00:00:01.344 --> 00:00:04.480
(gravel crunching)
(men talking indistinctly)

00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:06.313
- [Officer] Okay, sir.

00:00:12.368 --> 00:00:16.285
(speaking in foreign language)

00:00:18.200 --> 00:00:19.084
- Clear.

00:00:19.084 --> 00:00:20.440
(mumbles)

00:00:20.440 --> 00:00:23.620
I need the names of the two nationals

00:00:23.620 --> 00:00:25.862
so I can check on the access roster.

00:00:25.862 --> 00:00:28.695
(iron screeching)

00:00:30.227 --> 00:00:31.264
(explosion booming)

00:00:31.264 --> 00:00:33.320
- [Officer] Get down, get down!

00:00:33.320 --> 00:00:35.820
(guns firing)

00:00:37.171 --> 00:00:40.861
(soldiers yelling)

00:00:40.861 --> 00:00:45.861
(typewriter clacking)
(dramatic music)

00:01:00.040 --> 00:01:02.490
- War has taken its toll
across the military.

00:01:02.490 --> 00:01:05.180
- [News Reader] Suicide recently
has surpassed combat death

00:01:05.180 --> 00:01:07.630
as a cause of mortality in the military.

00:01:07.630 --> 00:01:09.250
- [News Reader] US soldier
allegedly massacres

00:01:09.250 --> 00:01:10.590
16 Afghan civilians.

00:01:10.590 --> 00:01:14.500
- Did military psychologists
miss the warning signs?

00:01:14.500 --> 00:01:17.670
- One of the unique challenges to being

00:01:17.670 --> 00:01:19.870
a mental health provider in the military

00:01:19.870 --> 00:01:22.530
has to do with a question
I think probably all of us

00:01:22.530 --> 00:01:26.670
ask ourself at some point,
should I have sent this soldier

00:01:26.670 --> 00:01:28.500
back to their unit?

00:01:28.500 --> 00:01:30.273
Or should I have brought him home?

00:01:33.350 --> 00:01:36.963
- Like a gun at some point,
you have to break it down.

00:01:38.200 --> 00:01:42.180
You have to provide
maintenance to a soldier.

00:01:42.180 --> 00:01:44.840
Psychologically, when there's a jam,

00:01:44.840 --> 00:01:47.503
our job is to help
soldiers clear their minds.

00:01:48.545 --> 00:01:52.416
♪ Here I am ♪

00:01:52.416 --> 00:01:55.330
♪ In your house ♪

00:01:55.330 --> 00:01:59.300
- One of the unique
aspects of the current wars

00:01:59.300 --> 00:02:04.300
has to do with putting therapists
right on the front lines.

00:02:05.020 --> 00:02:08.530
And this is a new
language and I don't think

00:02:08.530 --> 00:02:10.640
we yet understand the consequences

00:02:10.640 --> 00:02:14.063
both in the short term
and in the long term.

00:02:14.063 --> 00:02:17.708
(man talking indistinctly on PA system)

00:02:17.708 --> 00:02:20.458
(dramatic music)

00:02:32.990 --> 00:02:37.037
- I started out in the Navy at
17, wasn't a big fan of that.

00:02:37.037 --> 00:02:40.980
It was a little too soft
and got over into the army,

00:02:40.980 --> 00:02:44.403
infantry, trained soldiers
and led soldiers in combat.

00:02:45.300 --> 00:02:46.513
Best time in my life.

00:02:49.300 --> 00:02:52.280
I got sassy one time
at army basic training

00:02:52.280 --> 00:02:55.460
and Drill Sergeant Door,
grabbed me by the throat,

00:02:55.460 --> 00:02:57.690
and shoved me against the
wall and told me he'd kill me

00:02:57.690 --> 00:03:02.050
if I reacted like that again,
in my face, teeth gritted.

00:03:02.050 --> 00:03:04.920
You know, if you ever do
something like that again,

00:03:04.920 --> 00:03:05.760
I'll fucking kill ya.

00:03:05.760 --> 00:03:07.150
You know and I was like, oh.

