Environmental And Occupational Health Hazard Issues Surrounding Military Service During Peacetime Or Garrison Duty

 

As a population, military personnel in the United States tend to be younger than the U.S. working population and maintain a higher level of health and physical fitness due to combat readiness and training requirements. Additionally, screening and elimination of individuals deemed unfit for service selects a distinctive population. For example, in 1995, during the period of initial entry and first six months of military service, the primary medical and disease reasons for disqualification of individuals were hearing-related, lower extremity orthopedic problems, asthma, and psychiatric problems (Kelley, 2003: 153). Because of these differences, those serving in the military can be considered a special group of workers with particular experiences, just as the occupational and environmental health issues of agricultural workers, construction groups, and health-care workers are sometimes addressed as selected groups (Levy and Wegman, 2000).

Although the population is distinctive, to a large extent, military jobs closely resemble or are the same as civilian jobs. Research efforts in 2000–01 determined that 72% of the total U.S. Army enlisted population was employed in a job with a corresponding civilian job title; similar results were observed in officers (both warrant and commissioned combined) (Sulsky, 2003). The overlap is significant in those jobs involving transportation and material moving, construction and extraction, and business and financial operations. Jobs categorized as involving installation, maintenance, and repair were more common in the Army than in the civilian workforce, while broad occupational groups inclusive of production and food preparation were more common in the civilian workforce.
Military Service Characteristics
In other countries (and earlier in U.S. history when a draft was in operation), certain entry-level requirements were not always in place and military service was considered mandatory for all at a certain age. In the United States under the volunteer system, there exist levels of initial screening and selection processes at accession and during initial enlistment stages in terms of medical and psychological health, physical performance standards, weight and body fat standards, aptitude determinations, and the requirements to maintain optimal readiness (in terms of health and ability to perform job tasks). From accession into the U.S. military services, occupational and environmental health programs and initiatives are in place. These include standard assessments of initial physical fitness levels and administration of appropriate immunizations; attention to the levels of attrition due to medical conditions; prevention, management, and treatment of training-related injuries (such as stress fractures) during entry training. Prevention programs are also in place to monitor exertional heat illnesses, screening and management of mental and behavioral health issues, eating disorders, weight management, and smoking cessation.

These requirements exist within infrastructures unique to the various military organizations and have an effect on outcomes of occupational and environmental programs. Military infrastructure is strongly hierarchical and execution at command level impacts program results: leadership responsibility and accountability play prominent roles. For example, in the Israeli Army, a case of heat illness is considered a court martial offense for the unit leader, and not for the individual heat casualty (Pandolf and Burr, 2001: 37).

Additionally it is important to note that in the United States and in other countries as well, some members of the military may be serving on a part-time basis (in the Reserves and National Guard) while holding a civilian job. Most commonly, these individuals work a full-time civilian job and then spend one weekend every month and 2 weeks a year performing their military job duties. At other times, they may be called up for ‘active duty service’ and deployed for peacekeeping, humanitarian, combat, or stabilization missions around the world. They also can be called to serve in an emergency response capacity at state or national levels, for example, to help evacuate civilians and provide medical assistance, as was the case during Hurricane Katrina, or to perform clean-up operations after the destruction at the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon following the events of September 11, 2001, or to provide extra security during large public events, such as occurred at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, UT.
Military Occupations: Training And Advancement
In peacetime and during the duty rotation when stationed at the unit’s home base (in garrison), classroom training and simulated training exercises and drills are conducted to maintain combat readiness. These training exercises are generally distinct from those designed to further develop job skills within one’s designated occupational field. These training exercises may be carried out under extreme environmental conditions of hot and cold climates in desert and mountain terrains and require high levels of physical workload. They may also involve simulated combat or peacekeeping scenarios to provide opportunities for learning and practicing new skills as well as maintenance of cohesion of group-level operational roles.

Achievement of training goals as well as maintenance of health and physical fitness standards are intimately related to continued advancement in the military structure. Target weight standards and physical fitness levels, job advancement skill sets, combined with training requirements tailored to military occupations are an integral part of military service personnel’s responsibilities throughout their service and are important determinants of advancement within the profession.