Soldiers Stepping Back into the Life that No Longer Exists

Reintegration Issues Faced By Citizen Army Pose Major Challenges

Returning Soldiers Have Difficulties Returning Home.

by Shelle Michaels,Soldiers Angels

The United States has gone from a large career military force to a larger citizen army force, this in itself poses new challenges for reintegration. The military has learned in the past that this time frame is crucial as many soldiers, even for those who return home from service unharmed, healthy and fully ready to pick up their lives where they left off, have difficulty acclimating to civilian life upon returning home from war.

Although many service members appear to be unharmed and healthy, the psychological wounds suffered by veterans returning from war may be as hard to overcome and as difficult to cope with as the physical injuries of combat. Veterans may experience severe anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and suicidal feelings. It's estimated that one in five of the troops returning from the current war in Iraq and Afghanistan will suffer some form of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD.) Their symptoms may include intrusive memories and dreams, flashbacks, hypervigilance, impaired memory, diminished affect, and feelings of estrangement from others that interfere with their return to civilian work and family.

Behaviors useful in combat aren't always conducive to day to day life. Life that the service member knew before the war, no longer exists; the family is different, the community is different, and the service member is a different person. Time apart from the American culture and family along with the eperiences of war, have changed what was, to what will never be again.

Reintegration, a term that most people never have to verbalize, is now a key term in the life of a returning service member and their families. It defines a new way of life.  Reintegration is the key component in the transitioning of service members back into the life that they left. Programs such as Beyond the Yellow Ribbon, created by Chaplain John Morris of the Minnesota National Guard have started to spring up and become a hot topic in regards to life after the war. Beyond the Yellow Ribbon is named as a reminder that the support of service members cannot end when they return from deployment and the yellow ribbons are untied.

The program defines the steps of accountabilty as the Roadmap To Reintegration, Your personal guide to coming home:

• Taking Care of Business:A checklist outlining steps that need to be taken upon returning from deployment.  It will help ensure a successful transition back to civilian life.
• Taking Care of Your Health: An explanation of the various health issues that veterans may be experiencing after an overseas deployment.  This portion of the Roadmap to Reintegration is a great resource for health issues.
• Taking Care of Your Family: Pointers on how to reconnect with your spouse, significant other, children and/or parents.
• Taking Care of Benefits: An overview of Veterans Administration benefits, how to find assistance and accessing those benefits.  This section also has a brief explanation of Tricare benefits.
• Legal: This section identifies the legal assistance available through the Staff Judge Advocate (JAG). 
• Benefits: Some specific benefits and how to access them.
• Employment: Programs and services designed to help veterans successfully gain meaningful employment.
• Education: Educational benefits available to qualifying veterans/soldiers.
• Family Reintegration Academy: Prepare family members for the homecoming of their Soldiers, and to inform them on what they can do to make this transition as easy as possible. 
• Monthly Individual Reintegration Training (MIRT): MIRT is a 1 day reintegration training event for an individual REFRAD and MED-HOLD Soldiers. This training provides an opportunity to learn, ask questions and dialog about the challenges of reintegration and understand what resources are available.
• Initial Reintegration Training: Connect Soldiers to service providers who can assist them in overcoming the challenges of reintegration through briefings and a workshop format
  AND
  -Enroll every Soldier in the Veterans Administration (1010EZ)
  -Inform Soldier of their Veterans Benefits
  -Provide Soldiers with TAG’s “10 Commandments of Reintegration” wallet card
• Training Event- 30 Days after return: Reconnect Soldiers and families with service providers through workshops and round-robin stations.  Allows for more personal contact with service providers.
• Training Event- 60 Days after return: Address negative behaviors related to combat stress.
• Training Event- 90 Days after return: Conduct a thorough Post Deployment Health Re-assessment (PDHRA) of combat veterans.
• Community Reintegration Training: Educate community leaders about challenges of reintegration, and what they can do to assist combat veterans and their families successfully reintegrate back into the community.
• Prevention and Relationship Enhancement Program (PREP)Marriage Enrichment Workshop: It is a free, educational and practical application opportunity to learn what works in marriage (and what makes marriage work). This is NOT group therapy. 

Morris' analogy of reintegration is, “A family is like a canoe on a lake. The family is doing OK, but like a canoe, you can’t upset things or you’ll tip it. Along comes the government and they tell the service members they’re going to war – they get yanked out of the canoe. This swamps the canoe when the soldier gets sent off on duty. The family gets up righted, throws the water out and tries to survive. A period of time later, the soldier climbs back into the canoe, and the whole thing starts over again.’

Frequently, the troops' war just begins when they come home from deployment. Our military makes a pledge to leave no soldier behind on the battlefield. As a nation, let our pledge be that we will leave no veteran behind when they return home. We need to educate ourselves on these issues, and reach out and lend a hand, let's all go beyond the yellow ribbon.

For more detail on "Beyond the Yellow Ribbon" please access: http://www.minnesotanationalguard.org/returning_troops/btyr_overview.php

Minnesota National Guard Public Affairs
Veterans Service Building
20 West 12th Street
St. Paul, MN 55155
Captain John Morris [email protected]