Culture refers to the shared behaviors, beliefs, and patterns of interaction that people learn for socialization. Unlike the civilian culture, the military is a disciplined force with a different culture. The military culture includes aspects of cohesion, loyalty, and authoritarian structure. Conversely, the civilian culture includes individuality, autonomy, and equal social relationships. Military culture demands that soldiers form strong bonds with each other, joined by commitment and the desire for honor (Sarkesian & Connor, 2006). Military culture maintains respect for multiculturalism and diversity while promoting indoctrination of oneness and unity. Contrariwise, the civilian culture in the U.S. promotes individualism where people only consider their lives and show less concern for others. In addition, military culture is ground on loyalty and mission. Soldiers maintain total commitment to their units, unit’s missions, and unit members (Hall, 2011). Military culture demands dedication to one’s country and fellow members since the military creates a second family. On the other hand, the civilian culture is characterized by equal social relationships where individuals have the right to choose people they can relate with. Every civilian enjoys the freedom to achieve moral, legal, and political affiliation without encumbrance (Sarkesian & Connor, 2006). Unlike in the military culture, civilians do not have to maintain strong cohesion with every unit member. In training, soldiers are trained to exercise high tolerance levels to maintain their dedication to others and their units.
Lastly, military cultures are authoritarian, unlike the civilian cultures that raise autonomy and self-determination. Hall (2011) notes that military culture is characterized by a rigid authoritarian culture with clear rules, limited tolerance for disagreements and questioning, violation of privacy, and narrow boundaries for individualism. Soldiers are required to develop rigidity and conformity to the hierarchical structure in the military. Veterans struggle to relate to the civilian autonomy culture where individuals are free to decide what to do without being coerced or influenced. Americanism allows people to hold different opinions and disagree openly on social, economic, or political issues. Soldiers learn to shelve individual opinions, perceptions, or ideas to honor directives from their seniors or commanders in the military. Therefore, veterans seem to conflict with the liberal independence that civilians enjoy in the United States.
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After retiring from the military, veterans find it challenging to find a job due to the difference between their culture and the civilian culture. Veterans extend the culture of communal life, hierarchy, and discipline to the civil world and hence scares away potential employers (Caforio, 2006). Veterans find it challenging to work alone and thus fail to fit in the modern job market that promotes specialization and individual brilliance. Also, veterans are authoritative and thus create a feeling of intimidation in employers. The military culture includes unquestionable commands that many civilians would consider harsh, intimidating, and inconsiderate of individual liberty. Lastly, veterans are strict disciplinarians, and therefore, many civilians find it uneasy to work with them. The military culture has little tolerance to mistakes and indiscipline, and therefore, veterans struggle to adapt to the job environment where other employees have unethical behaviors or show no commitment. During role transition, veterans find it challenging to adapt to the job market due to the absence of equivalent responsibility and leadership in civilian employment. Though veterans are excellent team workers, their authoritarian nature creates a perception of strictness and dictatorship that many civilians cannot tolerate.
3.
The Feres doctrine that prevents military service members from suing the military should be overturned since it violates whistleblowers' rights to report injustices. Even though the military has an authoritarian structure that operates on commands and is less concerned for individualism, human rights are supreme. No person should be reprimanded for advocating for equal rights and privileges. The Feres doctrine promotes injustices as military members fear retaliatory practices after seeking justice in courts of law. According to the national business ethics survey of 2013, approximately 6 million American workers experienced retaliatory practices by employers after reporting injustices (Garrick, 2017). Barring members from suing their employers promotes practices where employees suffer in silence since the law seems to approve all practices by the employers.
Also, the Feres doctrine should be nullified since it derails justice for members. According to Garrick (2017), members who report injustices to the Department of Defense Employee Assistance Program are often referred back to their managers in a process that can take months or years. Therefore, suing the military is the most feasible strategy of getting justice since it is fast and transparent. The Feres doctrine creates avenues to expose the members to manipulation such as demotion and relocation since matters are resolved internally. So, if the members have a complaint against senior officers, the justice process can easily be manipulated since no organ monitors how the military handles internal issues.
However, there are alternatives to solve disputes in the military besides the Feres doctrine. Members with a discrimination complaint can utilize the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) to file their cases against the DOD. The EEO can then attempt to resolve the complaint or may file a complaint to the DOD. In the DOD, the case is transferred from the EEO to the Investigations and Resolutions Division (IRD), a board within the Defense Civilian Personnel Advisory Service (Matthews & Lim, 2015). The case is then determined within 180 days. Therefore, the Feres doctrine ensures that members follow the available procedures in conflict resolution internally.
Moreover, the Feres doctrine maintains the reputation of the DOD. The military has chains of command, and therefore, suing it would be a long process that lacks specificity. Commands in the military are handled down in a hierarchy, and hence it is not easy to hold an individual accountable. Considering that the DOD is under the presidency, suing it in court would create a bad reputation for the disciplined forces and the presidency. Public trust in critical organs of government is essential, and therefore, solving conflicts internally maintains the public belief in the national security organs.
5.