00:03:07.150 --> 00:03:10.577
I thought, right away, I was
like, oh, okay, I'm home.

00:03:10.577 --> 00:03:13.744
(typewriter clacking)

00:03:18.399 --> 00:03:19.232
Hey, Darla.

00:03:19.232 --> 00:03:20.110
- Hi.

00:03:20.110 --> 00:03:22.370
- My dad, many a time,
grabbed me like that,

00:03:22.370 --> 00:03:24.460
get up in your face and
that's what it reminded me of.

00:03:24.460 --> 00:03:26.700
That's what I knew, that's
what I responded to.

00:03:26.700 --> 00:03:28.620
You know, if a soldier
starts crying in front of you

00:03:28.620 --> 00:03:30.960
'cause his back hurts or
this is going on in his life

00:03:30.960 --> 00:03:34.670
and you can't give a shit about that.

00:03:34.670 --> 00:03:36.160
You want him to do what you want him to do

00:03:36.160 --> 00:03:38.800
and think about what you want
him to think about right now.

00:03:38.800 --> 00:03:40.689
- How you doing today?
- Good, good.

00:03:40.689 --> 00:03:42.100
- Good, good.

00:03:42.100 --> 00:03:44.330
So John, what are you thinking about?

00:03:44.330 --> 00:03:45.599
At one point, you mentioned to me

00:03:45.599 --> 00:03:47.963
that you wanted to be a social worker.

00:03:49.270 --> 00:03:50.690
- Being in here made me realize

00:03:50.690 --> 00:03:53.030
how much more work I still have to do.

00:03:53.030 --> 00:03:54.640
I'm pretty quick to judge,

00:03:54.640 --> 00:03:57.053
pretty quick to point a finger, you know,

00:03:57.956 --> 00:03:59.330
(laughing)

00:03:59.330 --> 00:04:02.171
just the middle finger and
that gets the point across.

00:04:02.171 --> 00:04:03.171
- That does.

00:04:04.008 --> 00:04:04.841
Yeah.
- That's the only way

00:04:04.841 --> 00:04:05.674
I know how to do it.

00:04:05.674 --> 00:04:06.507
I know you guys don't agree with that.

00:04:06.507 --> 00:04:10.220
But a good kick in the
ass always worked for me.

00:04:10.220 --> 00:04:13.130
- You tend to be pretty harsh on yourself.

00:04:13.130 --> 00:04:15.750
- When you know better, you do better.

00:04:15.750 --> 00:04:20.673
And I think the military
is doing much better.

00:04:22.060 --> 00:04:26.833
I remember first coming
into combat stress in 1988.

00:04:27.890 --> 00:04:32.240
I was kind of shy about
telling people what I did.

00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:34.400
They thought it was a joke.

00:04:34.400 --> 00:04:37.880
I remember being at one post
and soldiers are laughing.

00:04:37.880 --> 00:04:39.540
And I said, well, it's no joke.

00:04:39.540 --> 00:04:42.660
You know, when one of your
soldiers have a Dear John letter.

00:04:42.660 --> 00:04:43.990
You want to give me a hug?

00:04:43.990 --> 00:04:47.720
It's no joke when your
soldier commits suicide.

00:04:47.720 --> 00:04:49.240
That's no joke, is it?

00:04:49.240 --> 00:04:51.343
- To achieve the...

00:04:52.590 --> 00:04:55.890
- Impossible.
- Impossible, it is...

00:04:55.890 --> 00:04:57.180
- Precisely.

00:04:57.180 --> 00:05:02.033
- Precisely the unthinkable
that must be thought.

00:05:03.020 --> 00:05:06.280
- I'm not in the same army
that my father was in.

00:05:06.280 --> 00:05:08.170
We're in a whole new phase.

00:05:08.170 --> 00:05:12.560
And part of that has to do
with providing the counseling

00:05:12.560 --> 00:05:17.439
and support for people
experiencing a range of emotions.

