole. On the positive side, communitieswelcoming back veterans can be cognizant of both documented causal distress factorsand successful ways to assist returning veterans transition back to civilian life. On thenegative side, society is also being cautioned of the alarming rate of veteran suicides,domestic violence, and other behavior-related infractions.Recent media reports have highlighted the role that military service has played in policeshootings, suicides, homicides and other crimes. However, these reports are reactive innature and only highlight the sensational incident, possible causal factors, penalty and/or tragic result of the incident. Rare are the reports that suggest positive ways to isolatecausal variables and provide mitigation strategies or preventive programs. Even apreliminary discussion of this issue becomes controversial and creates a defensiveposture among veterans groups who do not want to improperly typecast a majority of law-abiding veterans as threats to society. However, avoiding a serious discussion andfocused dialogue on real issues and statistical trends misses an opportunity to create aproactive approach to preventative programs and de-escalation strategies for thoseveterans who are encountering re-integration challenges and crises. And, when theseopportunities are missed, an increased likelihood for flashpoints and crises persist,which increases the likelihood of isolated, and often extreme veteran incidents.Comparatively, veteran incidents are statistically lower than violent encounters within
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