SBAND Seminar Materials 2013 Free Ethics: Echoes of War The Combat Veteran | Page 16

half
 of
 those
 homeless
 veterans
 were
 deemed
 to
 have
 a
 “serious
 mental
 illness.”57

  Nationally,
  An
 estimated
 136,334
 veterans
 spent
 at
 least
 one
 night
 in
 an
 emergency
  shelter
 or
 transitional
 housing
 program
 between
 October
 1,
 2008
 and
  September
 30,
 2009.

 This
 accounts
 for
 1
 of
 every
 168
 veterans
 in
 the
 U.S.
 or
  1
 out
 of
 every
 10
 veterans
 living
 in
 poverty.58

  This
 statistic
 illustrates
 just
 how
 difficult
 it
 can
 be
 for
 veterans
 to
 make
 the
 transition
 from
  military
 to
 civilian
 life.

B. Military
 Total
 Institution
 and
 Combat
 Psychological
 Conditioning

In
 addition
 to
 the
 psychological
 toll
 of
 warfare,
 the
 training
 and
 conditioning
 used
 to

prepare
 our
 veterans
 for
 combat
 may
 also
 be
 relevant
 to
 criminal
 behavior,
  In
 order
 to
 fully
 understand
 the
 co mplexities
 associated
 with
 a
 veteran’
 s
 risk
  for
 chronic
 mental
 health
 problems
 (e.g.,
 PTSD)
 it
 is
 necessary
 to
 consider
  the
 role
 and
 function
 of
 military
 training
 and
 the
 total
 institution
 (an
 area
  that
 has
 enjoyed
 research
 immunity
 in
 the
 area
 of
 PTSD),
 contributing
 static
  variables,
 and
 the
 more
 opaque
 dynamic
 variables,
 which
 include
 the
  psychological
 “
 software”
 installation
 and
 manipulation
 procedures
  employed
 during
 the
 training
 processes
 in
 the
 military
 total
 institution.59

  In
 order
 to
 ensure
 success
 and
 survival
 on
 the
 battlefield,
 the
 US
 military
 has
 a
 culture
 and
  training
 program
 that
 encourages
 immediate
 and
 violent
 reactions
 to
 threats.

 Nowhere
 is
  this
 clearer
 than
 the
 military’s
 attitude
 toward
 killing,
 “Killing
 another
 human
 being,
 for
  example,
 is
 considered
 an
 unnatural
 act
 in
 the
 civilian
 environment.
 In
 the
 military,
 killing
  is
 viewed
 differently
 –
 killing
 becomes
 a
 more
 natural
 act
 that
 enhances
 the
 likelihood
 of
  survival
 and
 advances
 the
 probability
 that
 the
 military
 will
 succeed
 in
 its
 mission.”60

  To
 overcome
 the
 human
 aversion
 to
 killing
 and
 ensure
 performance
 under
 the
  stress
 of
 combat,
 the
 armed
 forces
 must
 condition
 the
 service
 members
 to
 follow
 orders
  even
 in
 the
 most
 tragic
 situations.

 To
 this
 end,
 the
 military
 has
 grown
 to
 be
 what
 the
  sociologist
 Erving
 Goffman
 coined
 as
 a
 “total
 institution,”
 which
 is
 a
 place
 of
 work
 and

 WILDER
 RESEARCH,
 OVERVIEW
 OF
 HOMELESSNESS
 IN
 MINNESOTA
 2006,
 40?41
 (2007).

 U.S.
 DEP’T
 OF
 HOUS.
 &
 URBAN
 DEV.,
 OFFICE
 OF
 CMTY.
 PLANNING
 &
 DEV.,
 VETERAN
 HOMELESSNESS:
 A
 SUPPLEMENTAL
 REPORT
 TO
  THE
 2010
 ANNUAL
 HOMELESS
 ASSESSMENT
 REPORT
 (AHAR)
 TO
 CONGRESS
 i
 (2009).
  59
 William
 Brown,
 Another
 Emerging
 Storm:
 Iraq
 and
 Afghanistan
 Veterans
 with
 PTSD
 in
 the
 Criminal
 Justice
  System,
 Just.
 Pol’y
 J.,
 Vol.
 5,
 No.
 2,
 17-­?18
 (2008).

  60
 Id.
 at
 18.

58 57

16