The Australian media have picked up on the common myth that the ADF is rife with bullied, suicidal soldiers. This old chestnut gets hauled out every time a member of the ADF commits suicide. Additionally, it gets wheeled out after every inquiry into said suicide, and then again when family members drag it up again. It’s a fairly natural response from members of the family who have lost a loved one. It’s a traumatic experience for all involved.
Whilst my heart goes out to anyone who has lost a family member or loved one through suicide, blaming the system is just an easy way out. Statistically, the ADF has a suicide rate about half that of the broader community. Given that the ADF targets and consists primarily of the peak demographic for suicide; that is an impressive achievement.
Admittedly, psychological screening on entry to the ADF does rule out some of those predisposed towards suicide, which would fudge the figures. On the other hand, members of the ADF are exposed to far greater stress situations than their civilian counterparts. By that, I’m not referring exclusively to the operational environment, as stressful as that is. There are also a number of other factors that create significant levels of stress and could lead to mental health problems.
The ADF targets its recruiting specifically at school leavers and young adults. The reason for that should be fairly self-evident. The training required to make the transition from civilian to soldier/sailor/airman is necessarily quite intense. These young people are taken out of their familiar environment and comfort zone, and exposed to a strict and sometimes overwhelming training environment designed specifically to prepare them for combat. Once that is complete, they are sent to another training institution for further development into their specific trade. Only then are they sent to a unit and life regains any semblance of normality, although that normality is not the world they left behind at the recruiting centre.
They are immersed in a world where discipline is key, where the chain of command controls almost every aspect of their lives. They are different people to what they once were. That is not to say they become inhuman. They will have friends like they never had before, people with whom they have conquered adversity and come out laughing on the other side. They are instilled with values like courage, initiative, teamwork and mateship.
At no stage in a military career can they expect to have what anyone else would refer to as a “normal” lifestyle. They are expected to maintain a high degree of fitness. An injury can cause serious career problems from that perspective. They can expect to move every 3-4 years, sometimes more frequently than that. Not across suburbs, but interstate and occasionally overseas, and often to remote locations away from their family and friends. They can expect even in peacetime to be away from home for extended periods for exercises or courses. They can expect to work long hours for no additional remuneration. They can expect that as defence tries to save more money each year, that they will fill two or even three jobs at the same time. Then there is operational service.
Operational tours cause a whole raft of difficulties just in and of themselves. Six to eight months overseas in a dangerous environment with limited ability to communicate with loved ones and in almost always very basic living conditions is difficult enough. Throw in actual combat or situations that are beyond the realm of rational understanding, and it only gets worse. That is why significant effort is made to screen all returning servicemen for psychological trauma during and after a deployment, but no routine program will ever identify every problem that lies dormant in the subconscious.
That is why military training institutions are hard. They are designed to be so that they can prepare, as much as humanly possible, a person for the career they’ve chosen. It says a lot about the military in this country that even accounting for initial entry screening, the rate of suicide is still half that of the rest of the community. Remember that ADF members, whilst exposed to all of these additional stressors, are also still people, and will experience all of the usual emotional disasters that befall the rest of the community. Relationships will fail (more so than outside the military for all of the reasons stated above), there will be deaths in the family, and poor financial decisions will cause additional hardship.
There are a number of support mechanisms in the ADF to help people deal with all of these additional burdens. The Defence Community Organisation exists to help families cope with the demands of service life. There are equity advisers in every unit and formation and are outside of the chain of command to deal with complaints about harassment, bullying or unfair treatment. There are people trained specifically in suicide prevention. There is a medical system that is trained to deal with mental illness and a dedicated Australian Army Psychology Corps (with appropriate counterparts in the other two services). There are philanthropic organisations like the Salvation Army and the Everyman who deploy to the field and even overseas sometimes. There is the circle of mates that only ever grows throughout your time in the service, and of course there are the Padres.
The padres deserve their own special mention. Chaplains in the ADF are a very special breed. The churches of the world could take a leaf out of their book for the advancement of humankind. They live and breathe ecumenicalism. The unit padre might be a Catholic and you a Protestant, Jew, Buddhist, Muslim, or devout Atheist; he couldn’t care less. When your world is turned upside down by absolutely anything from a fight with the missus to a close mate dying in your arms, the Padre will be the first by your side. He is often as filthy, wet and tired as you are, but he’ll make a hot brew and listen to you pour your heart out. He has powers that other officers couldn’t even comprehend. He’ll shirtfront Generals if need be, to see a problem resolved. Anyone who says that they had no one to turn to with a problem whilst serving in the ADF is either ignorant or lying, and from personal experience, it is very hard to be ignorant of the existence of the Chaplain.
