Decompression in Cyprus - various aspects, updates (merged)

[The Bread Guy]

The latest from Dr. Anne Irwin - highlights mine...

Canadian Soldiers in Afghanistan Face Difficulties Transitioning From Combatant to Combat Veteran States the Findings of New Report
CDFAI news release, 15 May 08
News release - report (.pdf) - alternate report download site (.pdf)

CALGARY, ALBERTA--(Marketwire - May 15, 2008) - The Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute released a report today, Redeployment as a Rite of Passage written by Dr. Anne Irwin.

Anne Irwin is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and the CDFAI Chair in Civil-Military Relations at the University of Calgary. She served in the Canadian Forces Reserve for fifteen years, retiring as a Military Police officer with the rank of Major.

Dr. Irwin spent three months in 2006 embedded with the soldiers of Charlie Company of the First Battalion of the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. This paper is written from an anthropological perspective and examines the rite of passage these soldiers embarked on that took them from active combatant status to combat veteran status. It also examines the flaws in the redeployment process that hinder the reintegration of combat soldiers into Canadian society.

Irwin notes that there are three distinct phases of redeployment but that the major weakness in the entire process occurs in the first: "Because of the way the relief in place was organized, sections were split up, with some members of the section leaving Afghanistan while others continued to conduct patrolling and other operations. The resulting disruption of unit and sub-unit integrity created a great deal of additional stress and discontent. This was the most significant negative factor related to the redeployment."

The second phase, or decompression phase, in which soldiers spend time in Cyprus, has significantly improved the transition process for soldiers returning to Canada but Irwin argues that there are still serious flaws in the system: "There was a surprising lack of recognition on the part of the decompression tour organizers of the importance of the primary group in supporting the returning soldiers' transition from combat to home. Despite the rhetoric in the briefings which spoke of the importance of buddies and the primary group bond, in practice, this bond was not only not recognized, but ruptured by the redeployment process."

Irwin concludes with three suggestions on how to improve the decompression phase so that soldiers are more easily able to make the transition from soldier to veteran: maintaining unit and sub-unit integrity; assigning unit members to the same hotel or to hotels that are close together; and improving the critical incident debriefing sessions.

The complete report, Redeployment as a Rite of Passage, is available online at www.cdfai.org.

CDFAI is a "think tank" pursuing authoritative research and new ideas aimed at ensuring Canada has a respected and influential voice in the international arena.

For more information, please contact
Canadian Defence & Foreign Affairs Institute
Kate McAuley
Program Coordinator
(403) 231-7624
Email: kmcauley@cdfai.org
Website: www.cdfai.org

 

[geo]

The Section, upon which the army is built around.... broken up when you need it the most.... and it took a civy to notice.

Now it the brass hats on the Rideau are listening.....

 

[Greymatters]

Why exactly are they breaking up sections in the first place?

 

[Rodahn]

Why exactly are they breaking up sections in the first place?

But this has been going on for how many years? At least 30+ by my count, as your posting individuals between units rather than whole sections... The answer is? I personally have no idea...Needs of the service etc.... We are but pawns in the over all scope of the grand picture....

 

[the 48th regulator]

But this has been going on for how many years? At least 30+ by my count, as your posting individuals between units rather than whole sections... The answer is? I personally have no idea...Needs of the service etc.... We are but pawns in the over all scope of the grand picture....

Agreed,

However this works back in battallion at home.

Doing this transition so close to the time the unit integrity is most tested, by all rights is completely wrong.

It would be like trading half of the team during the playoffs....

dileas

tess

 

[daftandbarmy]

I'm guessing that the problem relates to the need to maintain a presence on the ground during the handover phase while simultaneously trying to get troops home as soon as possible. This doesn't have to mean the breakup of sections and platoons as long as the Ops network has their act together.

 

[The Bread Guy]

Did a quick skim of the report, and the "needlessly bureaucratic" alarm went off when I read how troops are assigned accomodations in a number of different (and not necessarily co-located) hotels: 

Alphabetically, by name

not by sub-unit grouping

Translation:  section/platoon/company buddies/colleagues who would benefit from hanging together after the fight have a (pretty well) random chance of ending up at the same hotel, or even near another one with said buddies-colleagues.

Nice.......

 

[Gunner98]

It would take a different mind set and resources to deploy and return home as a section (the U.S. does it as a TF).  Likewise, this would facilitate going on HLTA and decompression as a section?  We have not had the plans nor the aircraft to completely revamp the process.

 

[Journeyman]

"Because of the way the relief in place was organized, sections were split up, with some members of the section leaving Afghanistan while others continued to conduct patrolling and other operations. The resulting disruption of unit and sub-unit integrity created a great deal of additional stress and discontent. This was the most significant negative factor related to the redeployment."

OK, I'm usually the last one to argue on behalf of the system, however.....

She's writing from an anthropologist's perspective (hence the cute "Gorillas in the Mist" linkage), notwithstanding the mention of 15 years she spent as a Reserve MP to bolster her military credibility. Anthropologists study human interactions, not tactical soundness. The RIP is designed to ensure the incoming unit is operationally as ready as it can be, including the subtle nuances of the area and small 'tricks of the trade' the soldiers have picked up. No matter how many powerpoint briefings the leadership gets, many small life-saving details are passed on soldier-to-soldier. For that to happen, you need to have the incoming and outgoing integrated.

