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December 05, 2008
Base expands mental-health services as troops return from multiple deployments
The AP (11/30, Baldor) reported that "military-health officials are bracing for a surge in brain injuries and psychological problems among" the 15,000 troops returning to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, from Iraq and Afghanistan.
"Facing prospects that one in five of the 101st Airborne Division soldiers will suffer from stress-related disorders, the base has nearly doubled its psychological health staff. Army leaders are hoping to use the base's experiences to assess the long-term impact of repeated deployments." Each of the three 101st Airborne combat brigades "have gone through at least three tours in Iraq."
Already, "10,000 soldiers have come back; the remainder are expected by the end of January." To deal with the influx of troops, Fort Campbell's "director of health services, Col. Richard Thomas, has roughly doubled his authorized staff of psychologists and behavioral specialists to 55, and is trying to hire a few more."
He noted that, "for the first time...every soldier returning home will have an individual meeting with a behavioral-health specialist, and then go through a second such session 90 days to 120 days later."
Related Links:
- "Army base tests ability to handle GIs' stress," Lolita C. Baldor, Denver Post, November 29, 2008.
Posted by admin at December 5, 2008 03:52 PM