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Detainee guards face mental-health risks

Sailors working in military prisons in the Middle East are at an increased risk for psychological problems compared with other sailors deployed in the war zones, Navy medical officials say.

The findings by the Bureau of Medicine and Surgery show higher rates of anxiety, depression and sleeping problems among the detainee guards, according to a series of studies that began in 2007.

That has prompted Navy leaders to add personnel to those units in an effort to reduce individual sailors’ workloads and stress. The Navy also decided to prohibit sailors from extending their individual augmentee deployments because the mission is considered too stressful.

“The detainee guard role is one where you are always in front of, face to face with someone who doesn’t like you and will take every opportunity to be disrespectful and disparaging,” said Rear Adm. Karen Flaherty, BuMed’s deputy chief for health care operations.

BuMed mental health experts said the findings were unexpected and illustrate that traditional combat may not be the primary cause of psychological stress.

“It’s not necessarily about exposure to helplessness and horror,” said Capt. Robert Koffman, a BuMed psychiatrist who helped conduct the surveys. “It may very well be that sleeplessness and chronic fatigue and the psychological state may be the biggest factor.”

New rules for detainee guards were the first major changes to arise from BuMed’s psychological health studies of deployed sailors that began two years ago.

The Behavioral Health Needs Assessment Survey has sent teams of BuMed psychiatrists to Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait to talk with sailors about their psychological health. The teams hold focus groups and give anonymous surveys.

The surveys also found that morale is high among many IAs. More than 70 percent of IAs in Iraq and Afghanistan described their morale as “high” or “very high,” according to the survey.

Later this year, BuMed plans to target other groups for psychological assessments, including Seabees and explosive ordnance disposal detachments.

Demand for Navy detainee guards has been far larger than the Navy’s master-at-arms community has been able to supply. That’s led the Navy to put sailors with limited training and experience in those war-zone assignments.

STRESS RELIEF

Changes meant to reduce psychological stress among sailors assigned to detainee operations:

• Adding personnel to units assigned to prisons.

• Prohibiting individual augmentees on prison duty from extending deployments.

• Before deployment, conducting psychological testing to find sailors most suited for the detainee mission.

• After deployment, sponsoring “returning warrior weekends” to foster connections among IAs after returning.