But the chances that some of them will die violent deaths continues, as well as it did when his battalion was operating in Iraq, sergeant major command Sa'eed Mustafa constantly warns his soldiers about the dangers of allowing the guard where below need to be more secure in their own homes.
"Talk about the enemy, which is different from the downrange enemy, but that is just as deadly," he said, using the military term for a combat zone.
In fact, given the history of the Brigade at Fort Bliss of suicide, homicide, assault, driving drunk and drug use, his troops are statistically more at home while deployed in Iraq at risk. Last year, only one of the unit's soldiers died in combat, but in 2008, the last time was the Brigade home of Iraq, seven soldiers were killed and six others had committed crimes in which at least four civilians and soldiers outside of the Brigade were killed in little more than one year.
Drugs, including heroin and methamphetamine laboratory, five were discovered in the quarters, as a sex tape home which had been circulated among soldiers and presented one of the Brigade was's lieutenants and sergeants male.
"Being in garrison is not do well, because since 9/11, it seems that we have dedicated deployed longer than at home," said Lieutenant Colonel David Wilson.
As the United States continues military reduce the number of troops in Iraq, 50,000 by September 1, 85,000 now - has begun to shift some focus to the rear in an effort to ensure a transition smoothly to the soldiers, a move prompted by the lessons learned that have struggled to adapt to the life of war returning veterans.
IV Brigade leaders said that their problems have not only been deeply embarrassing, but it had revealed institutional ignorance about combat stress and traumatic brain injury that forced the unit to use a holistic approach do not usually associated with the military to face their problems.
"They were leaving a war zone, returning home, and do not need the care and supervision, which allowed them to stay in the mentality of Mosul," said sergeant major Mustafa, referring to the violent city north of Iraq where the Brigade had been stationed as he returned to Fort Bliss in 2008. "This is a group of people who had been fighting and killing and taking casualties during 14 months." "Not you can change it and shut down."
The Brigade is believed that you one of the worst criminal record between brigades of the army, although statistics are not kept. Its leaders say that if he succeeds in keeping troops safe until her next deployment, its multifaceted approach can become a model for other units attempting to acclimate to their own soldiers for peacetime.
So far, the strategy seems largely to work: after spending nearly three months at Fort Bliss, major Myles Caggins, a spokesman said that its soldiers had investee in only a handful of cases, the most severe three arrests for drunken driving that turned out without injury. Methods range from the wake-up call: kicking dozens of army troops and that they require groups of three or more troops in March, instead of walking, are always based, soft to the touch, including calling parents to tell them that their children had done a job copy in Iraq and civil social worker bringing a lawyer depressed soldiers.
The Brigade also expanded its list of risk soldiers to include who the army deemed not concerned, otherwise including troops with multiple violations of traffic. Arriving at Fort Bliss, regarded as soldiers at greater risk for psychological problems met in the runway accompanied an interview with an adviser, sometimes with members of the family in tow.
Colonel Wilson said that it had ordered soldiers of the battalion of reading "Who moved my cheese?" by Spencer Johnson to help them manage change. Officers, he said, were assigned "Winning every day", by football coach former College Lou Holtz.
The unit has also trained its leaders in suicide prevention programs that exceed the needs of the army, and their officers, including the Commander of the Brigade until last Friday, Colonel Peter a. Newell, have fallen bars around Fort Bliss to monitor the behaviour of its soldiers.
Sergeants are encouraged to pry on the personal lives of soldiers by asking for the health of their marriages and the State of their finances. And before going on holiday, each soldier with a car was forced to submit to an inspection of the vehicle and to show a driver's license and proof of insurance.
"There is a burning desire to change the military," said Colonel Newell. "We had to do something, or we would have bottomed out after eight years of war."
A critical aspect of his approach to has been stagger the times when leadership of the unit of the Brigade was reassigned to sergeants and officers of higher rank are not transferred at the same time, which normally occurs in units of the army within a few months once a brigade returns from the war.
During a pre-departure briefing this spring about 360 troops operating Base Adder of contingency in the South of Iraq, Colonel Newell rhythm before them, saying that he felt uncomfortable about his imminent return to Fort Bliss.
"I have stress a little bit about the sending of a brigade of House", he said. "The sad truth is that it is safer for me to keep in Iraq drawing pay battle with people trying to kill you than it is for me to take it home".
One by one, he marked in cases in which one of the unit's soldiers had ruined his life in Fort Bliss before the deployment of the Brigade to Iraq last year: four suicide, an overdose of drugs, a murder committed with a fatal offenses, baseball bat driving drunk, cases of domestic violence and a gunfight after an argument in a bar.
At least six former soldiers of the unit are at the service of 15 years or more of imprisonment for such offences, and more trials are pending.
As part of a cleaning, Colonel Newell fired more than 150 soldiers from the army and formal disciplinary charges against more than 10 percent of 3,500 troops of the Brigade. In a company, 39 of the 150 soldiers were put on trial.
Captain Rolland Johnson, 26, a company commander, said that approach the Brigade had been required to pay attention to his soldiers in ways unthinkable a few years ago.
"I can tell you full name and city of all," said, adding that recently had installed a suggestion box for their troops out of a tin of munitions discarded. "It used to be if they saw the captain to arrive were in trouble," said Captain Johnson. "Things have changed a lot, but it is a new type of soldier, too, all who have seen and how long you have been absent."
No comments:
Post a Comment