The National Guard in Iraq

While National Guard (NG) troops are serving longer deployments than ever before, there is still little research examining the effects of these deployments affect compared to active military troops. In the September 2008 issue of Anxiety,Stress and Coping, a study presents the results of research into the extent of combat exposure, severity of post-deployment psychological symptoms, and general interpersonal functioning in 50 NG soldiers who served a 12-month deployment in Iraq from 2005 to 2006. The results indicate that combat exposure and post-deployment post-traumatic stress symptoms in this sample are greater than those in NG veterans of past military operations, and similar to those of full-time soldiers in current operations. Furthermore, the patterns of interrelationships between combat exposure, psychological symptoms, and interpersonal variables were similar to those detected in prior research on military troops. These results suggest that NG veterans of current military operations may require the same psychological resources as active duty veterans. Given that NG troops are less integrated into the military structure, specific outreach efforts may be needed to help NG veterans to receive such services.

Click here for the abstract.