More 'dwell time' needed

WASHINGTON — Soldiers need at least two years at home, if not more, between deployments to maintain their basic mental health, the Army's top medical commander said Thursday.

Lt. Gen. Eric B. Schoomaker, commander of the Army Medical Command, said Army studies suggest that adequate "dwell time" is even more critical to mental health than the military may have realized, and that shortened time at home is contributing to post-traumatic stress disorder and other mental health problems that have grown during a decade of warfare.

The Army's stated goal is three years of dwell time for each nine months deployed, but the service may be a few years away from reaching that milestone. Officials still are working to achieve a two-year dwell time across the Army sometime next year.

Although Army officials have been pushing for increased dwell time for a few years, Gen. Schoomaker's comments in a meeting with defense writers suggested that more compelling evidence is emerging about the mental health impacts of not reaching the goal. The Army has been struggling with PTSD, increased suicide rates, alcohol abuse, chronic stress and other indicators of the strain of warfare and repeated deployments.

Nearly a third of soldiers returning from combat may experience acute stress, Gen. Schoomaker said.

The Army's latest assessments indicate that dwell times of less than two years do not allow soldiers to return to their predeployment mental health, Gen. Schoomaker said. They need at least that long — but optimally 30 months — to reconnect with family and friends, he said.

The dwell time goal has been elusive for several reasons, including fighting simultaneously in Iraq and Afghanistan and the time necessary to expand the Army during the past several years. The Pentagon initially resisted calls from Congress — including then-Rep. John M. McHugh, R-Pierrepont Manor — to expand the Army.

Now, as Army secretary, Mr. McHugh is helping to oversee the expansion that he long sought and that officials say eventually will lead the way to more time at home.

Soldiers need more time reconnecting with families, and families need more time to reconnect with soldiers, said Kathleen B. Moakler, director of government relations at the National Military Family Association. Otherwise, she said, long, repeated absences can undermine how they believe they fit into the family.

In the meantime, the Army has boosted mental health programs, expanding the number of mental health providers and offering soldiers more ways to connect with them. Soldiers receive a mental health assessment after returning from deployment, either in person or over a computer with a mental health professional. The Army contracts with licensed social workers for 90-day stints, during which they are available to talk with families facing a deployment.

"That has been very effective," Ms. Moakler said.

Many soldiers seem to prefer the electronic version of counseling, Gen. Schoomaker said.

At Fort Drum, soldiers connect with providers at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington through a "tele-behavioral" program, he said.

While the military needs more mental health providers who specialize with children and adolescents, the services have made progress in encouraging soldiers and family members to seek help, Ms. Moakler said.

"I think they've done a lot in removing the stigma; at least we'd like to think so," Ms. Moakler said.