New Army Program Tackles Emotional Health

The U.S. Army is planning on adding a new element to a soldier's basic training - bolstering emotional resiliency.

Faced with increasing rates of mental health problems and suicides among troops returning from combat, officials want soldiers to get comfortable expressing their feelings, according to a New York Times report published Tuesday.

That may be a difficult task in a culture where such talk can be seen as a sign of weakness.

The new $117 million program is modeled on ones used mainly in middle schools and will be geared toward defusing anger and reducing mental stress. Techniques will be taught in weekly 90-minute sessions and will be introduced at two military bases beginning in October. It will eventually be used throughout all basic training.

According to the Times report, a recent session to train sergeants who will eventually be responsible for teaching the techniques to recruits involved a role-playing exercise.

In it, the class dissected hypothetical feelings after being ordered late in the day to perform a difficult assignment.

"Why is he tasking us again for this job?" one class member asked of his superior officer. "It's not fair."

"Well maybe," another responded. "Or maybe he's hitting us because he knows we're more reliable."

While many feel a program geared toward soldiers' emotional health is necessary, Gen. George W. Casey Jr., the Army chief of staff, told the Times that he's " still not sure that our culture is ready to accept this. That's what I worry about most."

The Army is hoping to train 1,500 sergeants to implement the program by the summer. Its effectiveness will be assessed through a series of confidential questionnaires filled out the soldiers to gauge progress in dealing with mental stress.