New Army Program Tackles Emotional Health

(CBS)  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.

[d28TBI]

First of all nomealaska, the U.S. Army says HOOAH not HOORAH any soldier knows that, why don't you??????

I am currently filing, with help from a Veterans Service Representative, for 100% disability though the V.A. for a TBI that the Army ignored and PTSD from my service in Iraq in 2003 to 2004. I was one of the first soldiers back in March 2004 and when out of nowhere I first startd having problems. Which I didn't understand because I didn't know I had any problems. The Army treated me like I was scamming and trying to get out for nothing. I was soldier of the month several times and had many awards for achievement and mentored other soldiers to be their best before I went to Iraq and I was treated terribly when I got home. First of all there are many "robots" in this entire world and military training will never change that. At least this is a first attempt to make a difference.

I suggest you look up Mike Shiley and see his opinion. Leave these big thoughts to those who know what they are doing, okay buddy =)

[nomealaska]

The Army is a "cult" of mostly mindless sheep who blindly follow orders and don't really fit into civilized society afterwards. Many of them never would have fit into society anyway, as the Army has a history of taking the dregs and making bad coffee. I was an Army soldier once and found the "Army machine" easy to beat, but I saw many young men consumed by it. They usually respond to questions with a grunt or an "hoo-rah" and wore spit-shined boots and followed orders obediently. Again, many are barely competant to start with and almost none are Ivy-league. Training them to kill is kinda like programming a killer robot - you may not be able to turn it off when you want. You may need to keep your killer robots in a special "killer robot" bunker or something, because it isn't fit to hang around the other "nice robots".

[govtguy]

Yeah...you really want the US Army to be self-counselling? NOT! They create the troops that need the help, get cranky when they do their jobs too well, complain when the troops won't or can't do anymore, and now want to police their own efforts. Absolutely incredulous! The troops have needed help for decades, initially got zero, now are getting a little, and all the while the Army is grand-standing on how well it takes care of everyone. What a crock of old-time calvary poop! They don't and haven't truly cared; as evidenced by the Vietnam era vets or the Gulf Storm vets. How can something so critical be managed by the same agency that adverises "Army Tough"? They don't care for the troops and care even less for the families. They create fill-in-the-gap projects to move public viewing away from their problems. They are using cold-war tactics and cold-war equipments to fight and stalemate guerilla warfare - not much has changed since the 70's has it?

[d28TBI]

I agree with you, but if they do help a couple that is better than nothing

[TheMasses2016]

I think the tackling is best left to professional football players.