Common Roles of Military Psychologists on the Ground

The military is a select group of citizens who highly trained and

equipped to perform national security tasks in unique and often chaotic

and trauma filled situations. These situations can include the

front-lines of battle, national emergencies, allied assistance, or the

disaster response scenes where they are providing relief-aid for the

host populations of both friendly and enemy nations. Though many

psychologists may have a general understanding with regards to a humans

response to traumatic situations, Military Psychologists are uniquely

trained and experienced specialists in applied science and practice

among this special population. While the soldiers may be providing

direct aid to the victims of events, the Military Psychologists are

providing specialized aid to both soldiers, their families, and the

victims of the events as they cope with the often "normal" response or

reaction to uncommon and abnormal circumstances.

In addition to the specialized roles previously mentioned, military

psychologists often study the dynamics, train people in, and consult on

hostage negotiations. In some cases the psychologists might not be the

one directly handling the hostage situation, but hostage negotiators

find value in resolving the hostage crisis using many of the scientific

principles that are derived from the science of psychology. In addition,

 many of the principles of the scientific discipline of Clinical

Psychology have their roots in the work of the early military

psychologists of World War II.

Another common practice domain for Military psychologists is in

performing Fitness for Duty Evaluations, especially in high risk and

high reliability occupations. The set of unique challenges often

faced by those in the military and the professions of arms such as:

police, strategic security, and protective services personnel, the

ability to perform reliable and accurate fitness for duty evaluations

adds value and maximizes the human capitol investment in the workplace

by optimizing retention of the talents of active and prospective service

 men and women while minimizing risk in many areas including violence,

mishap, and injury potential. The types of Fitness evaluations include

both basic entry examinations and career progression examinations such

as those conducted when individuals are seeking promotion, higher

classification clearance status, and specialized, hazardous, and mission

 critical working conditions. When operational commanders become

concerned about the impact of continuous, critical, and traumatic

operations on those in their command, they often consult with the

Military Psychologist. Military psychologists can assess, diagnose,

treat and recommend the duty status most suitable for the optimal

well-being of the individual, group, and organization. Events that

affect the mental state, resilience or psychological assets and

vulnerabilities of the warrior and the command are where Military

Psychologists are most equipped to meet the unique challenges and

provide expert care and consultation to preserve the behavioral health

of the fighting force. The Fitness Evaluations might lead to command

directed administrative actions or provide the information necessary to

make decisions by a medical board or other tribunal and must be

thoroughly conducted by non-biased individuals with the experience and

training necessary to render a professional opinion that is critical to

key decision makers. Military Psychologists must be well versed in the

art and science of psychology as specialized applied practice

professionals. They must also be highly competent generalists in the

military profession, and be able to understand both professions well

enough to examine human behavior in the context of military operations.

It takes the Psychologist several years beyond the Doctorate to develop

the expertise necessary to understand how to integrate psychology with

the complex needs of the military.

Another very select and infrequent use of Military Psychology is in the

interview of subjects, the interrogation of prisoners, and the vetting

of those who may provide information of operational or intelligence

value that would enhance outcomes of friendly military operations or

reduce friendly and enemy casualties. Psychology's scientific principles

 applied here allow the interviewer, agent, or interrogator to get as

much information as possible through non-invasive means without the need

 to resort to active measures or risk violating the rules of engagement,

 host nation agreements, international and military law or crossing the

threshold of the Geneva Convention's guidelines to which the United

States and its allies subscribe, regardless of the status of many of the

 modern belligerent countries on the international laws and United

Nations agreements.

My Opinion: The Role of Psychologists in the military world was no doubt very important indeed. With the psychologist, the tasks performed by the military will be running smoothly in accordance with the planned strategy, more conditioned and mental health is also very helpful for finding out the causes of the origin of the war opponents.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Military_psychology