Page 57 - Biobehavioral Resilence to Stress

34 Biobehavorial Resilience to Stress

provide consultation and education about stresses associated with deploy-
ment. Th ese briefi ngs also offer helpful guidance about how to cope with

specific types of stress associated with current operations (e.g., civilian

casualties, improvised explosive devices [IEDs]).

Predeployment Mental Health Screening

Predeployment mental health screening is utilized primarily to identify at-
risk personnel who should be monitored and supported as needed. Individuals

with identified mental health problems are evaluated to determine whether
their mental health status is adequately controlled and, if necessary, whether
ongoing treatment (e.g., psychotherapy or medication) can be safely sup-
ported during deployment.

Full-time active duty military personnel also enjoy the benefits of free
military medical care and readiness screening (see above). However, medical
care and readiness screening procedures are less consistent with respect to
personnel who have been activated from the U.S. Army Reserve or Army
National Guard. Reservists are activated to a mobilization site where they
undergo predeployment preparation, screening, and certifi cation. Th ere, a
reserve augmentation unit administers the medical SRP, which is designed
to screen for various conditions that might impair individual or collective
hardiness for the mission at hand.

Deployment Support

Throughout deployment, CSC units and personnel provide services and

support as needed for prevention as well as treatment. These medical and
mental health personnel conduct a variety of outreach programs, including
unit risk assessments, psychoeducational briefings on stress management

and suicide prevention, and leader training to identify and reduce opera-
tional stress. These preventive measures empower leaders to actively manage

the stress and the morale of their service members. They also serve to famil-

iarize service members with CSC personnel and services so that they will be
more likely to request consultation or clinical intervention when needed.

Redeployment/Postdeployment Support

Individual rotation of service members to and from the battlefield is now
believed to have caused or exacerbated many of the stress-related problems
experienced by service members and units in serving in Vietnam. Based on
the lessons learned from the Vietnam War, the U.S. Army now employs a
functional team approach to deployment and redeployment. Every eff ort is
made to keep original units intact through deployment and redeployment.

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