Decompression....

[Seldomfitforpurpose]

Originally Posted by Geehovah

I hadn't considered this. With all the stressful things I did during my service I'd best find a shrink............................................

I have to say, being serious, this should be for operational commanders to decide if his or her staff need decompresison on the way home. Or am I missing something?

Sadly the point you are missing, although based on previous posts I seriously doubt you have, is that Sqn Cdrs and in fact even Station Cdrs have Fu@k all say in matters of this kind.

There is no Purple and there is no jointery it's the Army way or the high way, always has been and always will be

[VinRouge]

The sad thing is, without the bullsh*t, people would be willing to stick round a lot longer.

Its no secret the airline industry is about to go into overdrive recruitment, all these decisions do is further drive us towards the door. Overenthusiastic JPA auditors and cr*p triv from the army do little other than to wake people up to the fact that a life in the services is not worth the hassle. This isnt about not being willing to do "the job", far from it, its quite frankly the t0ssers that get in the way of us doing the job thats the problem.

I for one am partway through my licenses. What was supposed to be a bargaining chip with the poster is rapidly becoming a golden ticket out of the madhouse. I very much doubt I would accept the inevitable FRI when it comes in around 3 years' time. Life is quite simply too short.

[heights good]

"Life is quite simply too short."

It is the longest thing you will ever do

HG

[Romeo Oscar Golf]

If decompression means to you (and me and Beagle) a very rapid descent from 50K or so, in a fiendish chamber at N Luffenham, then you may care to read this http://www.kcl.ac.uk/kcmhr/informati...ompression.pdf

Having waded through the doctor/physco babble I'm not sure that everyone would benefit from it. Consequently I agree with the sentiments that not everyone should do it and (despite whatever the regulations state - they can be changed) the final decision should go to the individuals CO.

[VinRouge]

From the above:

Where decompression can fit seamlessly
with the life of a unit, it may well indeed convey some benefits.
Where it is imposed for little purpose, it may do the opposite.

Kind of settles the argument really doesnt it?

[Easy Street]

For "one size fits all" read "one size fits nobody". The empathy argument is BS. Those that deploy once in a career, or at most once every 2.5 years should show some empathy with those who deploy every 8 months. It's high time the RAF insisted that everyone deploying through Bastion gets a mandatory 1-week training session in servicing Chinook and C-17s, "just in case" they had to help out on a turn-round. "Just in case" appears to be the guiding principle behind all the other crap taught on PDT and RSOI.

[Melchett01]

For "one size fits all" read "one size fits nobody".

Hear hear. There are undeniably individuals who would benefit from decompression and it is vital that it is there as an option amongst the whole PTSD / counselling / TRIM / duty of care piece. However, the way it is dealt with is in typical army lowest common denominator fashion which quite frankly probably creates more stress as people are kept away from their families and bosses have to put up with a regular ear bashing from their guys who really are fine and would rather go home.

I was on the unfortunate end of the whole lowest common denominator policy a couple of years ago when I was a roving Liaison Officer bouncing around the CAOC, TELIC and HERRICK. Despite the fact that I wasn't going home, simply from one op location to another, on almost every occasion I had to go through the whole padre de-brief & Suzy Perry video - just in case / 'because it says we can't let you on the flight out of country unless you do it sir'. Frankly it was madness, and it only served to increase my stress levels by dangling the whole idea of going home in front of me on an almost weekly basis when home and family were actually months away.

One size does not fit all. Joint means joint, not the same. All Services have their own requirements specific to their roles and jobs and that really should be taken into account rather than the blunt instrument approach we have in place at the moment.

[Unchecked]

Easy Street

Was going to post something very similar, but you've saved me the bother.

Spot on.

[Pontius Navigator]

ROG, interesting link.

the contrast between operational
and domestic conditions, and for the management of expectationsconcerning return to base

We see plenty of contemporary evidence from films that management of expectations was indeed a major factor in WW2. There were two instances in The Cruel Sea with the stoker returning to find his house destroyed or the officer that his wife was playing the field.

In neither case however would normalisation have worked.

PS

an in-depth study of U.K. regular British
Army service personnel deployed to Iraq in 2004/2005.14 In
that sample, the majority of regular soldiers considered normalization
(then termed decompression) to be a waste of their
time.

a process by which personnel who deploy together unwind together. formal decompression perhaps being reserved only for
troops who have experienced intense fighting or who are
likely to have little opportunity to mix informally with peers
on their return to their base locations.
Decompression can only serve a useful function if it is
targeted appropriately

Pretty clearly decompression should only be offered to formed units and then where the unit meets the criteria above.

we believe that the use of decompression should remain
a matter for discretion

So someone hasn't done his homework or believes that things are different now.

