Duty of care is not a phrase that springs immediately to mind in the context of the military life.
Servicemen and women have a duty of loyalty to their colleagues and in times of combat that can encompass inflicting harm on the enemy. This includes causing fatalities, but war is ugly. Combat situations are, perhaps, especially fraught and stressful when the enemy strikes by stealth in a crowd. Often he melts away, leaving mayhem in his wake for the civilian population, too. There is nothing conventional about this type of warfare. Yet it is the type of warfare in which British soldiers are engaged in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The task they are engaged in is all the more difficult when they are viewed as part of the problem, not the solution, as seems increasingly to be the case in both countries. Overstretch can mean there is not enough time for rest, recuperation and retraining between assignments. Each person who joins the armed forces must accept that military action is a possibility; more than that in the case of Iraq and Afghanistan. A feasible end to British involvement in both countries does not seem in sight (in the case of Afghanistan, the commitment may stretch to 30 years). It is hardly surprising then, that given this backdrop, hundreds of ex-servicemen are suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder in Scotland alone.
The conflicts that resulted in combat stress stretch back, in some cases, to the Second World War. But, as The Herald reveals today, 23 soldiers who served in Iraq and Afghanistan have taken their own lives since 2003. This represents 16% of British combat deaths in both countries. These figures give great cause for concern. They raise questions about the care of soldiers after their return from active service and suggest there is a gap in the provision of that care. The Ministry of Defence helps in the case of servicemen and women who left the forces with a medical discharge or who receive a pension as a result of psychological illness. But it does not contribute to the many who develop symptoms, or who hide them, until they leave the service. Mental health charities are left to pick up the pieces. If they are to be in the front line of such care, they must be properly funded to provide help before it is too late.
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