Airmen combat stress, help keep boots on ground

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Patrick McKenna
  • U.S. Air Forces Central Command Combat Correspondent
CAMP STONE, Afghanistan --  Deployments can be a stressful experience no matter if you're a hardened NCO on your fifth trip overseas or a junior enlisted on your first. They bring a unique set of stressors that, if ignored, can have a negative effect on a service member's mindset at a time when focus is vital.

For two Airmen assigned to the Combat Stress clinic at Camp Stone, Afghanistan, their mission is to provide service members of all branches the guidance necessary to get to the root of what's bothering them, and the resources to help get them back on track.

"When service members come in, we try to figure out what's bothering them and then talk with them to figure out how best to help get them focused and back out to their mission," said Staff Sgt. Tiffany Owens, NCO in charge of Camp Stone's combat stress clinic. "Our motto is 'keeping boots on the ground.'"

Owens pointed out that combat troops aren't the only ones at risk of feeling overwhelmed. Just because you aren't out having contact with direct fire, doesn't mean you aren't vulnerable to stress while deployed.

Family issues back home, money problems, adapting to new environments and coworkers can all have a huge impact on someone's state of mind.

"A lot of people leave home and don't realize that life doesn't stop back there when they leave," said Capt. Sonia Pons, the combat stress clinical psychologist. "One phone call from a family member back home worrying about something can have huge impact on a service member. They feel helpless."

To help service members deal with what's causing their problems, these medical professionals have an array of actions they can utilize.

"Contingent on the situation, the treatments we use are based on what the problems are," Owens said. "Whether it is conflict resolutions, skill building, education on tobacco and caffeine misuse or facilitating communication between service members and their command, we'll do whatever it takes."

One challenge these Airmen face when trying to complete their mission is the stigma that people don't want to be seen going into the clinic out of fear they'll be thought of as weak or mentally ill. To combat that, Pons and Owens have instituted practices to reach out to units around base.

"We started doing walkabouts shortly after arriving here," said Pons, deployed from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. "We go out daily and talk to people around base letting them know who we are so they recognize us. It gives them the option that if something is going on, they aren't limited to just going in the clinic. It's been a big hit."

These two Airmen are responsible not only for Camp Stone, but six other forward operating bases and combat outposts in western Afghanistan. They're constantly on the road performing battlefield circulations to these small installations where no mental health team is on station.

Being the only members of the clinic presents Pons and Owens with a demanding schedule. Between counseling individuals, working with units, performing walkabouts and travelling throughout western Afghanistan on battlefield circulations, they don't exactly have a lot of down time, but that's the way they like it.

"We're busy, but busy doesn't mean bad," said Owens, deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. "A lot of things we want to do is prevention and intervention to catch things before they become a big problem."

Pons and Owens have more than 10 years combined experience in this field. They don't do it because it's easy. They do it because despite the long hours and hard work, they say it still provides them rewarding experiences each and every day.

"We want to make sure these service members understand we all have the ability to be resilient," Pons said. "We feel every person has an ability to bounce back from events that have happened. When you believe in someone's ability to recover and, most importantly, they believe in themselves and are successful, it's a mission complete for us."