the faith community recognizing & responding to those...
TRANSCRIPT
The Faith Community
Recognizing & Responding To
Those Who Have Served
Casualties of War
• Innocence is the first casualty of war
• Morality is the second casualty of war
• Truth is the third casualty of war
• Loss of combat friends is the fourth
casualty of war
• The fifth casualty of war is within
Thomas M. Rice Trial by Combat
Your Presenters • CAPT Tim Eichler, CHC, USN
• Force Chaplain
• Commander, Naval Air Force
• 619-545-2899
• Linda Walsh Garrison, BCCC
• +American Red Cross
• Service to the Armed Forces, CA
• Manager, Volunteer Partner
National/San Diego Spiritual Task Force
917-597-6319 cell
Overview of Today’s Discussion
The Deployment Cycle
Your Faith Community’s Response
Spiritual Injury and Our Response
Developing One Pilot Project
The Environment: San Diego County
Commuter Military
Naval Medical Center San Diego
Demographics
San Diego County is home to the 8th largest City in the US
9 % of the population is Active Duty personnel
o95,000
o175,000 family members
Reserve / National Guard
Veterans
12% of all Veterans reside in California
13% of all Veterans in California reside in San Diego county
9/11 Veterans live in San Diego – highest in the nation
o28,000
The Environment: San Diego County
Deployments
Currently ranging from 7 ½ months to 13
months depending on unit
Deployment time does not include work-up
time i.e. getting ready to go
Example:
oCVN
• 72% of time at sea working up
• 7 ½ to 10 month deployment
• Over 2 years at sea time 80-85%
Impact • Service members and families experience stress
• Separation becomes a way of life
• Digital age has brought the front lines home
– Skype
• Draw down / Reduction in force
– USN 3,000 Navy-wide
– USA to reduce 100,000 to 490,000
– USMC to reduce to 182,000 from 202,00
The Big Picture
• Pre-Deployment
• Deployment
• Sustainment
• Post-Deployment
• Re-Deployment
• Living as a veteran civilian
Deployment – Families’ View
Percentage of Most Difficult Time
National Military Family Association Survey, 2005
Emotions, Roles, Adjustment
Pre-deployment
• Anticipation of loss vs. denial
• Train-up/long hours away
• Getting affairs in order
• Mental/physical distance
• Arguments
• Time frame: variable
13
STAGE ONE-ANTICIPATING THE LOSS
•Started when you heard the news •Tension builds
Worry, Irritable, Bickering, Anger, Crying/Sadness People handle tension differently
•Lots of Activity –Getting ready •Children act out the family tension
14
STAGE TWO-DETACHMENT & WITHDRAWAL
•Final days before departure •Increasing tension •Emotional distance •Your marriage is not in trouble •So much to do, so little time
Sample Projects: Pre-Deployment • Identify military personnel in congregation
• Home visits of support
– Identify stressors, provide referrals
– Include children
– Give couple a weekend alone
– Ask if they would like to be on prayer list
– Consider assigning a mentor
• Identify time to have special service near
deployment • Ritural/prayer/memento to go with service member
and stay with family
Deployment
(1 Month)
• Mixed emotions/relief
• Disoriented/overwhelmed
• Numb, sad, alone
• Sleep difficulty
• Security issues
• Time frame: first month
17
STAGE THREE-EMOTIONAL DISORGANIZATION
•The trucks/buses/planes pull out •Tension replaced by
feelings of loss and sadness •Service member feels ambivalent •The “Blues” •Single parenting •Children reactions
At home and at school •Lasts about 2 to 6 weeks
Sustainment
(2-13 Months)
• New routines established
• New sources of support
• Feel more in control
• Independence
• Confidence ("I can do this")
• Time frame: months two thru five
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STAGE FOUR- RECOVERY & STABILIZATION
•About the 6th week •Settle into a routine •Activity important
Work, school, volunteer activities •Support group important
friends, church groups, other waiting spouses •If stuck, get help •Communication very important
“Keep those cards and letters coming” Children need to send and receive mail too Talk/write about what’s happening at home
20
STAGE FIVE-ANTICIPATING OF HOMECOMING
•Every deployment has an ending! •Starts about six weeks before end of deployment •Lots of activity (new dress, spruce up yard, haircuts) •Tension builds •Individual and family changes •Expectations •Changes vs. stayed the same •Prepare children •Preparation to become a couple/family again
Sample Projects: Deployment
• Take the Initiative
– Stay in touch with spouse/children
• Offer meals in early weeks
• Home visits:how are things – where is help needed
• Provide previously identified resources
• Offer prayer list, publish names in bulletins,
newsletter, but get permission first
• Identify house hold tasks, finances,
emotional/spiritual support needed
• Children tell the story; collect letters for parent
– Post picture on church display board
Sample Projects: Deployment
• Stay in touch with service member
– Emails
– Faith Community newsletter, bulletins,
sermons – with permission
– Send phone cards
– Ask what kind of care packages would be
welcomed, if any
– Advise of support being provided to family
– Pictures of faith community activities
Re-deployment
(Last Month) • Anticipation of homecoming
• Excitement
• Apprehension
• Burst of energy/"nesting"
• Difficulty making decisions
• Time frame: months five thru six
Re-deployment
(Last Month) • Anticipation of homecoming
