Deployment Life: Emotions Run Wild
By: Acacia Kenion
What is the issue?
Living conditions in deployment are not always the best. Depending on what branch you are going to, there are many ways you could spend your time there. Troops deal with many different issues such as housing, emotional changes, and physical changes.
How does the military view the issue?
Military Personnel view living conditions differently than those just being deployed. They feel as though it is a part of their training, and there is nothing wrong with the deployment.
How does the Public view the issue?
Families, and those in the public have a problem with the living conditions in deployment. Living conditions can sometimes be rural, and families back at home can get sick. Different conditions vary from, depression, anxiety, stress, and extreme separation issues. Children also take deployment very hard. Having only one parent in the house can sometimes put a strain on the children. This can just as well affect the now single parent. Sometimes they may get overwhelmed with the new responsibilities they have to now take on.
Programs/ Resources:
There are not many resources for troops dealing with living conditions in deployment. However, there are therapy sessions that a troop can go to whenever needed. There are a few things troops and their families can do to decrease the strain.
~Going over the conditions with the family.
~ Building trust with the spouse.
~ Setting up therapy times.
~ Getting into a particular routine without the spouse.
**Resources**
~Hosek, James R. How Is Deployment to Iraq and Afghanistan Affecting U.S. Service Members and Their Families?: An Overview of Early RAND Research on the Topic. Santa Monica, CA: RAND Corporation, 2011. Web.
~Staff Sgt. Peter Berardi. "My First Deployment: Staff Sgt. John Loughran."Army Mil. N.p., n.d. Web.