00:05:17.439 --> 00:05:20.606
(typewriter clacking)

00:05:22.477 --> 00:05:25.299
♪ Run it, run it, run me some more, hey ♪

00:05:25.299 --> 00:05:27.765
♪ Left, your left ♪

00:05:27.765 --> 00:05:29.901
♪ Your left right left ♪

00:05:29.901 --> 00:05:31.029
♪ Uh-huh ♪

00:05:31.029 --> 00:05:32.771
♪ You can't bring no smoke ♪

00:05:32.771 --> 00:05:34.008
♪ You gotta deal with it ♪

00:05:34.008 --> 00:05:35.651
♪ This run ain't no joke ♪

00:05:35.651 --> 00:05:36.878
♪ You gotta deal with it ♪

00:05:36.878 --> 00:05:38.632
♪ Running double time ♪

00:05:38.632 --> 00:05:39.835
♪ You gotta deal with it ♪

00:05:39.835 --> 00:05:41.512
♪ Messing with my mind ♪

00:05:41.512 --> 00:05:42.862
♪ You gotta deal with it ♪

00:05:42.862 --> 00:05:45.695
(energetic music)

00:05:47.190 --> 00:05:48.830
- The mental health
professionals in the military

00:05:48.830 --> 00:05:51.270
have a variety of roles and functions,

00:05:51.270 --> 00:05:54.210
probably the more common
invisible role is with elements

00:05:54.210 --> 00:05:55.973
like combat stress control units.

00:05:59.310 --> 00:06:01.580
- [Colonel Rabb] We're in
the midst of being deployed

00:06:01.580 --> 00:06:03.900
and we'll be here at Fort Lewis.

00:06:03.900 --> 00:06:07.694
We're about another three
weeks doing what runs do.

00:06:07.694 --> 00:06:08.527
Ho!

00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:13.970
- I think the trains
have been really good.

00:06:13.970 --> 00:06:18.100
It was a lot of convoy ops,
kind of basic infantry stuff

00:06:18.100 --> 00:06:19.860
that, you know, like
this doesn't normally see

00:06:19.860 --> 00:06:21.593
but it is essential.

00:06:24.830 --> 00:06:26.750
- Because we're in this environment,

00:06:26.750 --> 00:06:29.560
it's making it more real for people

00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:32.550
in terms of what exactly, what
we're gonna be going through,

00:06:32.550 --> 00:06:35.150
especially for those who have
never been deployed before.

00:06:35.150 --> 00:06:36.430
- [Officer] Yes.

00:06:36.430 --> 00:06:37.300
- [Colonel Rabb] This can be a very,

00:06:37.300 --> 00:06:39.740
very stressful environment.

00:06:39.740 --> 00:06:41.283
- Test fire, test fire!

00:06:41.283 --> 00:06:43.783
(gun firing)

00:06:46.811 --> 00:06:49.270
- And that's why I'm
particularly interested to hear

00:06:49.270 --> 00:06:51.530
how the training is evolving for you guys.

00:06:51.530 --> 00:06:53.190
One of the reasons I moved
over from the air force

00:06:53.190 --> 00:06:56.160
to the army is I was continually impressed

00:06:56.160 --> 00:06:58.780
with my army colleagues that
I met in behavioral health,

00:06:58.780 --> 00:07:00.360
how much closer to the mission they were.

00:07:00.360 --> 00:07:03.390
You guys were out and about on the roads.

00:07:03.390 --> 00:07:06.890
- That's part of our
mission is prevention,

00:07:06.890 --> 00:07:09.850
and it's also restorative
care in terms of fitness.

00:07:09.850 --> 00:07:14.850
But, yeah, most of our energy is spent

00:07:15.220 --> 00:07:19.250
in being there before the crisis hit.

00:07:19.250 --> 00:07:21.510
- Yeah, that's a benefit of our mission

00:07:21.510 --> 00:07:24.350
is that we don't sit
in the center waiting.

