The reintegration process of military service members after deployment

Beschrijving

As conflicts and crises continue to arise, it is essential to acknowledge the increased active and crucial role of military service members in responding to these situations. This responsibility requires a heightened level of readiness, adaptability and resilience among military personnel across different stages of the deployment cycle. At each stage, employees are likely to face challenges that can affect performance, motivation, and well-being. Therefore, it is crucial to assess these challenges and potential consequences at each stage to ensure sustainable careers of resilient soldiers. While the first three stages are well documented, the post-deployment stage, more specifically the reintegration process, has not been extensively considered in literature and in organisational policies. The post-deployment stage starts when the employee returns home upon completion of the mission and needs to re-adapt to their life in the homeland. This process of re-finding their place is called ‘Reintegration’. Through interviews with military service members (N=30), we aimed to (1) confirm an integrative social-ecological framework that identifies the three main dimensions (individual, interpersonal, and professional) and related challenges of reintegration; (2) formulate what armed forces should know about the reintegration process; and (3) identify the challenges that armed forces can face during the post-deployment stage and reintegration process; (4) determine good practices. Based on these, we formulate practical and theoretical implications and recommendations for post-deployment policies and practices.

Periode	5 jun. 2023 → 8 jun. 2023
Evenementstitel	International Applied Military Psychology Symposium 2023: HUMAN FACTORS IN MILITARY TRAINING AND OPERATIONS
Evenementstype	Congres
Locatie	Zurich, ZwitserlandToon op kaart
Mate van erkenning	Internationaal