Troop morale down in Afghanistan, study shows

[unhappycamper]

Soldier morale in Afghanistan has fallen, the Army reported Nov. 13. Above, soldiers from 2nd Battalion, 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, search in Andar province, Afghanistan, for Taliban members and weapons caches.


Troop morale down in Afghanistan, study shows
By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Friday Nov 13, 2009 17:22:28 EST

WASHINGTON — Morale has fallen among U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, where troops are seeing record violence in the 8-year-old war, while those in Iraq show much improved mental health amid much lower violence, the Army said Friday.

It was the first time since 2004 that soldier suicides in Iraq did not increase. Self-inflicted deaths in Afghanistan were on track to go up this year.

Though findings of two new battlefield surveys are similar in several ways to the last ones taken in 2007, they come at a time of intense scrutiny on Afghanistan as President Barack Obama struggles to craft a new war strategy and planned a troop buildup. There is also new focus on the mental health of the force since a shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas last week in which an Army psychiatrist is charged.

Both surveys showed that soldiers on their third or fourth tours of duty had lower morale and more mental health problems than those with fewer deployments. And an increasing number of troops are having problems with their marriages.

The new survey on Afghanistan found instances of depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress at about the same as they were in 2007 but double 2005’s cases. That was 21.4 percent in 2009, 23.4 percent in 2007 and 10.4 percent in 2005.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2009/11/ap_afghanistan_morale_111309/