STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF

File: 110596_sep96_decls2_0009.txt
Page: 0009
Total Pages: 48

Subject: STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERSIAN GULF        

Unit: VAR. BUMED  

Parent Organization: BUMED       

Box ID: BX303818

Folder Title: USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992                                                  

Document Number:          4

Folder SEQ  #:         13











               Unpredietability



                    Shipboard life was structured. The day began at 0600

               with reveille and, for most crew members, ended at 1000 with

               taps. Meals were uniform in timing and composition; muster

               was held everyday. Most other aspects of'life were totally

               unpredictable. The mission was not clear to the crew. The
               shipls,-a-estination seemed to change daily. From the outset,

               the war was expected to generate anywhere between 300 and

               30,000 allied casualties.

                 . . Even liberty ports were uncertain. The crew waited as

               long as 53 days for liberty on shore. People wanted to call
               their families, feel dry land under their feet, taste

               "shore" food, or just have some privacy. On the day of
               liberty excitement was always high. Inevitably, however,
               people would line up at 0700 for an 0800 liberty call - only
               to have liberty postponed for four hours, or cancelled

               altogethet-because'of operational necessities or inclement

               weather and high seas. 'At first, crew members were enraged
               and complained bitterly-about the lack of planning and poor

               leadership.@.. However, once inconsistency became the norm,

               people became complacent or even apathetic, saying "Why plan

               to go on liberty? Its not going to happen."
                  .:-While waiting for the war to start, people focused on

               special dates. The first and the fifteenth of each month




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Document 48 f:/Week-39/BX303818/USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992/stress and coping with trauma of war in the pers:1104960910243
Control Fields 17
File Room = sep96_declassified
File Cabinet = Week-39
Box ID = BX303818
Unit = VAR. BUMED
Parent Organization = BUMED
Folder Title = USNS COMFORT TAH 20 MEDICAL ARTICLES 1991 1992
Folder Seq # = 13
Subject = STRESS AND COPING WITH TRAUMA OF WAR IN THE PERS
Document Seq # = 4
Document Date =
Scan Date =
Queued for Declassification = 01-JAN-1980
Short Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Long Term Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Permanent Referral = 01-JAN-1980
Non-Health Related Document = 01-JAN-1980
Declassified = 04-NOV-1996