Month: October 2013

Young British army recruits at higher risk of PTSD and suicide, says report

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Former soldiers criticise MoD recruitment practices, with Britain one of only 19 countries to allow 16-year-olds to join up

Soldiers who joined the army before they were 18 are significantly more likely to suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other serious mental health problems when leaving the forces, according to a report published on Monday.

Younger recruits also have a higher risk of alcohol problems, depression and suicide than those who signed up as adults, claims the report, The Last Ambush, from ForcesWatch, which campaigns for ethical recruitment in the armed forces.

Britain is one of just 19 countries that recruit 16-year-olds into the army. Zimbabwe recently increased its minimum soldiering age to 18.

Under-18s are over-represented in the infantry – the report says that over the past five years 32% of all under-18s recruited joined the infantry, which makes up only 14% of Britain’s armed forces. Recruits cannot be deployed to the frontline until they turn 18.

David Buck joined the army at 17, saw active duty in Kosovo when he was just 19, and witnessed mass graves and burning bodies. On returning to civilian life at 26 he was diagnosed with PTSD, which he attributes to seeing such horrific images at such a young age.… Read more

British army: one young recruit’s story

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Britain is one of just 19 countries that still recruit 16-year-olds to the armed forces. A new report from ForcesWatch claims that younger recruits are more likely to suffer from PTSD, alcohol problems and suicide than those who join as adults. This video tells the story of David Buck who joined the army at 17 but now feels he was conned by misleading recruitment marketing.… Read more

War trauma hits young soldiers hardest: new report

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Post-war mental health problems are most common in young soldiers from disadvantaged backgrounds.

Read the ForcesWatch response to the Ministry of Defence’s statement about this report

Young soldiers recruited from disadvantaged backgrounds are substantially more likely than other troops to return from war experiencing problems with their mental health, says a wide-ranging report published today by human rights group ForcesWatch.

The report, The Last Ambush: Aspects of mental health in the British armed forces, draws on over 150 sources, including 41 British military mental health studies, as well as testimony from veterans. It shows that, compared with older personnel, younger recruits are significantly more likely to suffer post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), to drink at levels harmful to health, and to behave violently on their return from war. Young recruits from disadvantaged backgrounds are at greatest risk.

Citing studies of large, representative samples of the armed forces, the report finds that:

  • 8%  of Iraq War veterans who enlisted without GCSEs or Scottish Standards met the criteria for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) after their deployment, compared with 4%  in the armed forces as a whole and 3%  in the general population.(i) Personnel without GCSEs typically enlist at younger ages.
  • 26%  of personnel aged 18-24 were found to be drinking at levels harmful to health, which is twice  the 13%  average for the armed forces and more than three times  the 8%  rate found among civilians of similar age.(ii)
… Read more

ForcesWatch response to the Ministry of Defence’s statement about The Last Ambush, 28 October 2013

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In response to The Last Ambush report, the Ministry of Defence has issued a statement containing some claims that are either inaccurate or not relevant to the report’s findings. Here we respond to each claim in turn.

MoD: The report ignores the benefits of a military career, such as education, training and employment.

The report does not explore these questions because that is not its purpose, which is to review the available research on mental health problems in the armed forces.

MoD: Independent research shows the rates of PTSD are similar to rates in the civilian population and the rates of suicide are actually lower.

The most recent study of Iraq and Afghanistan war veterans across all branches, roles, ranks and ages found a rate of PTSD of 4.2%. The rate found in the general population in England in the most authoritative study available found a rate of 3.0%, or 2.7% if adjusted to reflect the gender profile of the armed forces, which provides a more appropriate comparison. The military rate is therefore appreciably higher than that in the general population.

The in-service suicide rate is indeed lower than that in the general population, but the long-term suicide rate among veterans who have left the armed forces is about the same as in the rest of the population, which is what the report says.… Read more

MoD study sets out how to sell wars to the public

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Families angry at proposal to lower profile of repatriation ceremonies
Read the MoD thinktank’s study

The armed forces should seek to make British involvement in future wars more palatable to the public by reducing the public profile of repatriation ceremonies for casualties, according to a Ministry of Defence unit that formulates strategy.

Other suggestions made by the MoD thinktank in a discussion paper examining how to assuage “casualty averse” public opinion include the greater use of mercenaries and unmanned vehicles, as well as the SAS and other special forces, because it says losses sustained by the elite soldiers do not have the same impact on the public and press.

