Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) Among Returning Afghanistan and Iraq Wars Veterans. Symptoms and Suffering Similar To Ordeals of Persian Gulf and Vietnam War Veterans. Command & General Staff College

Military personnel experiencing combat in Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering wounds that are much greater in number and variety than those endured by veterans of earlier wars. This circumstance is due, in part, to advances in medical science and technology. Soldiers, sailors and marines who suffered such severe wounds in earlier wars simply died because they were beyond the reach of then contemporary medicine or technology. In addition, in earlier wars, Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome was not even given a name, let alone recognized as a valid form of war-related casualty. Now, PTSD is thoroughly documented and a whole array of treatments are available to veterans of the Iraqi and Afghan Wars. Friedman (2006) summarized PTSD symptoms as being typified by numbing, evasion, hypervigilance, and re-experiencing of disturbing incidents via flashbacks. Veterans and other non-combatant participants in war who have outlived traumatic experiences typically suffer from PTSD. PTSD is being reported in considerable numbers in service members returning from combat (Friedman 2006; Seal, Bertenthan, Miner, Saunak and Marmar, 2007). This is not surprising due to the chaotic nature of combat in the Iraqi and Afghan theatres. According to the Defense Manpower Data Center (2007), 65% of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) casualties were caused by blasts, particularly those that resulted from improvised explosive devices (IEDs). Terrorist strikes, urban warfare, numerous and protracted combat operations and the pervasive hazard from roadside bombs are some of the distinctive characteristics of the OEF and OIF conflicts, which put particular stress on surviving military service members (Carlock, 2007). A distinguishing pattern of wounds inflicted by explosive devices includes traumatic brain injury (TBI), burns, blindness and spinal cord injuries, along with the initial limb injuries that in time require amputation. This was, unfortunately, a major affliction among military personnel in these conflicts (Carlock, 2007). In order to explain the multifaceted and severe wounds to more than one body system, Eckholm (2006) and Scott, Belanger, Vanderpoeg, Massengale and Scholter (2006) used the term polytrauma. Special care is given to veterans and service members who suffer from poly-trauma, which is specified as multiple injuries that cause physical, psychological, mental or psychosocial injuries and functional incapacity (Johnson, 2011). The wounds endured by military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan are much greater in number than those from earlier wars (Carlock, 2007). Most of the Iraqi War and Afghan War wounded are barely adult and they will need special treatment for more than fifty years (Blech, 2006). It cannot be denied that significant challenges still loom for physically and psychologically wounded Iraqi and Afghan War veterans. However, considering the existing political environment on the home front in the United States, the circumstances faced by the Iraqi and Afghan War veterans on their return is more conducive to healing and recovery as compared to that of the Vietnam War veterans (Hafemeister & Stockey, 2010). However, more Afghan War and Iraqi War veterans are afflicted with physical injuries and complex challenges than were the Vietnam War veterans. Nevertheless, numerous Afghan War and Iraqi War veterans have recovered and returned to combat and have served two or more tours. A majority of Vietnam veterans served only one tour. Also, it is important to note