In a move to stop the redeployment of troops suffering from trauma, Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) launched its first strategic campaign, Operation Recovery: Stop the Deployment of Traumatized Troops.
The veterans hope to help troops who are already suffering from traumatic experiences to avoid getting pushed over the edge by being forced back into a war zone, according to Joe Callan, IVAW Western Regional Field Organizer, who served in the Marines for 11 years.
“We don’t want them to have to go back,” Mr. Callan said. “There are many soldiers who do want to go back in, and there are many soldiers who don’t want to deploy, that have to deploy even with these traumas.”
Currently, troops with PTSD and psychiatric conditions may or may not be deployed, depending on their situation, according to Maria Tolleson, media-relations officer of the U.S. Army Office of the Surgeon General.
Before deployment, soldiers undergo a face-to-face screening process that identifies those at risk. “Providers make a recommendation to commanders about deployability of soldiers; commanders use their best judgment based on mission requirements, etc. and make the final decision, taking into consideration medical recommendations,” Tolleson said.
Soldiers who are identified as having PTSD or behavioral or mental health issues that may become worse by deployment are then given another assessment by a behavioral health expert, according to Tolleson.
Regulations about deployment for troops suffering from PTSD or similar issues are outlined in the Health Affairs Policy issued in November 2006 on Deployment Limiting Psychiatric Conditions. Soldiers who are determined to be non-deployable are given a profile on their limitations, but “if their psychiatric situation is stable, they may be deployed and followed up by a behavioral health provider in theater,” Tolleson said.
“There is a waiver process that must be utilized for soldiers considered non-deployable with psychiatric conditions,” Tolleson said, adding that “commanders may NOT deploy a soldier whose waiver was denied.”
“Our goal is that the troops who are fit to deploy do deploy, and those that are not fit to deploy get the type of treatment they need so they can deploy,” Tolleson said.
