This is not a new issue, but the blog articles are well written and included in the NYTimes - At War - Notes From the Front Lines section......the two articles I posted are best read in succession.....
Robert Bales and the Case for a Measured Approach to Alcohol in Combat
By MICHAEL LARSON and MARK LARSON March 22, 2012
Article Link
When we first heard the news that a lone American soldier was accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, and desecrating the corpses of nine, we had the same gut suspicion: alcohol had to be involved.
This newspaper and other sources have reported, citing anonymous government officials involved in the investigation, that the soldier, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, had been drinking illicitly with two other service members before the attack. They paint a picture of a soldier who, because of a combination of stress, domestic issues and alcohol, had reached his breaking point and simply “snapped.”
Much of the commentary surrounding the killings thus far has revolved around how such a thing could have happened in the first place. Sergeant Bales was a decorated soldier with three previous deployments to Iraq under his belt, and a family man with a wife and two children.
Pundits have speculated as to the staff sergeant’s mental health, his repeated deployments and the two injuries he sustained in Iraq, one of which is said to have been a concussion. And a good deal of the commentary going forward will likely be on how to prevent such a thing from happening again. Much of this will be specious.
An incident like this is an outlier. It is amazing, given the length of the current conflicts, that such incidents are so rare. This speaks to the professionalism of the service members on the ground.
Rigorous mental health screenings, particularly after injury, are already being conducted, and domestic tension and combat stress have been a fact of life for soldiers as long as nations have gone to war. But one subject worth examining is the military’s current stance on alcohol in war zones.
The military’s ban on controlled substances is relatively new, having come into effect during the Balkan peacekeeping operations of the late-1990s. But the abuse of alcohol and drugs in the Vietnam era directly led to the current prohibition of both.
Before Vietnam, alcohol was allowed, and often imbibed to excess, by deployed soldiers. While drug use now can easily get a person kicked out of the military, alcohol consumption in a war zone is still, generally, a less serious offense. But a soldier caught doing it can face disciplinary action. So consumption is forced underground, and becomes both illicit and infrequent. Grown men are reduced to the status of underage teenagers when it comes to alcohol, and as a result, when they do get their hands on it, many drink the same way teenagers do: they go hog wild.
More on link
When Booze Comes Off the Battlefield
By STEVE GRIFFIN March 23, 2012, 2:26 pm
Article Link
It is Sunday, Day 2 of Reintegration — the Army’s program to socialize soldiers back into society after a year’s worth of combat. I am sitting in a large auditorium listening to some civilian — who is probably not a veteran, or at least not a combat veteran — drone on about substance abuse and how bad it is. It is not the first time I have heard this speech. To my right, a buck sergeant sitting two seats down from me, is passed out in his chair, drooling all over himself. I stand up and walk outside to check on one of my soldiers who is on all fours vomiting in the grass six feet from the front door. I take it that he has decided to be nice and not mess up the toilets for everyone else.
Fast-forward two months. All the canned briefings are over, our 30-day post-deployment leave has passed, and some sort of normalcy has returned to garrison life in the Army. It is a Saturday night, and I am sitting down to a nice dinner with my wife at a local restaurant. As I take my seat, my battalion sergeant major sees me from across the room and runs over to tell me the big news. He asks me if I heard what happened to one of my staff officers, a captain, the night before. I cringe in anticipation as I see the letters slowly roll off his tongue, “D … U… I.”
What is the obvious common denominator here? Alcohol. The powerful, dangerous, yet legal substance, obtainable in so many ways, that contributes to some of the worst disciplinary problems for units returning from combat. Drunken driving, battery, domestic violence, sexual assault and suicide are just some of the more common alcohol-induced episodes that are seen on almost a weekly basis. Yet, so many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines continue to partake at levels far beyond what is considered normal.
In full disclosure, yes, I drink, and I drank while I was a soldier. The military has a long history of alcohol use, dating back long before my time. Some might say it is part of the tradition, part of the culture, or just part of being a soldier. Serving in our military is a hard way of life, and this perpetual hardship contributes to a “work hard, party hard” mentality that resonates throughout the force at all ranks and echelons.
