Operation Enduring Freedom Essay

Over the last decade, the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have drastically increased the need for effective mental health services and treatment for U.S. veterans and service members, especially those suffering from Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Nearly 1.5 million American service members have been deployed in Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) since the attack on the Twin Towers in September 2001 (Price, Gros, Strachan, Ruggiero, & Acierno, 2013). Approximately 25% of soldiers and wounded warriors returning home from OEF/OIF present with mental illness due to combat-related violence and other trauma exposure (Steinberg & Eisner, 2015). According to Price and colleagues (2013), OEF/OIF soldiers and veterans are at greater risk for developing mental illness compared to others who served in past military operations.

The Iraqi Republican Guard during that battle consisted of the Tawakalna Republic Guard Division, 12th Armored Division, and 26th Infantry Division. Specifically the battle 73 Easting, the conflict took place against the 18th Armored Brigade. It was one of three brigades assigned to Tawakalna Division. Its mission in moving there was to protect the Division flank during its move. Thus, the 18th Armored Brigade’s action was to move toward to the Iraqi Army's training areas, near to the 73 Easting. They were the best-armored vehicles of the Iraqi Army, with T-72 tanks, the front-line export version of modern Soviet tank technology. They were in static defensive positions with some alternative positions prepared. Iraq had T-72 main battle tanks with a 125mm main gun able to engage targets up to 2,000m. It also carried a 12.7 and 7.62 machine guns with the same effective ranges as the U.S .50cal and M240. In addition, the Iraqi Republican Guard had Boyevaya Mashina Pekhoty (BMP) infantry-fighting vehicles from the Soviet Union; Armored Personnel Carriers (APC); SA- 13 Air Defense Missiles; 152mm Towed Artillery; and Assured Crew Return Vehicle (ACRV) for Command. It also had engineering vehicle BAT-M Earth Mover; Utility Trucks; T-55 Tanks; BTR-70; MTLB Command Vehicles; ZSU-23-4 Air Defense Guns; 81mm dismounted mortars; Ambulance; POL Trucks; and Cargo Trucks. It is important to remember that none of the Iraq tanks, BMPs, or APCs had night

The freedoms Americans enjoy come at a price; brave military men and women often foot the bill. Many men and women pay with their lives; others relive the sights, sounds, and terror of combat in the form of PTSD. Several causes and risk factors contribute to the development of PTSD. Combat-related PTSD appears slightly different than traditional PTSD. History tells of times when soldiers diagnosed with PTSD were viewed as “weak.” Resources have not always been available to struggling soldiers. The adverse symptoms of PTSD on soldiers and their families can be crippling.

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) exerts a heavy, enduring influence on the lives of many United States veterans. The statistics are grave: 30.9% of male Vietnam veterans and 26.9% of female Vietnam veterans report a lifetime prevalence of PTSD symptoms (Staples, Hamilton, & Uddo, 2013). In 2005, 14 years after the conclusion of the Gulf war, veterans continued to report PTSD rates at 15.2%. In more recent years, 13.8% Iraq war veterans from 2007 to 2008 reported PTSD symptoms (Staples, Hamilton, & Uddo, 2013). Deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan is associated with a three-fold risk in developing PTSD symptoms (Khusid, 2013). However, in spite of the wide prevalence of PTSD among

Since September 1, 2001, America has been involved in warfare in the Middle East with over 2.2 million men and women serving in combat zones experiencing more tours, higher levels of perceived risk and more cultural integration within ranks than ever seen in history (Crocker, Powell-Cope, Brown & Besterman-Dahan, 2014). According to Clark-Hitt, Smith and Broderick (2012) 14% of returning veterans are diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) which they define as “an anxiety disorder that may occur following exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened”. In a military setting these events could consist of an environment of repeated bombing or threat of death, watching a comrade die, killing another human-being, even witnessing immoral violence on a daily basis. According to work done by Polusny et al. (2008) exposure to traumatic events can be a contributor to the perception of a lesser health status, an increase in physical health illness and increasing health care utilization and cost. Polusny et al. (2008) focused their research on the relationship between natural disaster trauma and physical health with a finding that natural disasters that produce PTSD symptom clusters do effect an individual’s physical health as well as the health care of the effected community for some time after said disaster. This paper however focuses on PTSD as it pertains to physical symptoms of American soldiers

When a soldier comes home from their deployment, whether it be their first or fourth, they go through an extreme amount of pressure and stress as they go through a transition back into being a civilian. Many soldiers experience some sort of mental or physical injury while they were deployed, and many last forever if they are not treated properly. According to Issues and Controversies (Facts on File), in 2011, roughly 320,000 veterans returning from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars had experienced a traumatic brain injury while they were deployed. In addition, 300,000 veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars have suffered from PTSD and/or depression. To add to the mental ailments veterans suffer from, many also live with physical injuries that impair their

For some time now, many have held the philosophy that the ever increasing deployment tempo and lengths of deployments have held significant value in the rising rate of suicides amongst our military and veterans. Combat trauma and other traumatic events experienced while deployed has also been on the hot seat as a predominate factor for being at risk. Whereas combat deployments can have a profound impact on the psychological and cognitive functioning of an individual, it is being seen that there is a significant percentage of individuals committing suicide that have never deployed. Stressors from military life in general are having a huge impact on the suicide rates of military members and veterans. Cerel, Van de Venne, Moore, Maple, Flaherty, & Brown (2015) found that “Stress on the entire military due to the length of these recent conflicts and the burden placed on all the forces has been linked to suicide risk among those who were never deployed. Other non-combat military- related events, such as exposure to death from training accidents, are expected incidents during military service but are also associated with PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders” (p. 83).

