Background
Class 5 Stress is the result of a perceived direct threat to a person’s life. The physiological response to Class 5 Stress is increased heart rate and breathing, the inability to focus on peripherals, decreased ability to feel pain and an increase in physical ability due to heightened awareness and reduction of pain sensation.
A portion of the FBI Combat Pistol Course is focused on the stress of combat. They divide stress into five segments or classes. Class 1 stress begins with picking up a weapon to start a duty day. Class 5 Stress is identifying a target that is directing a perceived lethal threat at the person. The course emphasized that physiologically, for a person to manage the stress and still perform effectively, the classes of stress should be progressed through gradually. This is supported by research from COL Rueven Gal, former Chief of Psychology for the Israeli Defense Force. (His research, “A Psychological Model of Combat Stress” is published in the Textbook of Military Medicine Part One, “War Psychiatry.”)
In his research, COL Gal studied the levels of adrenaline and other hormones excreted by soldiers prior to battle and the soldiers’ activity during the battle. He discovered that officers and key enlisted personnel had excretions that rose gradually as the plans for the battle were developed. Enlisted soldiers maintained a relatively low level of excretion if they were not included in the battle plan process. Just before the battle, however, excretion levels of both groups rose dramatically.
The end state excretion level for those involved in the battle planning process was higher than the enlisted who had less time to prepare. Battle performance indicated that those who had time to adjust to the heightened hormonal excretions were better able to channel the effects of the additional hormones in their systems to accomplish a desired action than those who had less time to prepare.
The study further indicated that catatonic shock (the phenomena of being unable to respond during Class 5 Stress) resulted from a sudden release of adrenaline and endocrine into the body. This sudden release of endocrine is the result of being catapulted directly into Class 5 Stress without a gradual build up. The overdose of hormones causes a temporary interruption in the autonomic nervous system disabling the voluntary control of bodily functions.
Implication
COL Franklin D. Jones, Clinical Professor of Health Services at the National Naval Medical Center, Bethesda, Maryland, in his paper, “Traditional Warfare Combat Stress Casualties,” discussed the psychological response of conversion or dissociation to combat induced stress. He began by stating that stress is an uncomfortable condition. The higher the stress, the greater the discomfort. As stress caused by combat increases, soldiers will attempt to alter their focus away from that which causes them stress. “A soldier who is busy learning a language, practicing with a knife, or running to increase lung and leg power does not have as much time to think about being killed, crippled, or separated from loved ones,” he stated.
Chaplains may observe the residual effects of dissociation as worship service attendance increases. FM 16-1, Religious Support, states, “The UMT provides religious support to encourage and strengthen soldiers and to help them deal with fear and guilt. Religious support strengthens the soldier’s mind, will, and spirit.”
Intentional religious support positively directs dissociation caused by stress. Often just the presence of the chaplain can provide a respite to lower stress levels. It is significant to restate that dissociation is most often an unconscious psychological reaction to the uncomfortable physiological manifestations of stress. Most often the soldiers are unaware of dissociation activity, which can appear as nervous energy or withdrawal. Here the “ministry of presence” is a powerful tool for chaplains. FM 16-1 states, “Visiting soldiers demonstrates interest in their life and welfare. Effective UMTs deal with doubts and faith of soldiers by establishing relationships before the fighting begins. These relationships can be forged only through an intentional program of visitation. Soldiers in combat may question what they have previously affirmed as faith or express a newly found faith in the context of battle. The UMT’s ministry of presence provides a sign and an assurance of hope to soldiers. Chaplains and chaplain assistants assigned to combat units make support to soldiers in the fight their highest priority.”
Initially, soldiers may perceive the chaplain as a person representing God, a talisman or just another staff officer. For chaplains to effect a reduction in stress for soldiers in contingency operations, they must pursue relationships with the soldiers.
In current contingency operations, patrols play a large part of the mission. Whether soldiers are on foot or in a vehicle, the nature of these patrols is very similar to the stress environment taught in the FBI Combat Pistol Course. The level of restraint, public opinion and potential threat add to the stress soldiers feel while on these patrols.
Most often they are simply a visible force projection to the local population. On the rare occasions when violence is encountered, the patrol must act quickly, decisively and correctly. Usually the precursory events to the violence are subtly telegraphed. It is the increased alertness caused by stress that allows soldiers to tune into their environment and be cognizant of these subtle details.
The purpose for developing realistic training is stated in FM 25-101, Battle Focused Training, as “ensuring that soldiers are trained to cope with complex, stressful, and lethal situations they will encounter in combat.” It is through rigorous and realistic training that soldiers learn to direct the physical reactions of the heightened adrenaline and endorphin excretion caused by stress. Channeling the physical reactions to stress is as important to a successful combat engagement as marksmanship.
Unfortunately, historically, chaplains have sometimes opted to tag along on patrols without a mission requirement to do so. Of the seven examples I found in A History Of The U.S. Army Chaplaincy, 1975-1995, of chaplains who participate in patrols, most cited it as a way to “bond” or “share the common experience” of the soldier. Another reason given was that these patrols were the only opportunity to experience life outside the “wire.”
Recommendation
Common sense would seem to dictate that if you cannot carry a weapon, don’t go on a patrol unless there is a mission requirement to do so. One of Murphy’s Laws for Combat is “Never go sightseeing in a combat zone.” FM 16-1 is careful to state at the end of the discussion on visitation and the ministry of presence, “when visiting soldiers, the UMT carefully monitors the tactical situation to ensure that its movements do not compromise the security of the unit.”
As stated previously, dissociation is an often-unconscious reaction to avoid the uncomfortable sensations caused by the heightened hormone levels during stress. The result of jumping from a low level of stress directly into Class 5 Stress creates a condition of catatonic shock, where the sudden release of hormones causes the body to shut down, if only for an instant.
The purpose of the chaplain’s ministry of presence is in part to create an atmosphere that fosters positive dissociation. If the chaplain participates in patrols as a ministry (which I know is currently happening in Bosnia), they are not only defying common sense, Murphy’s Law and FM 16-1, but also are, in a very real way, inhibiting the patrols’ ability to react.
When there is a mission requirement to move with a security detachment or a patrol, the UMT (not just the chaplain) needs to ensure they are combat multipliers and not distracters, allowing the soldiers to focus on the mission. Ministry happens before and after the mission, but during the mission, each soldier’s energy and attention (to include the UMT) needs to be focused on the mission. |
