Social Psychological Issues in the Adaptation of US Army Forces to Peacekeepingand Contingency Missions

摘要

The participation of United States military forces in United Nations sponsoredpeacekeeping operations has increased dramatically in recent years. This is especially true for forward-deployed American forces in Europe, even though since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, their numbers declined from over 300,000 to about 150,000 today. The role of these forces has also shifted from one of defense against possible Soviet aggression, to active involvement in out-of-sector peacekeeping, contingency and humanitarian assistance missions. While much is known about soldier stress and adaptation in more traditional military operations, the U.S. military has little experience with peacekceping operations generally, and even less with United Nations' operations. How combat-trained soldiers adjust to this new role is of crucial importance to (1) organizational capability to contribute positively to such operations, (2) individual soldier