Currently, about eight percent of the world’s population will develop some form of Post-traumatic Stress Disorder. These numbers maximize when focusing on the military alone. During the Vietnam War, about fifteen percent of veterans were diagnosed with PTSD. This number doubled as the veterans went on with their life continued after the war to thirty percent. Our two most recent wars, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom, lead in the numbers with up to twenty percent of the veterans suffering from PTSD. It is very difficult to account for every military related suicide since the department of defense no longer keeps track of the military personnel who are retired or who are no longer in service. A study relating

Fighting for your country is hard enough without returning home to face another battlefield, an invisible internal struggle with being home. According to research done by Dr. Patel, almost half of the veterans returning home that were in active duty in Iraq and Afghanistan are coming back with invisible mental wounds that we are still attempting to understand. (Patel, 2015) Many face continuous struggles to reintegrate themselves back into society due to the conditions they are trained under. Understanding the impacts of trauma, more support for caregivers, and a hands on, positive approach to the hidden mental illnesses, society will be better prepared to help veterans transition back to civilian life.

The number of veterans returning from the Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and Operation New Dawn (OND) conflicts that are afflicted with posttraumatic stress disorder is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands (Kip, et al., 2013, p. 1298), demonstrating the importance of the social worker to be knowledgeable of the symptoms and treatment of this disabling trauma. The purpose of this literature review is to address the issue of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), address the symptoms linked to PTSD, and the methods used in the assessment of posttraumatic stress disorder with emphasis on military combat-related PTSD. In addition, the literature review will identify the interventions by social work, if any, when addressing PTSD and the role social workers may play when assisting those with combat-related posttraumatic stress disorder.

T. Stecker, J. Fortney, F. Hamilton, and I. Ajzen, 2007, address that mental health symptoms have the likelihood to increase within post deployment for military veterans, especially for the ones who have seen combat. An estimated quarter of recent war veterans who are currently receiving care in the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) Health Care System have reported mental health problems. Soldiers who have served in Iraq come home suffering from depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The Statistics of Iraq soldiers meeting the criteria for depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is greater than the soldiers who served in Afghanistan. The mental health symptom rates for soldiers who served in Iraq were as high as 20% for PTSD, 18% for anxiety, and 15% for depression.

Multiple psychological and cognitive problems tend to be overlooked or not well treated in combat veterans. The researchers of this study focused on evaluating how an interdisciplinary program benefitted the occupational performance, symptom severity, and overall life satisfaction in combat veterans who had been diagnosed with PTSD, MDD, or TBI. This Level 3, quasi-experimental, study specifically examines if and how the outcomes of an eight-week residential treatment program were beneficial to veterans with a history PTSD or TBI. The independent variable of this study is the residential program, and the dependent variable of this study is the outcome of veterans with PTSD and TBI. After pre and post treatment interviews and assessment tools, the study found that occupational areas, such as health management, social participation, and rest, all increased throughout treatment, while the overall symptom severity of the patients decreased. This article emphasizes the needed for interdisciplinary care for combat veterans with cognitive diagnosis after returning from war, emphasizing the importance of nurses to work alongside other healthcare professionals for the rehabilitation of these

     This I’ll admit was a very interesting book that looked at what could have really caused the Iraq war and whether we really had to go to war. The book talks about the flaws with the reasons that Bush proposed for going to war with Iraq and why we haven’t had a fuller victory yet. The book basically goes into details about the four observations that arise from examining certain aspects of the war and afterwards. In the next few pages I’ll be summarizing the book then stating my analysis and opinions about ideas presented in the book.

When the deadline for Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait was broken on January 12, 1990 the United States Congress authorized the use of military force on Iraq for their actions against their neighbor Kuwait. The UN created a coalition force which included over 30 nations led by the United States in order to liberate Kuwait. The United States had amassed its forces along with the coalition forces in Saudi Arabia on the border surrounding Kuwait and Southern Iraq before starting the Air Campaign which decimated Iraqi forces on the ground and air. On the Morning of January 17, 1991 the Air Campaign code named Operation Desert Shield began starting the war to liberate Kuwait. US aircraft along with coalition forces began bombing strategic sites in Iraq to include: aircraft, anti-aircraft facilities, and command communication faculties. The

For the past eight or nine years, the United States has continually sent troops overseas to the Middle East, but why? The government has said that it is to fight terrorism or to bring democracy to the Middle Eastern nations. There happens to be a barrier that stands in the way of both those goals and that would be Islamic Fundamentalism. Islamic Fundamentalism is the term used to describe the religious ideologies of advocating a return to the “fundamentals” of Islam. Through this return to the Islamic fundamentals, the rights of women have been violated while acts of terrorism and suicides increase. Also, there has been an increase in resistance to the United States occupation. With this increase of resistance the death toll of United