British killed in Afghanistan.

[Swampy]

They have fought alongside Americans in both Afghanistan and Iraq, and they are also suffering casualties. But, unlike the US economy, which is slowly recovering, the British economy has slid back into a recession, with no end in sight.

I'd be curious to know how their vets are coping with post-traumatic stress disorder and their suicide rates. Flowermonkey, any thoughts?

[flowermonkey]

Hi Swampy, thank you for the oppertunity to comment on the casualty rates from a British point of view.
Sadly we lost a soldier from the Grenadier Guards in the last few days and only days after another soldier.
War is and always has been a brutal affair with little reguard for lives we hear of the dead but less so of the injured. The ministry of Defence is very cagey about how many troops have been injured in any of the last campaigns. We can guess that when an IED detonates under a vehicle we no that it is very unlikely that the one soldier reported in the news was in that vehicle on their own. It is these others we are not told of, we don't need names just numbers. People need to be aware of the true cost to the troops.
It is thanks to the huge improvements in battlefield and military trauma care that many more of these seriously injured dont die from their wounds. The combat medics imbeded with units and the soldiers themselves have had advanced training in first aid and casualty care. Once the helicopters fitted with equipment and containing surgeons and nurses the chances of survival increases.
Multiple traumatic amputations are extreamly common now.
We have an incredible facility in Camp Bastian and at QMH in Birmingham once the injured are repatriated to England.
From there the chain of rehabilitation continues until they are discharged from the military at which point they are trandfered to the civilian National Health Service(NHS).
It then often falls apart as former soldiers are now treated alongside civilians who can't comprehend what the ex miitary have been through. The espirt de corps is lost and many flounder. It has been estimated that the average length of time former military come forward for help with PTSD. Many will have fallen into cycles of alcohol and drug abuse to ease the symptoms. It is a sad inditment of of society that a high proportion of our prison populatio and homeless are former military. Combat Stress is a charity for those serving and former military who have PTSD they are treating 18year olds fron the Afghanistan conflict to 90+year olds from WW2. Inbetween are those from every conflict inbetween Korea, Malaya,Cyprus,Northern Ireland, The Falklands

[flowermonkey]

Then the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. There is no offical figures on those who commit suicide one startling thought in that in the 30years since the Falklands war in 1982 more soldiers,marines, sailors and airmen have commited suicide than were killed in combat. The potential number of suicides we can expect if we these numbers are extrapolated fromthose involved in combat then to the numbers who have been involved in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Mental health is taken far more seriously than in the WW1 when the chances are you would be shot for cowardness rather than recieve treatment. Unless you were from the Officer class in which case you probably recieved treatment.
We have traveled along way in trauma and medicine but not as far in mental health.

[Swampy]

Aug 19, 2012 23:56:37 GMT -5 flowermonkey said:

We have traveled along way in trauma and medicine but not as far in mental health.

Fantastic summary, flowermonkey.

But you're right - we still have a long way to go to deal with the mental health issues of our soldiers - American, Australian, British, or Canadian. We owe it to them to give them the best treatment we can find.

[jerryfmcompushaft]

It interesting to note that things apparently go south when the injured soldier is released to civilian care. There is a lot to be said about the great value of moral support from your comrades. Those folks who remain on active duty after overseas service probably stand a better chance of not becoming a statistic than those who are discharged. There is a value to esprit de corps... and a somewhat negative side to civilian life. I noted this way back when "race relations" were a major concern in the military. I did a study on the subject, and the only statistically significant finding was that, those units stationed where there was less contact with the civilian population had fewer incidents of racial problems than those units where frequent contact with the civilian population was possible.

[Swampy]

Jerry,

Your crucial phrase is

when "race relations" were a major concern in the military.

When that was NOT a major concern, then the situation was reversed. The Colonel who wrote, "Inside the Green Berets" said that, in Germany, their relations with the local population was critical, because they needed the support in the theoretical event of a war.

And, during WWII, the goodwill of the Philipino people was critical - during the Bataan Death March, several natives grabbed a soldier and quickly hid him.