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52 Biobehavioral Resilience to Stress

to regard their experiences in a more positive light as challenges that are
empowering and ennobling.

The potentially stressful effects of intense media coverage noted above

are not limited to combat practices. The increasing attention paid by news
media and international agencies to the handling and care of persons who
are captured on the battlefi eld is also noteworthy. While medical personnel
have historically confronted moral and ethical issues related to caring for
wounded enemy combatants, there is more recently some lack of certainty
regarding the extent to which international law affords protection to enemy

noncombatants and other persons who are detained but not held formally as
prisoners of war. These issues pose a challenge for military police, guards,

and others who are charged with caring for the health and safety of mixed
populations. Moreover, media analyses critical of military practices and
policies related to the handling of captured personnel may raise questions
in the minds of the public and may even diminish their sense of commit-
ment to military objectives. This altered perspective on the righteousness or

justifiability of the mission may make it more diffi cult for some people to

express or demonstrate support for deployed service members and for veter-

ans upon homecoming. The relevance of poor homecoming reception to the
development of PTSD has been noted in several studies (Johnson et al., 1997;
Solomon & Oppenheimer, 1986).

War affects war fighters, their families, their communities, and the entire
nation. Even the initial anticipation of military action and the buildup of
forces can cause stress. Stress persists and becomes more intense with deploy-
ment, transportation to distant theaters of operation, adaptation to extreme

and dangerous environments, and finally combat. Return and reunion, along
with the anticipation of possible redeployment, contribute additional stress
to the overall “cycle of deployment” in modern war. During and aft er the
war, the emotional, behavioral, and health-related outcomes of stress may be
mitigated to some extent by the support of comrades, health-related services,
and positive social reception and homecoming experiences. These are the

case points to the necessity of understanding the stresses of modern war as
multidimensional (sociocultural, psychological, biological) and as deserv-
ing additional multidisciplinary research to promote resilience among those
who sacrifice so much in service to their nation.

As we face the uncertain challenges of a new century, members of the
U.S. armed forces will surely confront many additional changes and demands
associated with military service. We cannot foresee the precise nature, tim-
ing, or results of these changes. However, it is crucial to consider the circum-
stances, conditions, expectations, and demands of modern military service

as best we can and to clarify how these factors affect war fighters and how
the U.S. military might best reduce stress and promote resilience among its
members.

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