00:07:24.350 --> 00:07:27.560
We basically go out in the
trenches and interact with them,

00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:29.550
and then the soldiers know who we are

00:07:29.550 --> 00:07:32.930
and when they do need to talk
about their normal reactions

00:07:32.930 --> 00:07:35.583
to those abnormal
situations, they seek us out.

00:07:36.750 --> 00:07:39.500
(dramatic music)

00:07:43.930 --> 00:07:45.577
- [Male Officer] Essentially,
enemy TTP is over here

00:07:45.577 --> 00:07:48.227
and some of our countermeasures
on the opposite wall.

00:07:49.300 --> 00:07:51.620
This is called the IV petting zoo.

00:07:51.620 --> 00:07:54.880
- The only thing that limits
a bomber is his imagination.

00:07:54.880 --> 00:07:58.910
He can put an explosive
device in almost anything.

00:07:58.910 --> 00:08:00.300
- [Male Officer] HME right there.

00:08:00.300 --> 00:08:01.900
There's your absolute indicator.

00:08:03.020 --> 00:08:05.090
- [Male Officer] How do you
guys like the IV training?

00:08:05.090 --> 00:08:07.375
- [Female Officer] I feel paranoid now.

00:08:07.375 --> 00:08:08.700
- Me too.

00:08:08.700 --> 00:08:09.756
- I liked it.

00:08:09.756 --> 00:08:10.680
I thought it was good.

00:08:10.680 --> 00:08:14.597
- [Male Officer] Very
diabolical, the way they do that.

00:08:14.597 --> 00:08:15.430
- [Male Officer] I didn't
know they had so many

00:08:15.430 --> 00:08:16.793
different kinds.
- Yeah.

00:08:16.793 --> 00:08:18.557
- Those were ridiculous.
- Yeah, I know!

00:08:18.557 --> 00:08:19.810
- [Female Officer] But
we are going outside

00:08:19.810 --> 00:08:20.643
the wires.
- Yeah, no.

00:08:20.643 --> 00:08:22.510
- That's why we're having this training.

00:08:22.510 --> 00:08:24.384
- [Female Officer] Yeah, just in case.

00:08:24.384 --> 00:08:27.180
Hopefully nothing happens,
you know, but you never know.

00:08:29.029 --> 00:08:31.779
(dramatic music)

00:08:33.930 --> 00:08:36.480
- Conversations about the
enduring effects of stress

00:08:36.480 --> 00:08:38.540
began during World War I.

00:08:38.540 --> 00:08:41.170
Robert Yerkes identified what's
probably the closest thing

00:08:41.170 --> 00:08:44.960
we have to a replicable
phenomenon in psychology.

00:08:44.960 --> 00:08:47.520
In general terms, our ability to do a task

00:08:47.520 --> 00:08:51.290
or to process information
occurs on a continuum.

00:08:51.290 --> 00:08:53.820
We get better and better
as arousal gets greater

00:08:53.820 --> 00:08:56.530
until we reach a point where
our arousal levels too high,

00:08:56.530 --> 00:08:58.750
because our ability begins
to fall off and go down.

00:08:58.750 --> 00:09:00.960
So you have this kind of upside down U

00:09:00.960 --> 00:09:03.693
of task performance and stress.

00:09:03.693 --> 00:09:05.470
Now, the military is
very interested in this

00:09:05.470 --> 00:09:07.560
because by and large, they want to know

00:09:07.560 --> 00:09:10.640
how soldiers perform when stressed.

00:09:10.640 --> 00:09:14.450
So they want to ride this fuzzy
edge of optimal performance,

00:09:14.450 --> 00:09:16.760
but not yet decreasing performance.

00:09:16.760 --> 00:09:19.200
That means you got to be
stressed to some degree

00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:21.470
to really do the job as
well and as efficiently

00:09:21.470 --> 00:09:23.990
and as fast as you can.

00:09:23.990 --> 00:09:25.192
- [Male Officer] Got any other wounded?

00:09:25.192 --> 00:09:26.780
(explosion booming)
- Get down!

00:09:26.780 --> 00:09:28.550
- Let's go, let's go!
- Get down!

