US army morale down in Afghanistan: Study

[amjad_vantage]

Morale has fallen among US soldiers in Afghanistan because of the rising violence there and the long and repeated deployments for troops after eight years of fighting in the country, according to a new U.S. Army report released Friday.

The report summarizes two surveys of U.S. soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan taken earlier this year. New statistics from the Army also show suicides are up in the entire service. Produced every two years by the Army’s Mental Health Advisory Team. “Soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to face stress from multiple deployments into combat but report being more prepared for the stresses of deployments,” Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, the Army Surgeon General told reporters Friday.


Not surprisingly, the report showed that soldiers with multiple deployments, three or four tours of duty to Iraq or Afghanistan, had much lower morale and more mental health problems than those soldiers who have one or two combat deployments. Increased time at home, however, resulted in improved morale among troops sent back to the field. The updated survey of soldiers in Afghanistan found post-traumatic stress syndrome and depression in soldiers at the same levels of the survey in 2007, but still about double that of the 2005 survey results: 21.4 percent in 2009, 23.4 percent for 2007 and 10.4 percent in 2005, according to the report.

In Iraq, where the survey has been done every year, lower numbers were attributed to the decrease in combat action there. The 2009 numbers showed 13.3 percent of soldiers suffering from mental health problems, compared to 18.8 percent in 2007 and 22 percent in 2006.

Army officials said that with the push of more than 20,000 additional troops into the Afghan theater of battle over the last few months, there have been fewer mental health professionals in the field to help. Army officials said the ration was about one mental health professional for every 1,120 soldiers.

To combat the falling morale and lack of mental health professionals in the field, Army officials said the service needs to more than double the number of mental health providers and hopes to have at least 65 more of those providers in the field by December, making the ratio one for every 700 soldiers. The mental health assessment teams also conducted interviews with soldiers and found a drop in unit morale in Afghanistan to about half of what it was in 2007 and 2005, when about 10 percent surveyed gave top ratings to unit morale. In 2009, that number was 5.7 percent. The report also showed soldiers are seeing more difficulty at home with an increasing number reporting they are getting or considering getting divorced, according to the report.

[S-2]

Could you do two things please- 1.) Check into the new members introduction thread and, 2.) provide a link to the supporting article here.

Thanks a lot!

[taimikhan]

Originally Posted by S-2

Could you do two things please- 1.) Check into the new members introduction thread and, 2.) provide a link to the supporting article here.

Thanks a lot!

Here you go sir.

Army survey: Troop morale is down in Afghanistan | Stars and Stripes)

[courageneverdies]

Taimi

US and Allied troops are, without any possibility of doubt, in great trouble while staying in Afghanistan. It really has been a hell of time for'em. The rumours of US or Afghan Govt. wish to join hands with Taliban to run the country affairs in streamline, is a fair example for their downed morale.

Time for US to stay in Afghanistan for any longer is over. Retreat is the only option. No more troops might reach in Afghanistan. And existing can not handle things effectively.

KIT Out

[fatman17]

i read somewhere that soldiers need to stay away from combat duty for upto 6 months for stress levels to be normal.

the issue here is not about morale persay, it is about the karzai govt - the US partner in COIN ops - they are not fulfilling their committments to their partner due to rampant corruption, drug-use, mismanagement, no/low morale of the afghan army - in other words - if the US plans to stay in Afghanistan for the long haul, it will need to do it alone! - when the US forces see their partner not doing the things they need to do, it leads to morale issues - i feel the US forces deployed in the afghan theater are "battle worthy".

[taimikhan]

Originally Posted by courageneverdies

Taimi

US and Allied troops are, without any possibility of doubt, in great trouble while staying in Afghanistan. It really has been a hell of time for'em. The rumours of US or Afghan Govt. wish to join hands with Taliban to run the country affairs in streamline, is a fair example for their downed morale.

Time for US to stay in Afghanistan for any longer is over. Retreat is the only option. No more troops might reach in Afghanistan. And existing can not handle things effectively.