• Excitement
• Apprehension
• Burst of energy/"nesting"
• Difficulty making decisions
• Time frame: months five thru six
25
Safe Returns and
Happy Reunions
26
Challenges for Servicemembers Returning
to Garrison and Home Life • Giving up the security of being surrounded by their buddies 24/7 • Giving up the security of being armed 24/7 • Learning that trash on the roadside back home is not going to explode as you drive by • Learning, not just in your head but in your heart, that people on the street do not want to kill you • Learning to adjust to the slower pace and lower excitement level of life at home • Relearning how to be around others without swearing or being offensive • Learning how to do the things you miss (like drinking, driving, or sex) in safe moderation • Figuring out how much to tell family and friends
27
STAGE SIX-REUNION
•Becoming a couple/family •Reunion day to 6 weeks •Strangers when we meet-intimacy grows •Different strokes for different folks •“Hold” the family reunion please •Time alone and time together •Quiet time/ noisy time •“I’m on the outside looking in” •Resuming the marital and parental roles •Responding to changes
Hey Mom/Dad I grew up! •Negotiating changes in the marital and parenting roles
Post-Deployment
(3-6 Months after deployment)
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STAGE SEVEN- REINTEGRATION & STABILIZAION
•6 TO 12 WEEKS AFTER REUNION •Settling in •Our car, our house, our kids, our family •A functioning unit again •Stuck- Get help now
Sample Projects: Post-Deployment
• Offer welcome home ritual at church (be
cautious about setting person on a
pedestal)
• Offer couple a weekend alone
• Offer meals
• Offer ongoing child care
• Stay in touch
31
Possible Re-Deployment
• May make it difficult to fully come back • May be the “elephant” in the room • 43% of Families report fear of re-deployment
32
Living as a Civilian Veteran
• Military Service may have been one of the best/worst experiences of your life • You may yearn for your buddies even years later • You may have experiences that are difficult to share even with your closest family members • You may wish to be recognized but not seen as a hero
Injured Marines being evacuated from Hue City, Vietnam, 1968
Which of These Warriors Has
Been Injured by Combat Stress?
Wounds Resulting in Death
Note: Most returning
veterans are able to
make a satisfactory
adjustment to post-
military life. The Faith
Community can help
that happen.
Sample Projects: Civilian Veteran
• Offer annual recognition at church –
perhaps on Veterans Day or Memorial Day
(be cautious about hero worship)
• Offer Veterans the chance to tell some of
their story; ask that they share the impact
of war upon their faith
• Offer a special meal and fellowship for
veterans and families in your faith group
• Maintain a memorial wall for veterans
Stress Adaption versus Stress Injury?
• Injury
– May be more abrupt
– A derailment, a change in self
– Individual feels like not in control
– Very specific syndromes
• Adaptation
– A gradual process
– Can be traced over time
– Individuals feel like still themselves
– Limitless variability in appearance
When Adjustment Doesn’t Work
• Causes
– Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
– Combat Operational Stress
– Traumatic Brain Injury
– Other Physical Injuries
– Psychological and Spiritual Injuries
– Financial, vocational, marital issues
– Time to get professional help
The Results (For Some of Our Warriors)
TRAUMA GRIEF FATIGUE
Combat / Operational Stress
PTSD
Alcohol Drugs
Depression Anxiety Anger
Spiritual “Red Flags”
Loss of Faith
• Loss of faith during & following combat stress
• Difficulty reconciling faith with combat experiences
• N=100 Vietnam veterans in PTSD treatment
Spiritual “Red Flags”
Negative Religious Coping Question (somewhat +) OIF GP
I feel God is punishing me for my
sins or lack of spirituality.
53.1%
24.2%
I wonder whether God has
abandoned me.
53.1% 12.6%
* OIF (N=50 OIF/OEF veterans in PTSD treatment) * GP (N=654 males in Nat’l Rep. Sample)
Guard and Reserve Families
Where do They Get Their Support?
RAND Study Deployment Experiences of Guard and Reserve Families Implications for Support and Retention
Informal Resources
Military Resources
A Plan for the
Faith Community’s Response
• Be Aware of the Big Picture
• Assess the Need
• Assess the Resources
• Create a Pilot Project
Access the Need
• Get By-in of Leadership
• Conduct a survey
– Identify active service personnel
– Identify veterans
– Identify their families
– Identify felt needs
– Identify those who would like to help and the
help they could provide
Select a Pilot Project
• Compile Results of Survey
• Analyze your resources
• Select a pilot project
• Keep key leadership involved/informed
• Recruit those to make you project happen
Concluding Thoughts
• War is inherently a moral enterprise and
veterans in search of healing are on a
profound moral journey. Our veterans
cannot heal unless society accepts its
responsibility for its war making. To the
returning veteran, our leaders and people
must say, “You did this in our name and
because you were subject to our orders.
Concluding Thoughts
• We lift the burden of your actions from you
and take it on our shoulders. We are
responsible for you, and for what you did
(in our name), and for the consequences.”
• Edward Tick: Bringing Our Wounded Warriors Home.