00:09:28.550 --> 00:09:32.800
- When you're riding that
crest of stress, excitement,

00:09:32.800 --> 00:09:35.950
and you're constantly
on edge and vigilant,

00:09:35.950 --> 00:09:39.620
you have to keep it up
because if it stops,

00:09:39.620 --> 00:09:41.910
you have a terrible crash.

00:09:41.910 --> 00:09:44.850
And crashes have very bad effects,

00:09:44.850 --> 00:09:47.470
especially if you have access to a weapon

00:09:47.470 --> 00:09:51.430
or if you're away from
your support system.

00:09:51.430 --> 00:09:55.383
It's a dangerous game,
it's very, very difficult.

00:09:56.390 --> 00:09:59.557
(typewriter clacking)

00:10:06.050 --> 00:10:08.680
- We have a tendency
that if we have a problem

00:10:08.680 --> 00:10:10.830
that we're gonna be
biased in our thoughts.

00:10:11.680 --> 00:10:14.070
Problem solving helps
to build mental agility.

00:10:14.070 --> 00:10:16.970
Being a successful soldier
requires that you're able

00:10:16.970 --> 00:10:20.130
to solve problems effectively
without getting bogged down

00:10:20.130 --> 00:10:21.770
in old habits of thinking.

00:10:21.770 --> 00:10:24.240
The skills that these soldiers
learn in this training,

00:10:24.240 --> 00:10:25.980
it teaches them how to cope with things

00:10:25.980 --> 00:10:29.110
that they haven't had to cope
with in their lives at home.

00:10:29.110 --> 00:10:31.910
So we're teaching them
that when things go bad,

00:10:31.910 --> 00:10:34.870
how do they react and how
can it not be catastrophic?

00:10:34.870 --> 00:10:37.560
How can it be something
that is easy to overcome?

00:10:37.560 --> 00:10:38.700
And that's what we're trying to teach 'em

00:10:38.700 --> 00:10:42.000
that there's nothing
that you can't overcome.

00:10:42.000 --> 00:10:43.260
- What we're gonna do is we're gonna list

00:10:43.260 --> 00:10:46.540
the worst case outcomes of
whatever the situation is,

00:10:46.540 --> 00:10:49.110
whatever it is that's
causing you to catastrophize

00:10:50.350 --> 00:10:52.210
then we're gonna list the best case.

00:10:52.210 --> 00:10:54.410
All right, so grab a piece of paper.

00:10:54.410 --> 00:10:56.820
Military experience
requires you to bounce back

00:10:56.820 --> 00:11:01.240
from a traumatic event almost instantly.

00:11:01.240 --> 00:11:04.090
Our operational tempo
has increased by tenfold.

00:11:04.090 --> 00:11:05.800
We're home for a year,
we're gone for a year,

00:11:05.800 --> 00:11:06.840
we're home for a year.

00:11:06.840 --> 00:11:07.900
They're doing their best.

00:11:07.900 --> 00:11:09.660
But at the end of the day,
there's only so many soldiers

00:11:09.660 --> 00:11:10.970
to accomplish the mission.

00:11:10.970 --> 00:11:13.440
- This training is not
only for those soldiers

00:11:13.440 --> 00:11:15.470
that you are going to be leading.

00:11:15.470 --> 00:11:17.400
This course is for you also.

00:11:17.400 --> 00:11:20.650
- This resilience training, a lot of it,

00:11:20.650 --> 00:11:24.000
I guess, we could say
it's quite repressive.

00:11:24.000 --> 00:11:28.990
What it is doing is
trying to help soldiers

00:11:28.990 --> 00:11:33.300
keep out of their conscious
minds, distressing thoughts,

00:11:33.300 --> 00:11:36.420
either about what's happening
to them or what they're doing.

00:11:36.420 --> 00:11:39.003
I think that can last for just so long.

00:11:40.720 --> 00:11:43.130
- So first thing is let yourself

00:11:43.130 --> 00:11:45.323
feel the weight of your body.