The document, written in November 2012 and obtained by the Guardian under the Freedom of Information Act, discusses how public reaction to casualties can be influenced and recommends that the armed forces should have “a clear and constant information campaign in order to influence the major areas of press and public opinion”.

It says that to support such a campaign the MoD should consider a number of steps, one of which would be to “reduce the profile of the repatriation ceremonies” – an apparent reference to the processions of hearses carrying coffins draped in the union flag that were driven through towns near RAF bases where bodies were brought back.

… Read more

On Army’s importance, differing views among young and old

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As the British Army struggles to recruit new soldiers, YouGov polling finds that Britons tend to think less of the army’s importance the younger they are

The British Army faces a recruitment crisis as the government’s decision to close dozens of recruitment offices and hand a £440m contract to outsourcing firm Capita is failing. New research by YouGov finds that the further down the age-scale you go, fewer Britons see the Army and the Army Reserves as important.

While 90% of 40-59 year olds and 93% of those over 60 see the army as important to Britain’s national interests, 82% of 25-39 year olds and 54% of 18-24 year olds feels the same.… Read more

War crimes in video games should be punished, ICRC says

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The International Committee of the Red Cross have called for video games to punish crimes committed in battle by adhering to real-life international war conventions.

“The ICRC believes there is a place for international humanitarian law (the law of armed conflict) in video games,” the organization that works worldwide to provide humanitarian help for people caught in war zones said in a statement on their website.

“The ICRC is concerned that certain game scenarios could lead to a trivialization of serious violations of the law of armed conflict,” they added. “The fear is that eventually such illegal acts will be perceived as acceptable behavior.”

Bernard Barrett, a spokesman for the organization said they were not trying to censor games or spoil people’s fun, but rather, “make clear that there are rules in battle and that certain acts are illegal.”

Shooting civilians, torture, attacking ambulances and killing prisoners are all aspects in video games that they want to address, he explained.

He added that they were not concerned with fantasy games, but those that mimic situations that might be seen in current armed conflicts, known as “first person shooters” although he declined to name specific titles.

“We’re not asking for censorship, we don’t want to take any elements out of the games,” he said.… Read more

Should gamers be accountable for in-game war crimes?

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The Red Cross has told the BBC that it wants military-themed video games to adhere to real-life international laws

Don’t shoot the civilians. This is something military games have been telling us for many years. I remember my first go on Taito’s explosive arcade title Operation Wolf – it was the late-80s and this frenzied blast-’em-up, with its jungle environment and hostage rescue missions, was clearly gunning for a generation of Rambo II fanatics. It even let you control the action with an Uzi-style sub-machine gun bolted to the cabinet. But what it wouldn’t let you do was kill passing civilians: collateral damage of this sort took a big chunk off your health bar.

Of course, this was really more about mechanics than ethics: players were being tested on their reactions and visual awareness, and failure meant a reduction in game time rather than a few moments’ reflection on innocent victims. These days, if you accidentally (or otherwise) shoot a civilian or comrade in a military shooter, you’ll probably get a ‘mission failed’ message and a one-way trip back to the last checkpoint. What you won’t get is a military tribunal and a dishonorable discharge.

In a BBC news report earlier this week, however, Francois Senechaud from the International Committee of the Red Cross told a reporter that, due to the increasing verisimilitude between first-person shooters and real-life combat, games should start to abide by the international laws of armed conflict.… Read more

Anti-war activists battle to get their voices heard in WW1 centenary events

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Campaigners challenge ‘glorious conflict’ narrative and plan to highlight treatment of conscientious objectors

Anti-war activists, pacifists and others are challenging the narrative of the official programme marking the centenary of the first world war with an alternative range of activities, some of which have received government funds.

They include an event to remember conscientious objectors, which is being financed with £95,800 in lottery funding allocated to the pacifist organisation that distributes white poppies.

The “No Glory” campaign, backed by anti-war activists and high-profile supporters, such as the actors Jude Law and Alan Rickman and the poet laureate, Carol Ann Duffy, intend to hold a concert next year at the Barbican in London.

“What those of us involved in this are concerned about is that the war will be presented as something glorious and part of our national heritage, when it isn’t really. It was a total disaster that was unnecessary and destroyed a generation,” said Brian Eno, the composer and musician.

Eno said he was interested in creating something based on the testimonies of soldiers in the best-selling book, Forgotten Voices of the Great War, which was written by historian Max Arthur with the Imperial War Museum.

“They are simple transcripts of soldiers remembering what happened to them.… Read more