Yes, it sucks that section integrity is broken up in-theatre; it sucks even more if a roto starts off with a whole bunch of ramp ceremonies because Bloggins didn't know something about the neighbourhood and the bad guys' tactics because military leadership got trumped by the flinch following an academic report.

This is being written during my decompression, by the way. The rest of my "primary support group" (damn, where's the tac symbol for that?) left two weeks ago. Even after almost 10 months in-theatre, I don't bemoan the extra time if it allows the passage of that one additional bit of info that will keep troops alive while killing bad guys.

 

[GregC]

I'm going to add a little something based on my experiences with decompression.

Nothing in this report applied to my decompression from 1-07. The entire platoon I was a member of deployed out of theatre together and cycled through Cyprus in the same hotel as a unit. We chose our buddies we wanted to split a hotel room with, and did whatever activities we wanted with anyone we wanted. Our company was roughly split in half to go through the process, but the most important unit (the section) was never split up. As far as I know, neither was the platoon (however perhaps this was simply my experience?).

The only complaint we had was that our PL medics did not cycle through with us as they wished, instead they redeployed within a medical group made up largely of medics who never left the wire.

Hope I've added something useful that other recently deployed can build on.

 

[TheHead]

I'm going to add a little something based on my experiences with decompression.

Nothing in this report applied to my decompression from 1-07. The entire platoon I was a member of deployed out of theatre together and cycled through Cyprus in the same hotel as a unit. We chose our buddies we wanted to split a hotel room with, and did whatever activities we wanted with anyone we wanted. Our company was roughly split in half to go through the process, but the most important unit (the section) was never split up. As far as I know, neither was the platoon (however perhaps this was simply my experience?).

The only complaint we had was that our PL medics did not cycle through with us as they wished, instead they redeployed within a medical group made up largely of medics who never left the wire.

Hope I've added something useful that other recently deployed can build on.

 When I came home on 1-06, my crew and the rest of the crews had to stay behind, sitting around on our *** for around a week.  We came home with the medics and every other trade on the last chalk.  The problem a few of us were talking about was relating to the other trades who really never left the wire during our briefings.  I didn't really feel like talking about combat while the guy next to me talked about missing his wife.  Please don't take this as a sacrosanct attitude but I just couldn't relate to that guy or anyone like him who hadn't experienced the same crap I did. 

Corrected myself, I screwed some numbers up. Sorry guys.

 

[PPCLI Guy]

I'm going to add a little something based on my experiences with decompression.

Nothing in this report applied to my decompression from 1-07.

Hope I've added something useful that other recently deployed can build on.

What you have added is that we, as an institution, are actually learning.  Many lessons (cas mgmt, death notification, honours and awards, integration of enablers, use of PPE, validity of the echelon concept etc etc) were learned off of the backs of TF 1-06 - and that is to be expected, as we returned as an Army to the business of war.

 

[Gun Shy]

Canadian soldier arrested in Cyprus
Canwest News Service
Published: Saturday, September 20, 2008
PAPHOS, Cyprus -- A 25-year-old Canadian soldier has been arrested in the Mediterranean country of Cyprus after allegedly threatening a taxi cab driver with a knife, Cypriot police said Saturday.

The male soldier, whose name has not been released, was arrested around 12:20 a.m. Saturday in the resort town of Paphos, located on the southwestern coast of the island.

He is currently under the custody of the Cypriot police at the Paphos division.

It is not clear if a court date has been scheduled, police said.

Media reports say the soldier recently completed a tour of duty in Afghanistan and was taking a rest stop in Cyprus before returning to Canada.

Canadian soldiers finishing off their tours of duty usually attend a decompression program - lasting a few days - before going home.

Since last year, more than 2,200 Canadian soldiers have gone through Cyprus for the program.

A Canadian Forces spokesman was not immediately available for comment Saturday.

 

[GAP]

Already posted...here

http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/79940.0.html

 

[The Bread Guy]

So, what's the solution, Battalion NCO i/c Savings?  :  If one is going to critique the decompression program, there's got to be better places to start the discussion than this, no?

Shared in accordance with the "fair dealing" provisions, Section 29, of the Copyright Act.

R and R spells financial ruin for Canadian troops
Bruce Campion-Smith, Toronto Star, 7 Aug 09
Article link

They can defuse roadside bombs and take out Taliban fighters but young Canadian soldiers can't seem to hang on to the big bonuses they earn risking their lives in Afghanistan.

Many are blowing their hard-earned danger pay as soon as they get off the battlefield, hitting the bars and partying at five-star resorts on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, where the military is offering them counselling and "decompression."

Before returning to Canada, soldiers are sent to a plush seaside hotel and spa in the western city of Paphos for five days of rest and relaxation intended to help them adjust back to civilian life.

But military documents obtained by the Star suggest the defence department's preferred method of treating the mental toll of war is taking a personal financial toll on the troops.

