Soldiers and Leaders With Combat Experience: Unit Health and Climate

Objective: The present study investigated the association between previous deployment experience and somatic symptoms, mental health, unit climate perceptions, anger, and risk taking among junior-enlisted soldiers who were preparing to deploy or who were in garrison, or home duty station. The study also investigated potential differences in these variables based on unit leader deployment history. Method: Soldiers in a combat unit were surveyed either in a predeployment (n = 1,554; one week before deployment) or garrison setting (n = 1,326). Surveys addressed deployment history, health, unit climate, and leader deployment history. Results: Those in the predeployment sample with deployment history had significantly more somatic symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), sleep problems, and anger reactions, and significantly less favorable unit climate perceptions, compared to those without deployment history. Higher rates of sleep problems, anger reactions, and endorsement of a risk-taking item, along with less favorable unit climate perceptions, were also reported by experienced soldiers in the garrison sample. In both samples, soldiers with experienced leaders endorsed more risk-taking behaviors than those with inexperienced leaders. Predeployment soldiers with experienced leaders also reported higher unit cohesion than those with inexperienced leaders. Conclusions: Previous deployments appear to increase the risk for a range of outcomes reported by soldiers at predeployment and in garrison. Findings suggest the impact of deployment should be considered well beyond the traditional deployment phases. Future research should examine what experienced leaders bring to units, in terms of boosting cohesion and potentially increasing the willingness of unit members to engage in risk-taking behaviors.