Psychological Support for Military Personnel on Operations

2/The back line parties

Every deployment implies family support as an important element of the fighter's moral.

For a few years, the French Army have gradually developed adapted structures.
Among these ones you can quote :

- The organization of family support which is centered round the * family support group + whose missions and means were the subject of a memento.

Five departments: the high command, the administration, the jurisdictional, the information and the social action departments in order of appearance deal with unit echelons, the administrative, financial, material needs, the information needs and finally the psychological and moral needs.

- The implementation of a solidarity agreement between the army and the district councils and the creation of a * solidarity defence + association which aims at showing to the personnel sent on an assignment abroad the support given to their action (donations, parcels, relaxation stays...).

- Lastly an after-care department for the wounded of the Army has been created (CABAT: Cellule d=Association aux BlessJs de L=ArmJe de Terre).Though this department still has a very reduced personnel, it is the only one for the moment in the French armies. Its goal is to accompany the wounded soldiers and their families by responding to the material difficulties encountered (reception of the families during the hospitalization). It also deals with the problems of reintegration in working life.

- Whereas the US Army employs in operations officers specialized in social problems (that is social workers) as well as psychologists or psychiatrists its * combat stress detachment + units, the French Army does not use for the moment its social workers on external operations..

The professionalization and the increasing number of women in the French armies allows us to think we should consider it in the near future.


As described below, the posts of everyone seem well defined for command.