More on link
Robert Bales and the Case for a Measured Approach to Alcohol in Combat
By MICHAEL LARSON and MARK LARSON March 22, 2012
Article Link
When we first heard the news that a lone American soldier was accused of killing 16 Afghan civilians, and desecrating the corpses of nine, we had the same gut suspicion: alcohol had to be involved.
This newspaper and other sources have reported, citing anonymous government officials involved in the investigation, that the soldier, Staff Sergeant Robert Bales, had been drinking illicitly with two other service members before the attack. They paint a picture of a soldier who, because of a combination of stress, domestic issues and alcohol, had reached his breaking point and simply “snapped.”
Much of the commentary surrounding the killings thus far has revolved around how such a thing could have happened in the first place. Sergeant Bales was a decorated soldier with three previous deployments to Iraq under his belt, and a family man with a wife and two children.
Pundits have speculated as to the staff sergeant’s mental health, his repeated deployments and the two injuries he sustained in Iraq, one of which is said to have been a concussion. And a good deal of the commentary going forward will likely be on how to prevent such a thing from happening again. Much of this will be specious.
An incident like this is an outlier. It is amazing, given the length of the current conflicts, that such incidents are so rare. This speaks to the professionalism of the service members on the ground.
Rigorous mental health screenings, particularly after injury, are already being conducted, and domestic tension and combat stress have been a fact of life for soldiers as long as nations have gone to war. But one subject worth examining is the military’s current stance on alcohol in war zones.
The military’s ban on controlled substances is relatively new, having come into effect during the Balkan peacekeeping operations of the late-1990s. But the abuse of alcohol and drugs in the Vietnam era directly led to the current prohibition of both.
Before Vietnam, alcohol was allowed, and often imbibed to excess, by deployed soldiers. While drug use now can easily get a person kicked out of the military, alcohol consumption in a war zone is still, generally, a less serious offense. But a soldier caught doing it can face disciplinary action. So consumption is forced underground, and becomes both illicit and infrequent. Grown men are reduced to the status of underage teenagers when it comes to alcohol, and as a result, when they do get their hands on it, many drink the same way teenagers do: they go hog wild.
More on link
When Booze Comes Off the Battlefield
By STEVE GRIFFIN March 23, 2012, 2:26 pm
Article Link
It is Sunday, Day 2 of Reintegration — the Army’s program to socialize soldiers back into society after a year’s worth of combat. I am sitting in a large auditorium listening to some civilian — who is probably not a veteran, or at least not a combat veteran — drone on about substance abuse and how bad it is. It is not the first time I have heard this speech. To my right, a buck sergeant sitting two seats down from me, is passed out in his chair, drooling all over himself. I stand up and walk outside to check on one of my soldiers who is on all fours vomiting in the grass six feet from the front door. I take it that he has decided to be nice and not mess up the toilets for everyone else.
Fast-forward two months. All the canned briefings are over, our 30-day post-deployment leave has passed, and some sort of normalcy has returned to garrison life in the Army. It is a Saturday night, and I am sitting down to a nice dinner with my wife at a local restaurant. As I take my seat, my battalion sergeant major sees me from across the room and runs over to tell me the big news. He asks me if I heard what happened to one of my staff officers, a captain, the night before. I cringe in anticipation as I see the letters slowly roll off his tongue, “D … U… I.”
What is the obvious common denominator here? Alcohol. The powerful, dangerous, yet legal substance, obtainable in so many ways, that contributes to some of the worst disciplinary problems for units returning from combat. Drunken driving, battery, domestic violence, sexual assault and suicide are just some of the more common alcohol-induced episodes that are seen on almost a weekly basis. Yet, so many soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines continue to partake at levels far beyond what is considered normal.
In full disclosure, yes, I drink, and I drank while I was a soldier. The military has a long history of alcohol use, dating back long before my time. Some might say it is part of the tradition, part of the culture, or just part of being a soldier. Serving in our military is a hard way of life, and this perpetual hardship contributes to a “work hard, party hard” mentality that resonates throughout the force at all ranks and echelons.
More on link