Military families are the most affected by the challenges that members of the family experience in the military. The long periods of absence and the risk of death are traumatizing for most families. Besides, the discontinuity of social cultures for soldiers deprives families of their keen's usual personality and interactions. The most affected families are those with special needs since the family member in the military cannot offer the much-required help alongside the military duties assigned. Therefore, the DOD initiated the Exceptional Family Member Program (EFMP) to assist families of individuals in the military with special needs (Blaisure et al., 2015). The EFMP requires that soldiers identify their members of the family who have special educational or medical needs for the DOD to organize the required services (Blaisure et al., 2015). EFMP attempts to match the family needs with military duties and communities that can offer the special needs. As Blaisure et al. (2015) explain, the EFMP program seeks to achieve family self-sufficiency and self-advocacy skills. The EFMP program improves personal efficiency in the military since it eases the family burden for many soldiers. According to Blaisure et al. (2015), about 21% of soldiers in the United States have enrolled their families in the EFMP. Some of the common needs identified in the survey include autism, growth and developmental complications, speech impairment, and mental health disorders.
In recommendation, the DOD should develop a standard systematic performance measure for all services to ensure that families with special needs are assisted as intended. According to GAO (2018), DOD lacks a uniform monitoring system since all services intend to uphold their performance measures. Consequently, DOD does not have a standard to verify if the families in need get the required help from the services. Every service conducts its EFMP performance evaluation, and therefore, the support given to families in need varies significantly across the services (GAO, 2018). Therefore, the DOD should formulate a shared performance measure for all services to ease monitoring and development of the M.P.s. A common performance measure in all services will help DOD to determine the efficacy of the help given to families in need based on size and complexity.
6.
Military members and veterans are often diagnosed with several psychological health issues, including depression, PTSD, suicide, and substance abuse. According to Olenick et al. (2015), mental health problems for military members are veterans result from chronic pain, exposure to hazardous substances, amputation, homelessness, difficulties in rehabilitation care, complexity in deployment, and difficulty when reintegrating with society. The high prevalence of mental disorders in active members and veterans required the DOD to initiate the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury (DCoE). DCoE was initiated in 2007 to counter the growing psychological needs and TBI among military members (Blaisure et al., 2015). DCoE has a mandate to develop standards to identify, treat, and prevent psychological health issues and TBI in the United States military forces. The DCoE's primary strength is its collaboration with the DOD's medical and research department, Department of Veterans Affairs, psychiatric academic institutions, and civilian and military clinical experts (Blaisure et al., 2015). The multidisciplinary approach adopted by DCoE effectively addresses psychological problems for military members to minimize suicides and violence. Also, the multidisciplinary approach is effective in addressing the reintegration challenges experienced by veterans after retiring. The DCoE program builds resilience in military members to help them cope with challenging experiences. According to Meredith et al. (2011), psychological resilience at a personal level includes positive coping and thinking, realism, altruism, and control of behaviors. On the family level, DCoE builds resilience to include emotional ties, adaptability, closeness, and support. On the unit level, resilience includes teamwork and cohesion, while at the community level, it includes connectedness, a sense of belonging, and integration. However, the DCoE program’s primary weakness is its focus on treatment instead of prevention. The program focuses on the affected military members and does little to address the factors that trigger the psychological disorders. Therefore, the number of members with psychological disorders is increasing regardless of the program being there for more than a decade.
In recommendation, the DCoE should strategize prevention measures that will focus more on the causes of psychological disorders in the military instead of the results. For active military members, DCoE should improve the effectiveness of pre and post-deployment assessments to identify the possible causes of psychological issues. DCoE should initiate outreach programs to identify environments, exposures, or experiences that trigger stress, depression, or loneliness in members. For veterans, DCoE should initiate more effective follow-up assessment programs to evaluate probable stressors as the retirees integrate into society. Besides, DCoE should monitor indicators of psychological issues such as a change in personality and substance abuse to introduce interventions before members' psychological health deteriorate. Since some psychological issues and traumatic brain injuries are terminal, prevention measures can be more effective than treatment programs.
References
Blaisure, K. R., Saathoff-Wells, T., Pereira, A., Wadsworth, M. S., & Dombro, A. L. (2015). Serving military families: Theories, research, and application (Textbooks in Family Studies) (2nd ed.). Routledge.
Caforio, G. (2006). Handbook of the sociology of the military (Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research) (2002nd ed.). Springer.
United States Government Accountability Office (GAO). (2018, May). DOD should improve its oversight of the Exceptional Family Member Program . https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-18-348
Garrick J. (2017). Peer support for whistleblowers. Federal Practitioner: For the Health Care Professionals of the V.A., DoD, and PHS , 34 (7), 38–41.
Hall, L. (2011). The importance of understanding military culture. Social Work in Health Care , 50 (1), 4–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2010.513914
Matthews, M., Lim, N., Rand Corporation, & National Defense Research Institute (U.S.). (2015). Improving the timeliness of Equal Employment Opportunity Complaint Processing in Department of Defense . RAND Corporation.
Meredith, L. S., Sherbourne, C. D., Gaillot, S. J., Hansell, L., Parker, A. M., Wrenn, G., & Ritschard, H. (2011). Promoting psychological resilience in the U.S. military (Rand Corporation Monograph) (1st ed.). RAND Corporation.
Olenick, M., Flowers, M., & Diaz, V. (2015). U.S. veterans and their unique issues: enhancing health care professional awareness. Advances in Medical Education and Practice , 635. https://doi.org/10.2147/amep.s89479
Sarkesian, S. & Connor, R. (2006). The U.S. military profession into the 21st century: War, peace and politics (Cass Military Studies) (1st ed.). Routledge.