[BEagle]

Interesting link indeed:

Frequent claims have been made for the effectiveness of decompression, although this is without much in the way of supporting evidence to date. But should post-deployment decompression now become mandatory? Both Australia and the United Kingdom have, perhaps, made it clear that this would be a bridge too far at this stage.

The Australian Government recently declined the opportunity to implement mandatory decompression, arguing that: “ADF [Australian Defence Force] personnel returning from operational deployments are best managed with a degree of flexibility that allows commanders to make decisions based on the best interests of their subordinates. The nature of the deployment should drive the need for any period of decompression.”

Similarly, current U.K. policy on the use of decompression acknowledges the fact that “mandated decompression could be unhelpful if personnel are not allowed to return immediately to their families (and) mandating (the use of decompression) could therefore be detrimental to morale.”

(My bold text for emphasis).

....a degree of flexibility that allows commanders to make decisions based on the best interests of their subordinates.

[Geehovah]

Sadly the point you are missing, although based on previous posts I seriously doubt you have, is that Sqn Cdrs and in fact even Station Cdrs have Fu@k all say in matters of this kind.

There is no Purple and there is no jointery it's the Army way or the high way, always has been and always will be

I know well that Commanders don't have a say in it. I meant that this is what operational commanders should have a say in

[Seldomfitforpurpose]

I knew you knew, so to speak

[Mr C Hinecap]

P_N

Army service personnel deployed to Iraq in 2004/2005

Given that was probably their first deployment in anger and decompression was new, I wonder how many of those personnel have seen active tours every 2 years since and whether they have changed their views?

[wokkamate]

Sorry, but enforced 'decompresion' makes my blood boil and = more stress! As ever, our lords and masters have to be seen to be taking care of our mental needs but all they do is cover their own backs and add to the time away we face from our families and friends. For those of us who deploy (on average - sometimes more) 3 times per 2 years, decompression is a waste of time.

Make it a choice, make it something more meaningful. I don't have any answers, I don't have any alternative solutions, all I know is it causes me, and those I have discussed it with, more stress.

Rant over with apologies for the lack of constructive comment.

[Seldomfitforpurpose]

Mr C,

Not sure if you have ever deployed but if you have do you think you would have gotten any benefit from decompression prior to going home

[3 bladed beast]

I'm very glad I started this thread, as on the whole it's very refreshing to see the majority think along the same lines.

'Luckily' i will be doing Decom towards the end of May, and I will gladly give details. I truly hope it's two days of relaxing, unwinding, beach time and some beer.

My major stress is where I'm going to get Euros from to pay for said lager and did I pack my swim shorts???

Back to topic; so far the most stressful thing has been the slightly thinner than usual mattress, and sometimes the showers are luke warm.

The Det in Kandahar ( again, I speak for myself and the people I work with) is relatively comfortable with Wifi, quilts, coffee shops, Timmy Hortons and in all the years I've done, I have yet to witness anything that would come close to me needing decompression.

Once again, a onesizefitsall doesn't work, CAM are on side and it's just an example of high up Army doing a coverall policy, which doesn't meet the needs of personnel.

I'm not speaking as an individual, but for years worth of Dets and hundreds of guys on them.

[Yozzer]

I know of many servicemen in the Army & RAF who consider an Op tour to be decompression!! .....from the admin trivia, secondary duties, PDT, etc etc of being back 'home'. I met an Army guy promoted and posted to a Trg Unit who is in dispair at having to go home every night to see Eastenders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale and all the other crap that wives and kids choose to waste their lives with. Kids armed with X-Box who look at dad and say "You still here". .....and the only one you get any common sense out of; ...is the dog!

[Whenurhappy]

Yozzer - this is certainly the case in a number of RAF Force Elements that were subject to a capability health check conducted about 2 years ago. Over 300 officers and airmen were interviewed and many looked forward to going on ops - no bullsh!t secondary duties, correct spares and manning levels, doing the job 'for real', no pressure from CINC Home, chance to exerccise leadership away from the elf and safety straighjacket etc etc...

[Mr C Hinecap]

Seldom - yes and yes. I have deployed and I would have appreciated the transition from high tempo ops to UK between postings. I was antsy as hell for a couple of weeks - just dumped from 18+ hr days for 6 months into nothing where nobody around me understood what I was gibbering on about. Something in between would have helped.

[Pontius Navigator]

Mr CH, may be. I had that and so did Miss PN. The trouble is that the people you decompress with aren't concerned with your decompression gibberish as they will either be dumb and glum or on motor mouth too.

It is your nearest or dearest that will receive your wisdom delivered at 19 words to the dozen with cryptic acronyms and a certain incoherence.