Running head: Cultural Immersion: Military Culture 1

Cultural Immersion: Military Culture

Jane Doe

University
Cultural Immersion: Military Culture 2

Cultural Immersion: Military Culture

The military is a broad term to describe the many subsets it encompasses. Army, Navy,

Air Force, Coast Guard, and Marine Corp. belong under this scope. Most of what we know about

the military is based on movies such as Saving Private Ryan, books like Unbroken, or stories

from the news. While some may not realize it, the military actually has its own unique culture.

The U.S. military is one of the most powerful military forces in the world, and yet, many do not

know anything about the values and people that make it up. It is not only comprised of active

duty, reserve, retired, and training servicemen and women, but also their families. While there

are many diverse ethnic, religious, and cultural groups within the military, these people share

common values, standards, and way of life.

Each branch of the military is comprised of two groups, active duty and reserves. Active

duty personnel can either have combat or noncombat jobs. The people in this group, along with

their families, usually live close to or on a base and move frequently. Most bases are a kind of

self-contained community. They have their own schools, grocery stores (the commissary),

restaurants, shops (the BX or base exchange), daycare centers, parks, and other amenities. Many

military members spend most of their time training or going to school leaving their families for

extended periods of time. Most military families form a close-knit community. They understand

each other and can bond over similar experiences. There are usually many community events

where people can meet and enjoy each other’s company.

The other group, the reserves, serve in the military in a different capacity. These people

help run the day to day operations of the military and are trained to become active in times of

crisis or war. These people can have a more permanent residence and do not travel as much as
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the active group. They also do not have to undergo the same amount of training as those that are

active status.

One of the greatest values of the military is respect for authority by showing loyalty. The

military is a government agency that is very structured and follows a chain of command. There

are many different rankings and leadership roles in the military. The higher the ranking the more

responsibility that person has. Ultimately, at the head of everything is the President, who acts as

the Commander in Chief. Congress, however, is the governing body that has the power to declare

war. Other values held by the military are honor and integrity. Each branch also has other values

specific to it. For instance, the interviewee stated that the Marine Corp. and Navy value honor,

courage, and commitment. These values create a kind of brotherhood/sisterhood between the

people who believe in them.

Another aspect of military culture is training. Each member of the military participates in

some kind of training from the moment they start their careers. The first round of training is

basic training. This is where they learn everything from this history of the military to combative

practices. The military is known for making their recruits train under stressful situations. This

teaches the recruits how to focus and persevere in tough situations. This training helps prepare

them for what they one day could encounter. Uniforms are also a component of military culture.

All personnel wear a uniform specific to the branch that they are in.

Deployment is also another very real element of military culture. More and more families

are affected by deployments of one or both parents and children. According to the American

Journal of Public Health, involvement in warfare can have serious implications on mental health

and overall well-being (Pols & Oak, 2011). This takes a heavy toll on not only the deployed, but

their families. Deployed people run the risk of acquiring mental health problems such as PTSD,
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anxiety, depression, stress, and higher rates of suicide. It is also noticed that most people who

need psychiatric care don’t seek it out (Pols & Oak, 2011). This could possibly be due to a

perceived cowardice or embarrassment about receiving medical treatment.

Being culturally competent is recognizing and respecting a culture’s beliefs, values,

customs, and way of life. The military culture is comprised of many aspects and components. In

order to understand it better, one must look at all of them to get a big picture of what military

culture all entails.

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Interview Reflection

Through the interview I found out that John suffers from PTSD and anxiety related to his

deployment in the Marines. His faith and his wife along with therapy and medication have

helped alleviate some of his symptoms. His military culture shapes a lot of his beliefs and values.

He also considers others in the military to be a kind of second family to him.

Overall the interview tool did a good job of painting a whole picture of the client. There

were several questions that were skipped as they didn’t pertain to the client at all. There were

also some questions that were altered to better fit the interview. Some of the questions were not

worded in a way that they would be considered open-ended, therefore in some cases, getting

information took some prodding. It did touch on a lot of different topics related to the client

though. I would probably use the base of the interview again but not the exact tool.

See appendix for full interview.

