Anger in the Combat Zone

Abstract

A U.S. Army Reserve Combat Stress Control prevention team was dispatched to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom to provide preventative mental health care to a U.S. Army airborne division and Special Operations forces. The team's mission was to ensure mental health readiness of units in the area of operations. In Bagram, Afghanistan, the Combat Stress Control team identified anger as a very prevalent emotion in the combat zone. Anger management interventions with individual and group counseling were implemented to help soldiers cope with anger. Of 7,000 military personnel stationed there during the team's rotation, there was not one completed suicide or homicide. This article describes how the 113th Medical Company identified, treated, and controlled anger at Bagram Airbase, Afghanistan, between June 20, 2002, and December 20, 2002, with anger management interventions. This article does not address the psychophysiological features of anger.