00:11:47.720 --> 00:11:51.120
This silent way of practicing,

00:11:51.120 --> 00:11:55.340
it helps create balance and resilience,

00:11:55.340 --> 00:12:00.340
and that when the big waves
come, they may rock our boat.

00:12:01.130 --> 00:12:04.970
They may shake the tree,
but we're less inclined

00:12:04.970 --> 00:12:06.713
to have the branches break.

00:12:08.070 --> 00:12:10.950
- [Man] We have some great
speakers that are doing training

00:12:10.950 --> 00:12:13.890
on mindfulness, on self-care.

00:12:13.890 --> 00:12:17.163
We're pumping our soldiers
up with a lot of training.

00:12:18.660 --> 00:12:20.290
- How are you programmed?

00:12:20.290 --> 00:12:24.530
What words are you using
to get through your day?

00:12:24.530 --> 00:12:27.520
Sometimes somebody will
ask me, how I'm doing?

00:12:27.520 --> 00:12:29.973
And I'll say, I'm super fantastic.

00:12:31.380 --> 00:12:32.980
That's how I roll.

00:12:32.980 --> 00:12:33.813
One word.

00:12:34.870 --> 00:12:36.520
It influenced how I was thinking.

00:12:38.090 --> 00:12:39.510
- I want to help people, you know,

00:12:39.510 --> 00:12:44.510
mentally there's a lot of people
that can be strong enough.

00:12:45.400 --> 00:12:50.230
So for me to at least be there
and be listening to someone,

00:12:50.230 --> 00:12:52.830
if that helps relieves their stress,

00:12:52.830 --> 00:12:57.740
I mean, if I make someone
smile, that'll make my day.

00:12:57.740 --> 00:12:58.633
I'm excited.

00:13:00.950 --> 00:13:05.310
- Resilience is the ability to make use

00:13:05.310 --> 00:13:07.710
of bad experiences and suffering.

00:13:07.710 --> 00:13:10.500
And resilience training tends
to focus on the positive

00:13:10.500 --> 00:13:14.100
and doesn't allow for the integration

00:13:14.100 --> 00:13:19.060
of a rich, complex experience of life

00:13:19.060 --> 00:13:22.500
that one needs in order, in the long term,

00:13:22.500 --> 00:13:25.520
to make sense of such a complicated

00:13:25.520 --> 00:13:29.090
and difficult and painful
experience as war.

00:13:29.090 --> 00:13:31.450
- I know that you guys
have gone through some sort

00:13:31.450 --> 00:13:35.680
of PTSD training, but the
main thing is, I guess,

00:13:35.680 --> 00:13:38.080
try to put yourself in their shoes.

00:13:38.080 --> 00:13:39.650
If they're telling you
about an experience,

00:13:39.650 --> 00:13:43.000
try to imagine yourself
living that experience,

00:13:43.000 --> 00:13:47.440
so that you kind of see as
a one-on-one perspective

00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:49.450
as to what they're going through.

00:13:49.450 --> 00:13:53.440
There are people that they
quite literally, they lose it,

00:13:53.440 --> 00:13:56.270
but there's a lot of people
out there, they don't.

00:13:56.270 --> 00:13:57.840
They keep themselves gathered.

00:13:57.840 --> 00:14:00.340
Some people even try to hide everything.

00:14:00.340 --> 00:14:04.110
The main thing is, I guess,
try to keep 'em talking.

00:14:04.110 --> 00:14:07.990
- When I do deploy, we're
gonna go outside the wire

00:14:07.990 --> 00:14:11.200
and observe some of the infantry men,

00:14:11.200 --> 00:14:14.733
and is there anything you
could tell me to expect?

00:14:16.530 --> 00:14:19.380
- Working with infantry
guys can be pretty tough

00:14:19.380 --> 00:14:21.253
for an outsider right off the bat.

00:14:23.150 --> 00:14:26.070
Typically, we're really tight knit groups.

00:14:26.070 --> 00:14:29.400
- Would you say those
soldiers who got help

00:14:29.400 --> 00:14:32.710
from combat stress teams, would you say

00:14:32.710 --> 00:14:36.890
that in the long run,
were they better off?