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Immersion Exercise

Training is an important component of military culture. All recruits must pass through a

basic training program when entering the military. This training is comprised of vigorous

physical, mental, and social challenges that the recruit must overcome. For the immersion

experience portion of this assignment I decided to attempt to complete one workout that my

cousin John, who is a Marine, sometimes utilizes. He acted as my coach.

To preface this, nursing school hasn’t allowed a lot of time for me to work out so let’s

just say I am not in the best physical shape right now. The workout John gave me was comprised

of running, push-ups, sit ups, mountain climbers, jumping jacks, bicycle crunches, planks and

burpees. To start things off he suggested a warmup of a mile. The next section of the workout

was designed to be fast-paced with three sets of exercises with 60 seconds rest in between each

set. The workout entails 30 seconds of push-ups, followed by 30 seconds of mountain climbers

alternating for a full 3 minutes. Next was jumping jacks for a minute. After that was 30 seconds

of sit ups followed by 30 seconds of bicycle crunches alternating for 2 minutes. Finally, was 30

second planks followed by 15 burpees alternating for 3 minutes and a cool down jog of a mile.

There was definitely some substituting and modifying of the workout. To start off with we

changed the miles to half miles. Next, my rest periods were longer than 60 seconds. And lastly,

after high school volleyball I swore I would never do another burpee again in my life, so I

substituted those out for lunges.

It was extremely difficult to finish the workout and I can’t imagine having to do it out in

the rain or cold like they do at basic training. It felt good to work out again after so long, but it

was a lot to start out with. It was just one small workout, and nothing compared to what the
Cultural Immersion: Military Culture 7

military actually does, but it made me appreciate all the physical training our servicemen and

women go through. I will be sore for the next week.

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References

Pols, H., & Oak, S. (2011, October 10). War & military mental health the US psychiatric

response in the 20th century. American Public Health Association (APHA) publications.

Retrieved February 13, 2020, from https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.2105/

AJPH.2006.090910
Cultural Immersion: Military Culture 9

Appendix

Summary of personal background and medical history

Taken from the dossier before the interview.
1. Biography (personal and social details): John is a 34 year old male who enlisted in the military
at 18 years old. He is a Marine. He is married with 3 children and lives in a rural town in south
central Kansas.
2. History of current health complaints: PTSD and anxiety
3. Previous treatment: medication and therapy
4. Psychiatric disorders in the family: family HX of depression
5. Course of the illness: Started after his 3rd deployment
A. Cultural identity of the individual
Language
1. Which language did you speak when you were growing up? Did you also speak
another language? English, in the military I picked up some Arabic and Italian. Also, the military
sometimes has it’s own kind of language.
2. Which language do you speak at home now? English
3. How well do you think you speak Arabic and Italian? I know the basics, not much past that.
Ethnicity and culture
5. Do you belong to a group in your country that is different from other cultural groups? Yes, I’m
part of the military, specifically the Marines.
Are your parents from the same group? No
6. What makes this group different from other groups? Which customs, opinions,
position in society? I think people in the military value loyalty, duty, honor, and service.
7. How important is belonging to this group to you? Very important, I take pride in my service.
8. Are you still in contact with people from this group or your culture? Yes, all the time.
If so: how important to you is this? It’s really important, they’re like another family.
9. What do you feel is the most important thing about your culture? Like I said before, I think we
value loyalty, duty, honor, and service.
10. How do you think your culture differs from other customs and opinions?
Is that important to you?
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11. Do you think you fit in well in the places you’ve deployed? Do you talk to the civilians
there? I’ve been to some pretty hostile territories. Some people want us dead and others are glad
we’re there. It’s hard to determine which side people are on sometimes.
B. Cultural explanation for the illness
Symptoms in a cultural perspective
12. You have told me about your symptoms: what do you call them in your language? skipped
13. How would people in your native country explain your symptoms? skipped
14. How would people deal with these symptoms? Medication and therapy
15. Do you think that your family and those around you understand you? For the most part, there
are things that you wouldn’t understand unless you were deployed in a hostile territory.
16. Do you think that the people treating you understand you? When I first came back from
deployment, I had to see a therapist. I thought it was a bunch of bull at first, but I came around
on the idea, I think it helped me.
17. Which part of the treatment you have received so far do you think has helped best? I was on
medication for a little while but I’m doing okay now on my own.
Brief list of questions for cultural interview
C. Cultural factors in the psychosocial environment
Family
18. How would you describe your relationship with your partner? Do you talk to him / her
about your illness? I would say it’s strong. It took me a while to talk to her about everything that
happened to me over there and there’s some things I won’t repeat to anyone but she knows most
of it.
19. Is there anyone in your social circle or family who listens to you and gives you
advice? I talk to my brother quite a bit. He’s also in the military.
20. Who did you turn to for help previously? I guess I would say my wife.
Faith and religion
21. Are you religious? Yes, I’m Catholic
22. Do you pray? Do you go to church / the mosque / the synagogue? Yeah, I go to church every
Sunday.
23. Is it different from in your native country? There’s a lot of different religions here. Almost
everyone from my hometown is Catholic though.
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24. Does your faith give you strength? Was that always the case? Yes, I think there’s certain
things only prayer can help. When I was younger I wasn’t as committed to my faith as I am now.
D. Cultural elements affecting the relationship between the patient and the
person in charge of the case.
25. Is it important to you that the person providing help is a man or a woman, or shares
your faith? No, as long as they know what they’re doing.
26. What was your job? I was a sharpshooter in the Marines.
27. Do you accept everything that the doctor who is treating you says, or do you ask
questions? Depends on what it is.
E. Observations
What was the patient’s mood before, during and after the cultural interview? How did
he/she respond to the questions? Which questions evoked the most emotions? Which
moments during the interview were significant?