"Many of the young soldiers coming out of the theatre with large amounts of money were losing it within short periods of time, usually at TLDs (Third-Location Decompressions)," notes the report, written after some 2,800 soldiers shuttled through Cyprus this spring following their deployment to Kandahar.

The 2007 federal budget put aside $60 million each year to increase to $285 per month the danger pay that members of the army receive, meaning a soldier serving on a six-month tour would earn about $1,700 in addition to their base salary.

Military officials who run the program in Cyprus have recommended soldiers begin receiving briefings before deploying to Kandahar on how to better manage the extra money they're paid while at war. Lessons on responsible financial skills should be delivered again as soon as those soldiers leave Afghanistan, says the report, which was released through the Access to Information Act.

But the bigger problem is that "abuse of alcohol" appears to be the primary activity of soldiers, according to the military report.

The problem reached such a state when the last contingent of Canadians stopped off in Cyprus this spring that military officials have recommended slapping a two-drink limit on soldiers for the first night of their decompression to "facilitate learning" in a Day 2 course on transitioning from life at war to life at home....

More on link

 

[PMedMoe]

If I had to sit through another boring briefing, I'd need a lot more than decompression and a two-drink limit.  :  Thankfully, I didn't do "decompression" after my tour.  We did all the briefings before we left KAF and then had a three day R & R.  8)

These soldiers are adults, albeit, some may be pretty stupid foolhardy when it comes to their finances.  I have no doubt some of them need help but they would need it regardless of the fact that they went on tour.  Just imagine what some are using their LDA for.

I don't even think this story is about the soldiers' spending habits but more to point out that decompression is occurring at a "plush" sea side hotel and soldiers are partying at "five-star" resorts.  Not to mention the increase in danger pay.  :

 

[George Wallace]

So?  What is new here?  Canadian Soldiers have always acted this way.  Most are fairly frugal with their earnings, but some, especially the young single members have always found ways to spend their money.  Part of our informal Inclearances to the unit in Petawawa was a briefing from other long-time residents as to which local merchants not to deal with.  Petawawa and Pembroke Car Dealerships were notorious for offering the young single soldier, returning from Tour, great deals on expensive cars by paying their first month of insurance for them.  After that month was up, the parking spaces behind the shacks were full of cars that the young soldiers couldn't afford to insure and drive.

Does the MSM have any better suggestions as to what could be done?  Perhaps this is an agenda brought to light by Canadian merchants who would prefer to have first crack at the CF members’ wallets and slyly published in the Press.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

I had a great time in Cyprus, I found the briefings we sat through to be very useful.  As for people spending that money, has this newspaper not gone to downtown XXXXX (the nearest town to any military base) on a weekend??  That would be happening whether or not we were in Cyprus, or any other decompression location.

As George said, and what concerns me the most is to see the younger soldiers come off tour with all that cash and think that the best "investment" is with a new car.  Heck, my driver bought a new car BEFORE we went on tour!! I tried to explain to him how silly it was but could not get through to him.

I think the military should be doing more to explain basic financial information to our soldiers.  Low interest rate credit cards, RRSP investments, house vs. car for first purchase, rent to own schemes, interest rates in general, etc... I believe that would go alot to helping them make wise decisions during their careers.

Had I bought a cheap house when I got posted to Gagetown in 97 (instead of a nice new $500 a month truck) I would have surely turned a profit on it and have had it about 75% paid off when i was posted out in 07, DOH!!

Again, media grabbing for what they can.. we know that there are tons of people all over our country making the same mistakes (university students and loans anyone?).  Media, please stop picking on us!!

 

[helpup]

I hate those briefs as well.  I will give the article a point on troops spend their money in ways that suggest, " Hey I am young and stupid".  Not all mind you but enough. 

I dont agree with using a 5 star resort to decompress.  There has been problems using such an open venue.  The old idea of renting Apt blocks use to work as it was more of a controled area to unwind in and keep a lid on anything going to extremes.

Personally despite the "experts" they bring in for the briefs I am a fan of doing as much as you can with in your Pl to facilitate the return to normal land. Unfortunately there is not much range and scope with the rotation schedual and handovers to get it done properly.  Then dealing with the differances in Post Deployment leave dates, Postings, Re-orgs.  It is hard to allow a group dynamic to help with the decompression.
I give out my phone number like candy and try to keep tabs on the troops but it doesnt help if they dont come forward.

The money aspect.  Even with out tours troops will do stupid things with thier money. Drink (Gosh) and the like.  They are young (and the not so young) We try to have a talk with the Pl's every other year or so about money, bugeting and the like.  Sort of like Life skills part duex

 

[PMedMoe]

I think the military should be doing more to explain basic financial information to our soldiers.  Low interest rate credit cards, RRSP investments, house vs. car for first purchase, rent to own schemes, interest rates in general, etc... I believe that would go alot to helping them make wise decisions during their careers.

I tend to agree with you, however, the means are available for the soldier to get this kind of information, e.g. SISIP advisors, financial counsellors, etc.  What other job sits you down and explains all that?