The Iraq Effect

[WE Branch Fanatic]

Powerful article from the Observer.

The Iraq Effect (http://observer.guardian.co.uk/magazine/story/0,,1732533,00.html)

[pr00ne]

Quote;

"He landed at RAF Halton, near Luton..........."


Wonder if the rest is as inaccurate?


Or are we now flying squaddies back from Iraq in large gliders?

[Baskitt Kase]

Richard could have taken the easy life with the Foreign Legion...Yes, the French Foreign Legion, renowned for an easy life...

[unclenelli]

"He landed at RAF Halton, near Luton..........."


Wonder if the rest is as inaccurate?


....to discover he would have to hitch home. As the first drops of rain fell, Corporal Corrigan pondered how he would complete the 70 miles back home.

Autoroute lists Halton - Catterick as 210 miles (shortest) and Halton - Carlisle as 271 miles (shortest)

How's that for accurate

[Talk Wrench]

Okay. the report I have just read may seem a little OTT, however,
having aquaintances in the Mental health sector of the mil, it is apparent that lots of young guys coming home from Iraq are suffering from the effects of their deployment.

The typifed mentally injured is the 18 to 25 year old serviceman whom before service, had only experience of rubbish schooling, pl**sta**n and no real hope in their home environment.
These kids have been sent to war after receiving a dumbed down and PC driven training.

They are then exposed daily to fire from hostiles, death and a world beyond which their minds can rationalise.

They then go go home on leave, go out on the pi** and get into trouble because average joe who picks a fight with them doesn't understand what they have been through.

They are then chastised by an inverted legal system for being a bad lad and told to grow up because they are in the wrong, when all they are doing, is what is now normal to them.

Many of our young fighting folk, in the future , will be cast out of the forces and will falter.

No wonder that many homeless are ex forces. No wonder that people take their own lives after service.

Difficult one I think

Talk Wrench

[neilmac]

Hi Talk wrench u have PM

[airborne_artist]

Talk Wrench - and as the article says, it seems that TA lads can suffer more than regulars. They don't have such a tight regimental family, they don't live in MQs, wives/girlfriends may not know each other, and normally the TA lads are drawn from several different units to form a composite company for the detachment. Come the end of the det they all go back to their different towns. The reason that some are able to go in the first place is because they are unemployed, or on short-term contracts, so the first thing they have to do when they get back is find a new job, when they are still dealing with getting home and re-adjusting.

[Feneris]

pr00ne, Baskitt Kase, unclenelli, you've all tried to ridicule what I think is a very relevent article over trivial inaccuracies. Look at the big picture; war is screwing up our soldiers, worse than ever, and the MOD are not doing enough to help them. As the size of the forces is reduced, soldiers are working more often in terrible environments and their mental health is suffering, to suicide in some cases and destroying many families in others.

People in this 'safe developed' country(UK) get PTSD; knocked off their bike, hit by a car, domestic accidents, assaulted on the streets, being mugged, etc etc. Consider Iraq; constant violence, daily bombings, ambushes, snipers, rioting mobs, ever rising death toll, millions of people there who would love to kill you, try daily, and at times lay down their own lives to do so. Not to mention the risk of prosecution for murder if your split second decision in self defence is later judged by lawers in a warm courtroom to have been heavy handed or excessive. And don't forget the scenes of brutatily witnessed everyday(several UK prison wardens were awarded over a million pounds total compensation last week for witnessing a scene of extreme brutality). Now consider the increased potential for our soldiers to suffer PTSD; a disorder well documented to destroy people mentally and emotionally with a wide range of severity often unrelated to the extent of the trigger incident.

The MOD funded by the government must show a duty of care towards our soldiers. A traditional physical injury is easy to see, better understood and fairly incontroversial. A mental illness is harder to see, may be hidden by the individual, may take a lot longer to heal and can be percieved by some as a sign of weakness. I'ts time to stop ignoring those who are suffering, stop hiding or bluffing about the numbers involved and get on with addressing the problem as a matter of urgency. The quicker the MOD react the fewer families will be destroyed and less future suicides will take place. Of course it costs money, but so does recruiting, selecting and training their replacements.

F

[Time Flies]

....to discover he would have to hitch home. As the first drops of rain fell, Corporal Corrigan pondered how he would complete the 70 miles back home.


Autoroute lists Halton - Catterick as 210 miles (shortest) and Halton - Carlisle as 271 miles (shortest)

How's that for accurate

Try reading it properly unclenelli! :* It doesn't state Corrigan lived in Catterick. It mentions he had 70 miles to travel...having already hitchhiked to Catterick.

Autoroute - Catterick to Carlisle (assuming the chap lived in Carlisle) - 76 miles. Computer says yes.

[endplay]

To pedantically nitpick this article is ridiculous. Anyone with experience knows the basic truth of it. In the 80's I was a pax on a trooper from Lyneham to Aldergrove and the herc was full of young squaddies on their first tour. They all kept their berets on with a large (IIRC) blue feather stuck in it and not one looked old enough to be out without a letter from his mum. The troops they were relieving were chronologically the same age but looked a lifetime older after their stag in NI.
Not everyone in an operational theatre will be similarly affected. There clearly aren't any REMFs there but there are also huge differences in individual roles and the reactions to them.
Whether this article is 100% accurate or not does not alter the fact that the psychological aftercare for HMG forces is inadequate. That is its central theme and it is entirely true.

[Talk Wrench]

Further to the mental health problems suffered by personnel who have served in the Gulf during Telic ops.

It would be interesting to note any research carried out by the experts regarding other debilitating illnesses caused after service in the Gulf theatre.

Will we have the potential of a GW2 syndrome (and believe me, I personally feel that GW1 syndrome exists ) ?

Can any of the illnesses possibly attributed to service during GW1 correlate to personnel who served during GW2?

Is it possible that the psychological effects of Gulf War 1 service are directly or indirectly linked to the physical manifestations that so many have suffered since their return?

Are we waiting for the GW2 timebomb with recent veterans' service?

I sincerely hope not, but time will ultimately tell.

I DO NOT WISH TO BE CONTROVERSIAL ABOUT GW1 SYNDROME


But I personally fear for the worst.


Regards

Talk Wrench