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the patriot
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Military to study stress of peacekeeping
WebPosted Fri Feb 23 19:11:33 2001
HALIFAX - The Canadian Armed Forces has sent a delegation of psychologists to Bosnia to gather data on the personal toll that peacekeeping missions take on Canadian soldiers, CBC News has learned.
Thousands of soldiers have been sent to combat zones over the past few decades. But in recent years, the number of Canadians in the military has dwindled while the number of missions has not.
There are only about 20,000 soldiers in Canada‘s army, and they‘re required to take part in mission after mission in some of the most troubled places on Earth.
With all that peacekeeping, the pressure on soldiers has never been greater outside of actual war time. Within the ranks, there‘s a sense that suicide rates are high and that the number of broken marriages is skyrocketing.
One of the most better known cases of a peacekeeper breaking under pressure is that of General Romeo Dallaire. After 35 years in the army, a mission to Rwanda left him shattered.
Now Canada‘s Armed Forces want to know if peacekeeping missions are responsible for destroying soldiers‘ lives and families.
"These things are rumour and innuendo at this point and we need to get a good handle on the true impact of operations," said Commander Brian Mosley.
The forces don‘t have statistics on divorce rates among its soldiers, but it does have some on suicides.
In 1997, 12 army soldiers killed themselves – putting the rate of suicide in the armed forces five times higher than the national average. What officials don‘t know is if the suicides were related to peacekeeping stress.
"These boys are getting it mission after mission after mission," said Bill Porter, a former peacekeeper who has two sons in the military.
"And the military still have this culture that having a problem, whether it‘s family, mental, whatever you like, is an exhibition of weakness that might make an officer particularly unfit for command," he said.
Canadian peacekeepers are sent on missions every two years, each deployment lasting six months.
The military‘s study is expected to be finished by summer.
***********************************
-the patriot-
WebPosted Fri Feb 23 19:11:33 2001
HALIFAX - The Canadian Armed Forces has sent a delegation of psychologists to Bosnia to gather data on the personal toll that peacekeeping missions take on Canadian soldiers, CBC News has learned.
Thousands of soldiers have been sent to combat zones over the past few decades. But in recent years, the number of Canadians in the military has dwindled while the number of missions has not.
There are only about 20,000 soldiers in Canada‘s army, and they‘re required to take part in mission after mission in some of the most troubled places on Earth.
With all that peacekeeping, the pressure on soldiers has never been greater outside of actual war time. Within the ranks, there‘s a sense that suicide rates are high and that the number of broken marriages is skyrocketing.
One of the most better known cases of a peacekeeper breaking under pressure is that of General Romeo Dallaire. After 35 years in the army, a mission to Rwanda left him shattered.
Now Canada‘s Armed Forces want to know if peacekeeping missions are responsible for destroying soldiers‘ lives and families.
"These things are rumour and innuendo at this point and we need to get a good handle on the true impact of operations," said Commander Brian Mosley.
The forces don‘t have statistics on divorce rates among its soldiers, but it does have some on suicides.
In 1997, 12 army soldiers killed themselves – putting the rate of suicide in the armed forces five times higher than the national average. What officials don‘t know is if the suicides were related to peacekeeping stress.
"These boys are getting it mission after mission after mission," said Bill Porter, a former peacekeeper who has two sons in the military.
"And the military still have this culture that having a problem, whether it‘s family, mental, whatever you like, is an exhibition of weakness that might make an officer particularly unfit for command," he said.
Canadian peacekeepers are sent on missions every two years, each deployment lasting six months.
The military‘s study is expected to be finished by summer.
***********************************
-the patriot-