00:14:36.890 --> 00:14:40.920
- I remember when we got back here in 2005

00:14:40.920 --> 00:14:43.860
and several of the battalion
sergeant majors came out

00:14:43.860 --> 00:14:45.950
and told the guys outright,
they were like, look,

00:14:45.950 --> 00:14:48.630
if you need help, go to the stress teams.

00:14:48.630 --> 00:14:49.830
He's like, it's not a weakness.

00:14:49.830 --> 00:14:52.783
It was viewed as a weakness
but it isn't anymore.

00:14:55.135 --> 00:14:58.302
(typewriter clacking)

00:15:05.640 --> 00:15:07.850
- These therapists and stuff
over there can't be talking

00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:10.370
to these guys about their
feelings and country.

00:15:10.370 --> 00:15:12.420
You can't be doing that shit.

00:15:12.420 --> 00:15:14.290
- What in the world can you do

00:15:14.290 --> 00:15:18.000
when you've got to get
that person right back out?

00:15:18.000 --> 00:15:20.820
I guess some kind of
breathing stress management?

00:15:20.820 --> 00:15:23.130
- No, guys that are
going outside the wire,

00:15:23.130 --> 00:15:24.733
that are doing the serious work,

00:15:25.758 --> 00:15:27.270
there shouldn't be any of that.

00:15:27.270 --> 00:15:30.940
You have to focus on the
moment, staying alive right now.

00:15:30.940 --> 00:15:33.560
There's no, Johnny got blown up.

00:15:33.560 --> 00:15:35.840
Oh my god, it's awful, it's sad.

00:15:35.840 --> 00:15:38.170
That guy might go cry
somewhere around the corner,

00:15:38.170 --> 00:15:40.540
do whatever, talk to another
Joe or something like that.

00:15:40.540 --> 00:15:42.570
That's the best guy for him to talk to.

00:15:42.570 --> 00:15:44.920
That brotherhood is the
best therapy that they got.

00:15:44.920 --> 00:15:47.130
These guys doing this in-theater stuff

00:15:47.130 --> 00:15:49.313
is more to please you guys out here.

00:15:53.720 --> 00:15:58.720
Iraq, just north of Baghdad
there, August 27th 2006.

00:16:01.640 --> 00:16:05.200
We were in the back of a
Bradley and we went to go check

00:16:05.200 --> 00:16:09.720
on a tank that wasn't answering the radio

00:16:09.720 --> 00:16:13.753
and they were asleep, complacency.

00:16:14.900 --> 00:16:18.510
And they put a IED in front of that tank

00:16:19.440 --> 00:16:23.550
and an IED big enough to
take out a 73-ton tank

00:16:23.550 --> 00:16:26.930
and we rolled up in a 32-ton
Bradley, lighter target,

00:16:26.930 --> 00:16:29.030
so they cut that thing off in front of us.

00:16:30.770 --> 00:16:32.690
Five boys died that day.

00:16:32.690 --> 00:16:35.490
I was the only one to
get out of that vehicle.

00:16:35.490 --> 00:16:40.143
And here I am now,

00:16:41.650 --> 00:16:43.603
60% third degree burned.

00:16:45.630 --> 00:16:49.561
What I remember after that
is all hallucinations.

00:16:49.561 --> 00:16:51.511
The stuff nightmares are made of today.

00:16:55.603 --> 00:16:58.770
(typewriter clacking)

00:17:04.286 --> 00:17:06.380
- There's an ethical question here

00:17:06.380 --> 00:17:09.800
about whether one can take care of,

00:17:09.800 --> 00:17:13.220
as a mental health professional,
the psychological needs

00:17:13.220 --> 00:17:18.030
of the fighting forces, and
also be doing that activity

00:17:18.030 --> 00:17:20.623
in the service of the mission.

00:17:21.560 --> 00:17:25.290
The interventions are
generally aimed at helping

00:17:25.290 --> 00:17:27.960
the individual, but with a purpose,

00:17:27.960 --> 00:17:32.960
and that is to keep soldiers
engaged in the long war.