KIT Out

Yups, problem was that they did not induct major number of troops in Afghanistan in the start, they routed the taliban and thought all is well, meanwhile the Taliban consolidated their position, regained their strength as they did take a lot of casualties in the initial american assault, and for about two years now they are in full swing, this year being the deadliest. Even if they make a surge of troops, things will become better for sometime as taliban will die down and melt away to come back another day, and will give more opportunities to the taliban to target american forces, as more soldiers, more would be the risk. And as you and fatman sir indicated, the Afghan govt does play a lot of role in this whole mess, giving the american soldiers doubts and problems arising in the morale of the troops as these soldiers are on the ground, they have first hand information and see the working of the Afghan govt themselves. Plus a constant war of this nature does impact psychologically and takes a hell out of a person, i am in Peshawar, the suicide blasts are making so much psychological impacts that people are taking medicines to get their minds stress free or lower the depression and tension. People are very afraid, so just imagine these soldiers who may be tough as hell but in the end they are also human beings with families would be going through, the daily fire fights, IEDS, seeing their best friends and comrades dying on daily basis does effects you a lot. Personally, US did what Hitler did, taking panga at two fronts while resources were low. And the 8 years of insurgency growing on daily basis with thousands killed, with no positive output in 8 years of time, no economic upturn, no effective ANA in place, corrupt govt, people in charge who don't represent the people of Afghanistan and other factors makes things worse and the US soldiers being in the middle of it, many of them having gone multiple tours, many having come from Iraq theater of operations or vice versa, creates a lot of problems and doubts in their minds as what in reality would be the outcome. War is a brutal thing, it destroys a person psychologically.

Originally Posted by fatman17

i read somewhere that soldiers need to stay away from combat duty for upto 6 months for stress levels to be normal.

the issue here is not about morale persay, it is about the karzai govt - the US partner in COIN ops - they are not fulfilling their committments to their partner due to rampant corruption, drug-use, mismanagement, no/low morale of the afghan army - in other words - if the US plans to stay in Afghanistan for the long haul, it will need to do it alone! - when the US forces see their partner not doing the things they need to do, it leads to morale issues - i feel the US forces deployed in the afghan theater are "battle worthy".

Fully agreed to it, but even US won't be able to do it all by itself, and yes they are battle worthy but such a long war with no end in sight and no positive outcome in so many years of occupation does effect the moral and ultimately resulting in battle worthiness.

[fatman17]

Originally Posted by taimikhan

Yups, problem was that they did not induct major number of troops in Afghanistan in the start, they routed the taliban and thought all is well, meanwhile the Taliban consolidated their position, regained their strength as they did take a lot of casualties in the initial american assault, and for about two years now they are in full swing, this year being the deadliest. Even if they make a surge of troops, things will become better for sometime as taliban will die down and melt away to come back another day, and will give more opportunities to the taliban to target american forces, as more soldiers, more would be the risk. And as you and fatman sir indicated, the Afghan govt does play a lot of role in this whole mess, giving the american soldiers doubts and problems arising in the morale of the troops as these soldiers are on the ground, they have first hand information and see the working of the Afghan govt themselves. Plus a constant war of this nature does impact psychologically and takes a hell out of a person, i am in Peshawar, the suicide blasts are making so much psychological impacts that people are taking medicines to get their minds stress free or lower the depression and tension. People are very afraid, so just imagine these soldiers who may be tough as hell but in the end they are also human beings with families would be going through, the daily fire fights, IEDS, seeing their best friends and comrades dying on daily basis does effects you a lot. Personally, US did what Hitler did, taking panga at two fronts while resources were low. And the 8 years of insurgency growing on daily basis with thousands killed, with no positive output in 8 years of time, no economic upturn, no effective ANA in place, corrupt govt, people in charge who don't represent the people of Afghanistan and other factors makes things worse and the US soldiers being in the middle of it, many of them having gone multiple tours, many having come from Iraq theater of operations or vice versa, creates a lot of problems and doubts in their minds as what in reality would be the outcome. War is a brutal thing, it destroys a person psychologically.




