Combat Stress Company provides front line defense for soldiers on the battlefield

By Master Sgt. Jack Gordon

BAGHDAD, Iraq -- Before PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) ever gets a chance to set in after the fact, a group of soldiers assigned to the Army Reserve's 785th Combat Stress Company, from Minneapolis, Minnesota here are doing their best to help soldiers solve their stress problems as they occur, and so far so good.

"The expectation is that after we treat the soldiers, they will return to their units and get back in the fight," said Capt. Robert Johnson, a psychologist with the 785th, "and 95 percent of them do."Stress is something the team at the 785th understands, and their mission is essentially, to "combat" the stress of combat.

"We offer a couple things," Johnson said, "one is restoration for soldiers who are experiencing a lot of stress in their lives, whether it's from firefights and battlefield-related -- or from being away from their loved ones in a dangerous environment halfway around the world.

"Soldiers who seek assistance from or are referred to the Combat Stress Company's program are first screened to determine the extent, depth and severity of their problems."I do the initial intake interview where we collect all the information from the soldier to find out what's been going on with them," said Sgt. Jennifer Iveland, a mental health specialist with the unit.

"Then they see one of the professional staff -- a psychiatrist, psychologist or social worker -- and we decide between us, the disposition and treatment plan for the soldier."Unfortunately, Iveland said that there can be a stigma attached to soldiers who choose the option of discussing their stress problems before they become unmanageable and possibly lead to far worse situations.

"It's something we're trying to get past," said Iveland. "We're here to help them cope and offer to teach them the tools they need to cope with the duty and deployment better.

"Iveland indicated the three common themes that categorize most of the company's soldier/clients are; combat-related issues where a soldier has been in a lot of fighting and having difficulties; home front issues with the husband, wife or children back at home; or chain of command issues -- usually from soldiers experiencing trouble with their squad leader or platoon sergeant, but the opposite is true too."We have officers and other leaders who are stressed out from their soldiers," Iveland said.

"In those cases, we try to give them the skills they need to better communicate their intent and manage troops."

Johnson said the unit's overall program is both proactive and reactive, and that the 785th's soldiers "advertise" the unit's mission formally and informally."We go out to the FOBs (Forward Operationg Base) and talk to the soldiers about methods to help them manage their stress, and their sleep," Johnson said. The group focuses on stress and anger management; suicide prevention; sleep architecture and supportive therapy, and conducts "Walkabouts" where they strike up conversations at the bazaar, PX or chat in rest areas, and spread the word about their mission.

"Our psychiatrist is here to see if there are appropriate medicines that may help the soldier," Johnson added.

Seeking assistance or help for battlefield stress is nothing to be ashamed of. All soldiers serving in Iraq are subjected to various types of stress on a daily basis, and the long days away from home living in cramped quarters with mortar round dropping in every so often can give even the strongest personality cause for concern.Iveland said she sees all kinds of soldiers from all kinds of jobs, but the lion's share is accountable to infantrymen serving out on the lines. Some are in better shape than others."We're pretty good at telling whether we can handle them, or they need to be sent to a higher echelon of care," said Iveland.

"We've had extreme cases where soldiers were delusional and behaving psychotically, and either suicidal or homicidal.

"She said there is evidence of troops who may have had pre-existing conditions before they were mobilized and deployed to Iraq."Some of these soldiers were able to handle their mental health conditions in the 'rear," but they get here and it's such an extremely stressful environment that they can't manage their condition and the symptoms return," Iveland said.

Johnson recalled a soldier who had been awarded two purple hearts on his second rotation supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom, but chose to seek their assistance. "He already had two Purple Hearts and he had taken three rounds that were stopped by his (body armor) plates. We're very proud of him and his service," Johnson said. "At the same time we know the kinds of stress resulting from increasing combat and firefights. We all have our limits, so for as much as he had done for his country, he felt he had to reconsider. He felt he had given about as much as he could.

"He hit a point where he felt he could no longer cope as a combat soldier. He was still a good soldier, but he had to look at another position," Johnson said.

"And we had a young female in her early twenties who was caught on a roof as an Iraqi police station was being overrun by bad guys. She fired more than 700 rounds in a battle that lasted all night. She not only returned a lot of fire but she cared for soldiers who were wounded, all the while subjecting herself to sniper fire.

"We like to think about a big, 300-pound infantry soldier who's "Gung-Ho" but here was a little 105-pound female soldier out there doing the job," Johnson said.

Johnson said he enlisted in the Army just prior to 9-11 because he felt the need to serve his nation. After the attacks on America, he was convinced.

"My brother was in Vietnam," Johnson said, "and in the times we're facing now with terrorism I felt this was my opportunity to help the soldiers who are serving over here, and serve my country in that way.

"In his civilian career before being mobilized, Johnson worked for the U.S. Department of Justice, and managed a drug abuse program in a 200-bed unit in a Texas correctional facility.

He resides in Grand Prairie, Texas. Iveland was awaiting enrollment into the Active-Guard/Reserve program when she was mobilized. Her home is in Laverne, Minnesota.

Iveland said one of the greatest underlying factors for all soldiers serving here is having confidence that their efforts are fully supported by their families and the nation.