European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 9, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Friday november 9, 1990 the stars and stripes Page 3 a it by a ,.�x.midair refreshment three Marine corps planes look As if they re performing an Aerial Ballet in formation but the real purpose is More Down to Earth so to speak. A Kc-130 Tanker plane is preparing to refuel two f/a-18 Hornet fighters during a patrol this week for operation desert shield the . Response to iraqis invasion of sets up military Headquarters in Gulf by Joseph Owen Stuttgart Bureau Canada has established a military Headquarters in Bahrain to administer a operation scimitar a its deployment of 1,700 troops in the persian Gulf. Canadian forces Middle East he assumed control of the air forces 409th so and the three ship naval task group on monday said Canadian army it. Col. Ralph Coleman. The ships Are patrolling the Gulf As part of the multinational enforcement of the . Trade embargo against Iraq. The squadrons Cf-18 Hornet fighter jets provide air cover for the ships. Canadian defense minister Bill Mcknight plans to visit the Gulf next wednesday through Friday said Coleman speaking from Lahr Germany. The new Canadian forces Middle East commander is Navy Commodore Ken Summers former chief of staff at the maritime come he in Halifax Nova Scotia. Summers has served As the task group commander since its arrival in the Gulf in Early october. The Headquarters Deputy commander is air Force Romeo la Londe. Coleman said the command is cooperating closely with other forces in the Gulf but Summers answers directly to Ottawa. The air Squadron normally assigned to Canadian forces base Baden Solingen in Germany is in Qatar an arid Connecticut size Peninsula nation bordering saudi Arabia and the United Arab emirates. The naval task group which came from Canada patrols near Qatar and Bahrain a 258-Square-mile Island Between Qatar and saudi Arabia. Its Home port is in Bahrain. Air Force personnel arc to rotate through the Gulf on a 14-Wcck Cycle but sailors probably will stay longer because of the logistics of getting them on and off ships Coleman said. Coleman said he could not give estimates yet of How much the Gulf deployment would Cost Canadian taxpayers. Canada has provided troops for several . Peacekeeping operations but the Gulf deployment Marks the first time since the korean War that it has dispatched forces to confront a potentially hostile Battle desert duty stress continued from Page 1 Lectance of some commanders and supervisors to discuss the stress involved with desert duty. Military psychologists in the Gulf report that High Levels of stress Are to be expected in a deployment to a potential Battle zone. Probably the biggest source of stress is the separation of families. A the thing we say to people Over and Over is you have to live Here a said it. Col. Dick Price who works with Colosimo. A if their body is Here and their heart and soul and everything else is Back there its much More difficult. So we encourage people to sort of adopt a family Here a said Price the chief of mental health services at England fab la. A the buddy system is of but you also need a of friends and activities so you re not just pining away All the time and feeling so Long hours of work changes in climate and culture tedium and uncertainty about the future can affect the mental health of soldiers. Since there is no Way to remove the stress the psychologists try to improve the ways the troops handle it. The worst thing anyone can do is to try to avoid the topic they said. In general service members that look on the deployment As a Challenge rather than a threat have an easier adjustment. A people differ incredibly in terms of the Way they respond to stress a Price said. A your own background. What you expect to happen your values assumptions predictions All Factor into How you handle the stress the psychologists said that much of their work is aimed at helping commanders and supervisors to be More sensitive to signs of stress in their troops. A the Long hours of work changes in climate and culture tedium and uncertainty about the future can affect the mental health of soldiers. First line of defense in stress management is with command and the Way procedures Are implemented and the Way they manage people a Price said. A a it a not really a mental health Issue its a command to that end the mental health experts have been briefing unit commanders and other leaders on How to recognize signs of mood changes among their troops. A maybe some people Arentt sleeping quite As Well maybe some people Are missing their meals a he said. A the first sergeant the commander the supervisor the dorm mate who notice that these people Arentt quite doing these things can be a big help to these people. Stress management classes aimed at making the troops feel like they have More control Over their lives have become More popular As the deployment stretches into three months. A if you feel that your environment is going to dictate what your emotions will be then that a going to make it a lot harder and you re going to feel like a puppet or a victim a Price said. A we try to encourage folks to recapture a Little control Over How they re going to feel even if the situation is not quite what they in War psychologists Likely would be treating combat fatigue which is similar to exhaustion. Soldiers who have experienced disruption of sleeping and eating patterns and the threat of death or mutilation will probably experience some form of the condition. A a it a totally Normal for a person to get frightened and Start to vomit and have diarrhoea right at the time of attack. That a a Normal reaction to a terrible situation a Price said. A but when a person is doing that All the time when he can to turn off the alarm reaction and his body becomes so exhausted that he just can to continue anymore mentally or physically then we re getting into the Battle fatigue area. Treating Battle fatigue includes counselling but it also entails getting the the service member Back to his unit As quickly As possible. A if a person can be turned around quickly then he feels like he a lived up to his obligations and helped his friends in a Way that he feels he should Quot Colosimo said. A then he does no to get into a category or Label himself As a psychiatric Case