Fully agreed to it, but even US won't be able to do it all by itself, and yes they are battle worthy but such a long war with no end in sight and no positive outcome in so many years of occupation does effect the moral and ultimately resulting in battle worthiness.

if they have a partner they can trust (hint...hint...), then the afghan theater of ops can be successful.

the afghan govt cannot provide the type of support required (not in the near to medium term) to have a successful COIN strategy in afghanistan.

[vsdoc]

Originally Posted by fatman17

if they have a partner they can trust (hint...hint...), then the afghan theater of ops can be successful.

I agree.

The recent spurt in the frequency, intensity, and scope of joint military exercises between India and the US can only mean that the US has taken the hint.

Let us see if India is ready to reciprocate.

Cheers, Doc

[deathfromabove]

EDIT: Done

[taimikhan]

Originally Posted by deathfromabove

YouTube - US Soldiers Cry After Attack 2009

YouTube - American soldier crying for their life in America war irak

And countless others

Deathfromabove, before posting video it would be better if you had seen them yourself, specially the first one. If you fully watch the first video, the soldier is crying as he is taking responsibility for the loss of his comrade. He finds himself responsible and feeling the guilt.

As for second video, i am not soldier myself, but i have been in situations of similar nature as these soldiers are being shown, and the first few experiences specially those who are new to war show similar behavior as its not an easy task to sit calmly under artillery fire or rocket fire or in fire fights. The shock of being under such situations can make you do unbelievable things. War is a very cruel thing, i myself used to watch movies and laugh that what the guys behave under fire, but after my recent experiences of being in situations of similar nature, i now understand how it feels. So it would be advised to remove the videos as a sign of respect to all the soldiers who are in war and who have fought wars. Frankly, same behavior can be expected from the soldiers of PA when first time they go in battle but once the fear goes out of them, you can expect a soldier like the ones you see in movies, blasting everything and everyone with no fear of death. Many soldiers and officers of PA died in ambushes as they couldn't move due to shock or the fear gripping them made them sitting ducks. But those who overcame their fear showed exemplary bravery even in face of overwhelming odds.

Soldiers are first human beings like us, then they are soldiers.

[S-2]

Hey, don't worry about Death From Above. He's got it right. We're all a bunch of chickensh!t puppies and the easiest guys in the world to whack.

A manly man like him just needs to buy that ol' AK and come on across the border. We'll be there and ready to cry all sorts of tears of fear, pain, cowardice, and more...

...to include joy when we drill his mangy azz if he's man enough to show himself and fight us instead of the ANA. We, at least, DO shoot straight.

...between all those tears that we be cryin'.

We'll see him in A-stan.

[S-2]

"...if they have a partner they can trust (hint...hint...), then the afghan theater of ops can be successful."

Dostum says he can take care of the job himself if we just turn him loose.

Course that might get a tad messy.

[H2O3C4Nitrogen]

Wats the big deal of morale . They will continue to fight in Afghanistan...

[deathfromabove]

Originally Posted by S-2

Hey, don't worry about Death From Above. He's got it right. We're all a bunch of chickensh!t puppies and the easiest guys in the world to whack.

A manly man like him just needs to buy that ol' AK and come on across the border. We'll be there and ready to cry all sorts of tears of fear, pain, cowardice, and more...

...to include joy when we drill his mangy azz if he's man enough to show himself and fight us instead of the ANA. We, at least, DO shoot straight.

...between all those tears that we be cryin'.

We'll see him in A-stan and then we'll see him to hell, that lovable lil' scamp.

Hahah. Btw I don't budge. InshAllah soon US and NATO would be packing as well -- their luggage or the body bags -- that’s their choice!

[Halaku Khan]

Originally Posted by S-2

"...if they have a partner they can trust (hint...hint...), then the afghan theater of ops can be successful."

Dostum says he can take care of the job himself if we just turn him loose.

Course that might get a tad messy.

Get the Russians, Iranians and the CARs on board. Don't rely on Pakistan for transit.