Combat Stress Control and Prevention: What Can Be Learned from an Application of Workplace Behavioral Health in a Deployed Combat Environment?

Abstract

This article details a Combat Stress Control and Prevention (CSCP) team's tour during Operation Iraqi Freedom. It highlights the similarities between battlefield and Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs) behavioral health care methods and practices. A CSCP team's mission is to provide battle-front direct mental health services to commanders and combatants via consultation, education, advocacy and proximal prevention, intervention and stabilization, and if indicated, evacuation of overstressed troops. This team's access, credibility, and social networking were critical in preventing and responding to war-fighter's combat stressors in a timely manner. As in EAP work, credibility with leadership and bridging social capital are essential components for workplace behavioral health prevention success.

KEYWORDS:

• combat stress control
• deployment
• reintegration
• transition
• workplace behavioral health

The opinions expressed in this brief report are the authors' and should not be interpreted as the policy or opinions of the United States Air Force or the United States Army.