For much of the last decade, most American service members have cycled in and out of war zones in Iraq and Afghanistan with a regular rhythm: one year of war followed by a year at home. For hundreds of thousands of soldiers, the routine was repeated three, four or five times.
The relentless pace has been blamed for high rates of post traumatic stress disorder, depression and other psychological and emotional ills.
Now, some relief seems to be on the horizon for American troops. Earlier this month, the Army announced that most deployments will be reduced from one year to 9 months.
Mental health experts have long known that so-called “dwell time,” the period at home between deployments, is key in maintaining mental health. In 2009, an Army mental health advisory team found that it took 36 months of dwell time for behavioral health problems to return to a pre-deployment baseline. But two-year dwell periods have been a luxury that few troops have enjoyed since 2002.
Other nations have much slower deployment tempos. British troops for example, get three years of dwell time for every year they spend in combat.
While the Army’s new directive doesn’t spell out exactly how much dwell time will be increased, the Army has a short term goal to increase dwell time to 24 months. With shorter deployments and the end of combat operations in Iraq, longer dwell times seem closer to reality. The new policy, which goes into effect at the beginning of 2012, will do away with mid-tour R&R visits back home, but allow commanders to grant emergency leave to soldiers.
Any soldiers out there with thoughts on the new deployment policy? We’d love to hear what you have to say about deployments and dwell time.