Psychological Support for Military Personnel on Operations

Psychological Support for Military Personnel on Operations

Dominique Laffittan and Yves Biville

Centre d'Etudes Sur la Selection du Personnel de l'Armée de Terre
Compiegne Cedex, France

The French troops and particularly the French Army have been deployed in several operation theatres for years. The multiplicity and wide range of peacekeeping interventions have been the subject of numerous analyses by the French staff headquarters. The soldiers' protection has been reinforced and at the same time the necessity of developing the psychological support for military personnel on operations has emerged. Such support has already been given in numerous foreign armies for years.

The first part will deal with the role of the various parties on operation theatres. Then, we will show and explain the surprising and trivial role still played by psychology in this context, in spite of the staff headquarters determination to develop the concept of psychological support and make the collaboration and division of tasks between the various parties easier.

PART ONE: THE ROLE OF THE VARIOUS PARTIES


1/ On the operation theatre :

France has a long tradition of foreign intervention and troops deployment in numerous continents.

This tradition resulted in the international recognition of lots of skills. In particular, the French defence system is deployed, to a larger extent, compared to the USA, in intervention zones. This attitude rests on a long colonial tradition which makes it necessary for the High Command to leave subordinates (captain and first lieutenants or non-commissioned officers) a larger margin of initiative and the possibility to make contacts with the population as a whole.

This plan of action on the field requires a particular adaptation of the troops and explains the differences noticed in the factors of stress between the various contingents of peace keeping forces in Bosnia, Somalia or Central Africa (for instance, such factors of stress as * travel restrictions + or * feeling confined + are not always the same between French forces and US forces).

The French High Command pays great attention to the moral and mental factors but the fragmented information and the affective implication of the troops in contact with different populations can also be sensitive to the rumors and contradictory plans of action (to help or not to help the population according to the periods of engaging).

Note: the views of the author do not necessarily reflect those of the department of the Army, or the department of Defence.