STATEMENT
BY
KENNETH O. PRESTON
SERGEANT MAJOR OF THE ARMY
BEFORE
THE
COMMITTEE ON ARMED SERVICES
SUBCOMMITTEE ON TOTAL FORCE
UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
REGARDING DEPLOYMENT HEALTH
IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY
FEBRUARY
25, 2004
Good
afternoon, and thank you for inviting me to
come before you today to discuss health
deployment issues in America's Army.
Until
December of this past year, I served as the
Command Sergeant Major of Combined Joint
Task Force - 7 and V Corps in Iraq. During
more than a year of preparations and
operations in Kuwait and Iraq, I spent
countless hours talking to Soldiers,
observing training, and missions, ensuring
Soldiers adhered to safety policies, and
communicating with our family readiness
groups in Europe.
As the
senior enlisted Soldier in Iraq, the safety,
health, and well being of our troops was my
paramount responsibility. I traveled all
over Iraq and Kuwait to ensure leaders were
talking to their Soldiers about the
challenges and stresses of combat, enforcing
standards, and were properly equipped to
accomplish their missions.
Safety
is a key element of all that we do. Leaders
are expected to conduct risk assessments
prior to every mission, brief their Soldiers
on potential dangers and actions to take,
and conduct after-action reviews following
the operation.
The risk
assessment process is critical to successful
operations. Our five-step process involves
identifying hazards, assessing those
hazards, making decisions, implementing
controls to mitigate hazards, and
supervising. The last step - supervising -
is the essential piece that makes it all
work.
The
situation in Iraq is improving every day,
but Soldiers remain in a very stressful
environment. Leader involvement at every
level is vital to combating stress and
protecting our Soldiers.
One way
we help Soldiers deal with the deployment is
by quality of life improvements when they
are not on patrols, convoys, or other
operations. We have recreation areas set up
on almost all of our compounds. Some have
big-screen televisions, pools, videogames,
Internet connections, pool tables, and
telephones. Others are more austere but
include weight equipment to help Soldiers
stay physically and mentally fit.
We rely
a great deal on junior leaders, chaplains,
doctors, and stress teams to identify issues
and ensure Soldiers who need help get it.
Some Soldiers have a perceived stigma that
getting help is a sign of weakness; so
getting help to those who may need it can be
difficult. However, we are getting better
at recognizing symptoms and warning signs
and being proactive in referring Soldiers
for care.
The
combat stress control units are used to help
treat Soldiers. They continually provide
classes, counseling, and recommendations to
leaders on how to identify those in need.
These are small teams and it is leadership
challenge to easily assist far-forward
Soldiers. Rest assured that our leadership
is working hard to improve that process and
get these teams to Soldiers faster and
sooner.
Over the
next few months, we will conduct the largest
deployment and redeployment of U.S. Soldiers
since World War II. As leaders, we will
mitigate risks now by ensuring every Soldier
knows his or her role and that they remain
focused on the inherent dangers until they
step off the plane back in America and
Europe.
I would
like to highlight the U.S. Army Europe (USAREUR)
Reintegration and Community Focused
Redeployment Program. A number of
redeploying units stateside have adapted
their programs to replicate what the USAREUR
program accomplishes.
The
program begins with Soldiers participating
in a series of training sessions, filling
out redeployment surveys, and undergoing
medical screening before they leave the
theater. Upon return, this process
continues during a seven-day program that
offers classes, additional medical
screening, and information to Soldiers and
their families. This is accomplished prior
to the Soldiers taking leave.
I
believe the key element is family
involvement. Our objective is to help
smooth the reunion process for Soldiers,
their spouses, and children. Important
aspects of this program is to help
participants recognize and establish
realistic expectations about the reunion.
They also learn how to spot symptoms of
stress, learn about sources of assistance,
and the importance of communicating.
Other
areas of emphasis are on Privately Owned
Vehicle (POV) safety and financial
management. POV safety is included in
reintegration training before and after
deployment. For instance, more than 5,700
deployed Soldiers purchased motorcycles from
the Army and Air Force Exchange Service (AAFES).
Many of these Soldiers have not driven a
civilian vehicle in over a year. Lieutenant
General Sanchez and I are very concerned
about this and ensured POV safety was on the
forefront of everyone's mind.
Over the
course of the deployment, Soldiers earned
significant additional pay for family
separation, hazardous duty, and imminent
fire. This is a concern of mine. We
encourage Soldiers to fight the urge to go
on spending binges and waste the savings
many have accumulated over the past year.
Financial counselors are also helping
redeploying Soldiers who already find
themselves in debt.
A
significant program available to Soldiers is
called armyonesource.com, which provides
Soldiers and family members a 24-hour,
seven-day a week resource to address issues,
provide telephone assistance, and web-based
informational tools. It supplements current
programs and has been a tremendous help to
families not near military installations,
particularly for our Reserve Component
families.
In
addition, our Reserve Component family
assistance centers have made a difference.
Currently, we are operating 389 centers
staffed with more than 1000 workers. These
centers not only help Reserve Component
families, but also active duty Army, Navy,
Marines, Air Force, and Coast Guard.
All of
these programs are constantly evolving. Our
reintegration model has evolved tremendously
since the early 1990s thanks to feedback
from our Soldiers after operations in the
Balkans. It will continue to get better as
we test and modernize. The comments we
received from Soldiers and families are
extremely positive.
Finally,
I would like to highlight a developing
initiative that I think will not only help
Soldiers, but also send a clear signal to
people that we take care of our own. It is
called the Disabled Soldiers Support System
and its goal is to provide our most severely
disabled Soldiers and their families with a
system of personal support and liaison to
resources, not constrained to an
installation or component, with effective
monitoring and follow up, to assist them in
their transition from military service to
civilian life.
Currently, we are interviewing the most
recently medically retired Soldiers to
determine their requirements and plan to
operate this program by the 2nd quarter of
fiscal year 2004 (COMMENT: we are in 2nd
qyr FY 2004 and may need to update if this
is in operation). The program will support
and complement Department of Veterans
Affairs' programs, but will not replicate
them. Most importantly, we will continue to
monitor and follow-up with our disabled
veterans.
I
appreciation your time today and your
attention to these issues that concern all
of us. Our Soldiers are our most precious
resource and we will continue to strive to
improve our tools and programs that take
care of them. Thank you for all of your
support.