There were times during the interview when I could sense hesitation. The client was a little

uncomfortable answering some of the questions and he would look down when answering them.
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Cultural Immersion Assignment Rubric

Criteria Exceptional Meets Needs Below Standards

Expectations Improvement
Points 50-40 points 39-30 points 29-20 points 19-0points
Cultural No errors in No more than 2 3 or more errors Author makes
Research grammar or spelling errors in in grammar or multiple errors in
50 Points that distract the grammar or spelling that grammar or spelling
reader from the spelling that distract the that distract the
content. distract the reader from the reader from the
All sentences are reader from the content. content.
well constructed content. Most sentences Most sentences are
with varied Most sentences are well not well-constructed
structure. are well- constructed. or varied.
Paper flows constructed and No variation in Paper shows no
logically, contains there is some structure. evidence of logical
appropriate varied sentence Organization of flow or transitions
transitions, and easy structure in the the paper shows from one point to
to understand in one writing. minimal logical another.
reading. Logical flow but flow or Multiple errors in
Correct application missing some transitions. use of APA
of APA formatting appropriate formatting
categories and transitions and 3 or more errors categories and
citation standards. understandable in use of APA citation standards
in one reading. formatting
categories and
No more than 2 citation
errors in standards
application of
APA formatting
categories and
citation
standards
Points 50-40 points 39-30 points 29-20 points 19-0points
Interview Utilized interview Utilized Did not use Did not complete the
50 Points guide provided. interview guide guided interview interview.
Encouraged open provided. Many tool provided,
ended discussion. of the questions may questions
were closed and were closed
did not allowed which did not
for elaboration. allow for
elaboration.
Points 25-20 points 19-15 points 14-10 points 9-0 points
Immersion Provided a Provided a Provided a short Did not participate
Reflection summary of the summary of the summary of the in the immersion.
25 Points immersion immersion with experience. No
Cultural Immersion: Military Culture 13

experience. Reflects little reflection.Reflection or

on positive and immersion did
negatives aspects of not adequately
the experience. reflect the
Chosen culture.
Points 25-20 points 19-15 points 14-10 points 9-0 points
Discussion Initial Post by the Initial Post by Initial Post is Did not participate,
Board due date with the due date with late and or did post were not
25 Points evidence to support evidence to not provide substantive , or all
the post (Journal support the post evidence to post were made on
article selected with (Journal article support the post the same day.
APA reference to selected with (Journal article
support discussion APA reference selected with
post). Post for a to support APA reference
total of three times discussion post). to support
throughout the Only two post discussion post).
week. Post are are noted but are Only two post
substantive and not substantive and are noted but are
all on the same day. adds to the substantive and
weeks adds to the
discussion. weeks
discussion.
Total Your Score:
Possible
Points
150