|
A Christian Psychologist Goes to War
by Marc Houck, PsyD
“What in the world am I doing here? Is this a drill?
I miss my wife and son.” These and a flurry of other
thoughts raced through my mind as our plane landed in
Kuwait on March 20, 2003. Our country was at war with
Iraq, and I sat on a runway donning a protective gas mask
prior to deplaning Before the night’s end, I would
find myself running to overcrowded bunkers in a full chemical
protective suit, gas mask, and body armor, M-16 rifle
in hand. Between SCUD missile alarms, periods of rest
on a tent floor were brief. This was a far cry from graduate
school and my hospital office in Ft. Wainwright, Alaska.
My wife Pam and I never expected I would be called to
deploy during my tour in Alaska. The intense ache of family
separation was compounded by my need to get up to speed
on basic soldiering tasks. Aside from two weeks “in
the field” during my Officer Basic Training, I’d
spent my time in a hospital office. Now I had to familiarize
myself with all this equipment, lug it all around, and
know what to do with it. Where was that class in graduate
school?! I realized I might actually have to pull that
trigger to defend myself.
On one of our first convoys to another camp, we were
directly informed, “We expect to be ambushed today.”
Fear ripped through me, as I thought of my wife and son
even more than my own life. Little did I know at the time,
but the months ahead would include thousands of miles
of convoys between battalions and cities, with the threat
of ambushes and roadside bombs ever present. I was all
too aware that the threat of death was staring me in the
face.
Not only did I have to adjust to leaving home and the
duties of a field soldier, but I got a new job too. When
I deployed with the 85th Medical Detachment out of Fort
Hood, to support the 4th Infantry Division, I became Chief
of a Combat Stress Control prevention team. In wars past,
the military learned that physiological-emotional reactions
to combat (shell-shock, battle fatigue, combat stress)
could render a soldier unable to perform his or her duties.
Our teams aim to prevent normal stress reactions from
incapacitating soldiers through education, informal assessment,
consultation, and critical event debriefings. Treating
soldiers as quickly and as close to their units as possible,
we address autonomic arousal with relaxation training
and basic needs such as rest, nutrition, water, and exercise.
We debrief soldiers, allowing them a safe place to talk,
while they reframe events or correct unhelpful thought
processes. With interpersonal and spiritual support as
well, we see most combat stress casualties return to full
duty in 24-72 hours.
This team also treats soldiers with issues around separation
from home, peer and leader problems, and clinical diagnoses
such as depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress, and
personality disorders, using brief interpersonal and cognitive-behavioral
interventions so they can continue to function during
the deployment.
Professional, personal and spiritual challenges confront
me every step of the way. Once during a movie under a
tent I decided to get up and get ready for bed. Within
three minutes, I heard a loud explosion. My ears rang.
It was close. A mortar had landed ten feet away from my
movie seat. Still in range but left unscathed, I got my
team to safety and later debriefed soldiers.
Sometimes it takes a crisis to send us to our knees before
our Lord. In the past year I have experienced more loneliness
and fear than ever before in my life, with no close friends
or family near me and poor communication from home for
many months. My Lord challenged my faith while comforting
and protecting me. He brought me to books I needed to
read, passages that seemed to speak right to me (e.g.,
Psalm 91, Jeremiah 29:10-14). He rallied those at home
to pray for me and brought amazing support around my wife
and son in my absence. Mail abounded which, in the desert,
is like Christmas every day! This support brought tears
of joy to my eyes and heart. My time at war pushed me
to gain better perspective on the important things in
life, my professional goals, and the power and glory of
God. I’m proud to serve my country. I have learned
a greater appreciation for life, my wife and son, my extended
family, and my Lord and Savior.
But you
are a shield around me, O LORD;
You bestow glory on me and lift up my head.
(Psalm 3:3, NIV)
|