00:17:33.950 --> 00:17:36.960
- The field manual tells you exactly how

00:17:36.960 --> 00:17:40.480
to get your soldier
back to the front line,

00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:45.480
brevity, immediacy, contact,
expectancy, proximity,

00:17:46.930 --> 00:17:49.590
and simplicity, BICEPS.

00:17:49.590 --> 00:17:51.900
And it says that the BICEPS method

00:17:51.900 --> 00:17:54.040
is extremely important in the management

00:17:54.040 --> 00:17:56.030
of soldiers with combat stress.

00:17:56.030 --> 00:17:59.550
They're trying to be both
compassionate for the suffering

00:17:59.550 --> 00:18:01.930
of the soldier but make
a very quick turnaround.

00:18:01.930 --> 00:18:04.530
This compassion is one, two, three.

00:18:04.530 --> 00:18:07.310
Okay, identified it, we've
identified the stress.

00:18:07.310 --> 00:18:08.910
I'm here with you on the front lines,

00:18:08.910 --> 00:18:12.000
but the job is for you
to get back out there.

00:18:12.000 --> 00:18:14.660
Be tough, be strong, go out there.

00:18:14.660 --> 00:18:15.840
I'm right behind you.

00:18:15.840 --> 00:18:18.550
The soldier must be encouraged to continue

00:18:18.550 --> 00:18:21.370
to think of himself as a war fighter

00:18:21.370 --> 00:18:24.170
rather than a patient or a sick person.

00:18:24.170 --> 00:18:27.683
So to return him to
the fight is treatment.

00:18:30.478 --> 00:18:31.311
- I was dealing with a soldier

00:18:31.311 --> 00:18:32.920
that had acute traumatic symptoms,

00:18:32.920 --> 00:18:35.210
didn't have the physical injuries,

00:18:35.210 --> 00:18:37.580
and the military was
trying to hold him there

00:18:37.580 --> 00:18:40.060
and I was thinking, boy, you
know, I think my best guess

00:18:40.060 --> 00:18:42.200
is he's not gonna do well if he stays,

00:18:42.200 --> 00:18:45.820
and kind of facing those kind of dilemmas

00:18:45.820 --> 00:18:48.430
where the clinical role
we have kind of competes

00:18:48.430 --> 00:18:50.860
with the military role
we have of maintaining

00:18:50.860 --> 00:18:53.920
a fighting force, keeping
the mission focus.

00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:54.830
And those are challenging.

00:18:54.830 --> 00:18:57.530
- Mission first, I mean, that's something

00:18:57.530 --> 00:19:00.780
that we have to balance.

00:19:00.780 --> 00:19:04.130
- Certainly, the ethics of the profession

00:19:04.130 --> 00:19:05.830
are extremely important.

00:19:05.830 --> 00:19:08.470
I've been a licensed
psychologist for 25 years.

00:19:08.470 --> 00:19:12.200
I've been doing this for
six, but in most cases,

00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:14.360
they want to return to the fight.

00:19:14.360 --> 00:19:17.920
- We have had great results
with the unit that I was with.

00:19:17.920 --> 00:19:22.150
We returned in '04, '05, we returned 94%

00:19:22.150 --> 00:19:24.300
of the soldiers that we saw back to duty.

00:19:24.300 --> 00:19:25.170
What was yours?

00:19:25.170 --> 00:19:28.060
- I believe with our '06/'07 mission,

00:19:28.060 --> 00:19:31.023
it was around 97% return to duty.

00:19:32.443 --> 00:19:35.193
(dramatic music)

00:19:38.420 --> 00:19:40.170
- What percentage of
cases are you returning

00:19:40.170 --> 00:19:42.380
to active duty from this hospital?

00:19:42.380 --> 00:19:44.440
- I was coming to all that, gentlemen.

00:19:44.440 --> 00:19:49.440
You out in the forward area
can, by getting at them early,

00:19:49.530 --> 00:19:54.490
send 70 to 80