Bullying does exist in the ADF, like it exists in any other workplace. Sometimes there is a fine line between discipline from a superior and bullying. Sometimes there is a fine line between training and bullying. It is worse in training institutions because they are necessarily hard. Some examples of workplace bullying have led to suicide. That is tragic. To tar the whole ADF for the few and isolated instances where that has taken place is ignorant, inaccurate, unfair and just plain lazy.
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2 hours ago
6 comments:
Very good analysis, Sharpie.
Suicides in the military have been part of the system since the Roman Legions (and probably well before), but trying to convince a grieving family member or a baying media that the army is not a brutal uncaring mob of psychopaths that hounded their soldier son/daughter to their death is well nigh impossible.
It is especially pleasing to me, as a Vietnam veteran, to see that the modern army is making serious efforts to assist those members suffering PTSD and related mental illness. For too long, these poor souls were treated as cowards, weaklings or "lacking in moral fibre". BZ to all those responsible for an innovative and caring progression in an organisation that is often hidebound and rigid in opposition to change.
Just to add, there have been a few high profile suicides amongst Australian police in recent years. One was a highly respected detective from NSW (I think) who served investigating war crimes in Bosnia. Another was, if I recall, a female head of police in, the ACT (?).
I remember reading both but could not find anything on a brief search. If journalists don't compare like-with-like, then their reports are just a waste of time.
"To tar the whole ADF for the few and isolated instances where that has taken place is ignorant, inaccurate, unfair and just plain lazy."
Your analysis is fine as far as it goes, and you're correct in highlighting the media feeding frenzy, but denial won't fix the problem. It's not endemic, but it's there.
One suicide in the ADF is one too many, and my memory of recruit training (admittedly a long time ago) is that there were a few NCOs who were psychopaths. There were some that were very good , but a minority who shouldn't have been let out in daylight.
The other thing I learned quickly in recruit training was never to let on that I was a teacher. There were a few NCOs who had it in for teachers - and anyone identified would be singled out for special treatment. Perhaps they had a hard time at school. It was a different story once posted to a unit. Once in a rifle platoon, the relationships, whilst still hierarchical, began to develop a collaborative quality.
It we are to have the best training programs we need to root out any practices that involve humiliation and/or bullying. The closer you get to the sharp end, the less useful this sort of behaviour becomes. In Vietnam, especially with the Yanks, the sad outcome was fragging. It also happened in the ADF, but was rare.
I've had a soft spot for the Salvo's after seeing one of them turn up again and again in places where you'd least expect them - and then seeing them setup an urn and handout the bikkies. Those blokes impressed me, and I always put whatever I've got in my pocket in their tin when I pass them by.
As for bullying and humiliation, I saw more of it at school than I ever saw in the army. Yes, we had a couple of nutjob NCO's and officers, but it was more that they were very hard men with a very short fuse.
That said, the worst bully that we had at school ended up in the RAAF. Last I heard of him (many years ago), he was flying the PM around.
When I did my training, I wanted to know that it was tough enough to weed out those that wouldn't be able to cut it if we ever did go somewhere interesting. In order to instill teamwork and confidence in the men around you, the training has to be hard and relentless. People have to fail and be weeded out.
One instructor was removed during our recruit training - he went over the top, and he was yanked our straight away. But on the other hand, my instructor was "counselled" for being too soft (which was true).
One suicide in the ADF is one too many
Yes, you’re right. Any suicide is one too many. Even worse than a suicide brought on by a personal sense of failure or helplessness, is one brought on by the actions of others. Whether it be from bullying in the education system (either student or faculty), or bullying in the workplace; they are all equally horrendous, and it can happen anywhere there is a real or a perceived power relationship. A responsible employer or educator takes appropriate steps to ensure that it doesn’t happen, and that if it does there are avenues by which it might be brought to light and dealt with. I think I covered most of them in the main post. Your experiences 40 years ago do not in any way resemble what occurs in training establishments in 2008. In fact, my own experience at Kapooka 15 years ago hardly resembles what happens there now.
There is an argument that things have gone too far, that the vetting function that Kapooka had is being diluted by a “soft touch” approach to recruit training. There are those who believe that we are seeing an inferior product march out from Kapooka because of it. I know good NCOs who are reluctant to go to there for fear of their career being tarnished by a complaint, however baseless, from a recruit. There is a fine line to tread between ensuring that we get the very best soldiers trained to the highest standard, and preventing any occurrence of bullying. It is something that requires constant refinement. Personally, I still see a need for tough training at places like Kapooka and Singleton. I’d rather see the level of supervision increased without any reduction in the intensity of training. But as I said, there is a fine line to be observed. A thorough vetting process for staff at places like that is probably a good place to start.
I agree that by the time a soldier is in a section overseas, the tough love approach is probably passed the expiry date. By that time, discipline and teamwork should be second nature and a different leadership style would be more effective. It relies however, on a solid training base to instil those attributes early.
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