The Warrior Reintegration Series

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Bill Huntington
  • 442nd Fighter Wing
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  Part One: Meeting the need

With readiness to deploy for war a hallmark of training in the Air Force, it would seem strange to think that coming home from war could negatively impact that same readiness.

However, such is the view of Col. Steve Arthur, 442nd Fighter Wing commander. He sees a growing problem for troops and their families when coping with transitions from the battlefield to the home front.

"The Army has figured out statistically that one out of six of its youngsters who come back from battle have stress-related problems when they get home," Colonel Arthur said. "In the Air Force, our Airmen have not been seeing this until recently and we are starting to see the results of the stress associated with battle."

Military-wide, problems are manifest in an ever-increasing number of stress-related disorders and escalating incidences of divorce, abuse, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and even suicide. All are indicators of the impact of stress on service members' lives and when it isn't dealt with effectively, combat-readiness can be compromised.

The Colonel also feels the roles of Airmen in battle will continue to expand as is evidenced by the Air Force's ever-increasing involvement with "in-lieu of" activities and other non-traditional missions. From his perspective, it's something that is already impacting the 442nd Fighter Wing, its members and their families

"I can only speak for the 442nd Fighter Wing," Colonel Arthur said. "And we, the 442nd Fighter Wing are starting to see the effects of those stresses."

For the 442nd FW, Colonel Arthur is aggressively taking all the steps he can to mitigate those effects and help Wing members get exactly the right kind of assistance to make the transition safely.

At the core of the Colonel's actions is the development and implementation of a "Warrior Reintegration" program designed to proactively prevent problems caused by the transition and effectively deal with cases that do arise.

To effectively carry this program to the wing, Colonel Arthur has assembled a single team that links Airman and Family Readiness, the Chaplain's office and the 442nd Medical Squadron's mental-heath office.

The team members include Maj. Edward Cullumber, a clinical social worker; Wing Chaplain (Capt.) James Buckman and Master Sgt. Vicki Chambers chief of the wing's Airman and Family Readiness office.

The team has laid the groundwork along the gamut of educating reservists in advance, assisting them and their family members during deployments, providing post-deployment interviews and assessments, conducting counseling, and encouraging the use of professional mental-health services to assist members in dealing with problems associated with the transition.

To Major Cullumber, who holds advanced degrees in social work and public administration, the need to address the issue of coping with combat-generated stress is very real.

"Statistically, individuals exposed to any kind of combat operational stress will have a reaction," he said. "Some have more severe reactions and some will have less.

''(Warrior Reintegration) is an attempt on the front end to prevent any kind of problems with negative stress reactions," said Major Cullumber, a mental-health practitioner in his civilian occupation. "On post-deployment, when people return, it's to help them reintegrate back into civilian life and to identify any kind of problems they might be having that they need to seek additional help for."

He added that, like physical illnesses, if problems can be prevented and people given the tools and information on what to look for, it would minimize problems further down the road.

Sergeant Chambers plays a key role on the front end ensuring members know what resources exist to lessen the impact of family separation. It is also A & FR's long-established record of getting to know and working with the families of 442nd FW members that will help pave the way for those in need to seek help.

"Because we really make the first contact with the families," Sergeant Chambers said, "I think there is a special connection there that they know they are not alone; that they can call if they need something."

Additionally, during deployment, she works to maintain contact with spouses and family members who may be experiencing difficulty dealing with long-term separation.
Even after a member seeks out a chaplain or mental-heath support, A & FR stays actively engaged.

One of the team's goals is to remove a stigma that exists about seeking mental-health care. It's a goal they share with Joint Chiefs of Staff chairman Adm. Michael Mullen.

"Good people ... are actually willing to deny themselves (mental-health) care out of the fear that doing so hurts them and their families in the long run," Admiral Mullen said.
"Nothing could be further from the truth, and it's time we got over that."

That sentiment was echoed by Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne in an August 2007 "Letter to Airmen" where he also emphasized the value of a good wingman in getting help.

"It is extremely unusual for an Airman's career to suffer negative effects from seeking help for emotional difficulties," he said. "Getting help when you're hurting is the right thing to do. Smart Airmen seek out help when they need it and great wingmen know when to encourage their peers to get help."

"This whole thing really is a team effort," Chaplain Buckman said. "You have the wingman, you have Airman and Family Readiness, you have mental health, you have on-base counseling, you have Veterans Affairs and for a lot of our people there are the clergy. It is really a team effort."

"The entire Department of Defense structure is already starting to react to this and starting to fix some of things that are attaching stigmas to people for getting help," Colonel Arthur said. "There is still a lot more that will have to be done and that is, in my mind, my responsibility."

The 442nd FW's program is designed to enable people to seek help with the assurance of confidentiality and the Wing's Chaplain provides it; especially for those reluctant to talk with a mental-health professional.

There have been instances where wing members avoided professional mental health services because of the existing stigma associated with it, according to Colonel Arthur.
"I'm about to hire my fourth chaplain and then we'll have four chaplains on duty here," he said. "Everybody who goes over to battle is going to come back and the chaplains are going to talk with them about this issue."

"They have complete confidentiality with us," Chaplain Buckman said. "The Chaplain is the one person in the chain of command that they have that with. What I tell the guys is that it is kind of like the commercial for Las Vegas, what is said here stays here."
That confidentiality gives the Chaplain a unique ability to suggest civilian mental-health resources for those reservists without introducing official Air Force.

"Seeking voluntary assistance is a big part of this," Major Cullmber said. "We really strive to have the Chaplains work with people initially because that will increase the element of confidentiality."

Major Cullumber, who as mental health care provider also employs confidentiality, sees the program as being completely operational in time for the return of wing reservists current deployed to Afghanistan.

"People who have reactions to stress should know it doesn't mean they are mentally ill, it doesn't mean that they are crazy," Major Cullumber said. "It just means they have been exposed to some kind of unusual stressor and they are having a normal reaction to it."

"This (program lets) members know that there is (help) in place," Sergeant Chambers said. "We want to make sure (our people) are taken care of and this hopefully gets the stigma of getting help out of the way."

Colonel Arthur's commitment to the effort is open ended and, besides the well being of its members, the "health" of the Wing is at stake too.

"We're in it for the long term," Colonel Arthur said. "All of us who deploy into battle will face issues with stress-related problems. If we don't deal with this now, what we are going to see is a decrease in the combat capability of this Wing.

"My responsibility is the combat capability of this wing," he said. "I need to do something now that is going to allow the unbelievably high levels of combat capability that we have in this wing to continue."

That something is embodied in the Warrior Reintegration program.

Editor's note: This is the first in a series of articles about Warrior Reintegration. Future articles in this series will focus on the mechanics of the program, tell-tale signs of disorders related to stress, options for help and other issues.