XBradTC

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XBradTC

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Your MUST READ of the day is in, of all places, Vanity Fair.

Sebastian Junger writes on the emotionally charged issue of PTSD and veteran suicide. PTSD is both a real issue for many, and a shield for others, and a club for yet more. This paragraph leapt out at me: What all these people seem to miss isn’t danger or loss, per se, but the closeness and…

Sebastian Junger writes on the emotionally charged issue of PTSD and veteran suicide. PTSD is both a real issue for many, and a shield for others, and a club for yet more.

This paragraph leapt out at me:

What all these people seem to miss isn’t danger or loss, per se, but the closeness and cooperation that danger and loss often engender. Humans evolved to survive in extremely harsh environments, and our capacity for cooperation and sharing clearly helped us do that. Structurally, a band of hunter-gatherers and a platoon in combat are almost exactly the same: in each case, the group numbers between 30 and 50 individuals, they sleep in a common area, they conduct patrols, they are completely reliant on one another for support, comfort, and defense, and they share a group identity that most would risk their lives for. Personal interest is subsumed into group interest because personal survival is not possible without group survival. From an evolutionary perspective, it’s not at all surprising that many soldiers respond to combat in positive ways and miss it when it’s gone.

Simply leaving the military life is somewhat, if not traumatizing, certainly disorienting. I left the Army after my first enlistment to attend college. I had a much harder time coping then than I did when I eventually left the service for good. And I think part of that was because my last tour was as a recruiter, which by definition is far more enmeshed in the civilian community.

CDR Salamander, as always, has a great take on this, and as usual a lively discussion in the comments.

Like Sal, I have some issues with parts of Junger’s piece (and probably the same ones) but it is a great read overall. Spend the 10 minutes.

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  1. Pave Low John

    You hit the nail on the head with that blurb about missing the closeness and cooperation of a tight group. I miss my old squadron, especially the guys I deployed with. I catch myself wondering what they’re doing right now or how they’ll dealing with life outside the military (most are retired, just like me).

       When I imagine what heaven would be like, it would be flying a night low-level mission in an MH-53J on a perfect night (30% moon, lots of stars, about 75 degrees F) with my old buddies from the Green Hornets smoking and joking over the ICS (literally smoking, we never paid attention to that whole "no smoking on the aircraft rule".  With the ramp and doors open and a strong wind whipping around the cabin, what the hell would combust?  Not JP-8, you can put matches out in that stuff....).  Just one long night mission that lasts forever.  Or until we have to land and let someone take a piss, of course...   :-)

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  2. LT Rusty

    That’s pretty much it for me too, although substitute out a DDG’s smoke deck or bridge wing for the MH-53J. There’s nothing like being out there just at morning nautical twilight with a cigar, hearing the waves, smelling the exhaust from the turbines, enjoying a cigar.

    It’s probably the closest thing I’ll ever experience to a true religious experience, unless Dread Cthulhu awakens from his long slumber someday.

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