Army Morale Low Despite 6-Year, $287M Optimism Program

[Purveyor]

More than half of some 770,000 soldiers are pessimistic about their future in the military and nearly as many are unhappy in their jobs, despite a six-year, $287 million campaign to make troops more optimistic and resilient, findings obtained by USA TODAY show.

Twelve months of data through early 2015 show that 403,564 soldiers, or 52%, scored badly in the area of optimism, agreeing with statements such as "I rarely count on good things happening to me." Forty-eight percent have little satisfaction in or commitment to their jobs.

The results stem from resiliency assessments that soldiers are required to take every year. In 2014, for the first time, the Army pulled data from those assessments to help commanders gauge the psychological and physical health of their troops.

The effort produced startlingly negative results. In addition to low optimism and job satisfaction, more than half reported poor nutrition and sleep, and only 14% said they are eating right and getting enough rest.

The Army began a program of positive psychology in 2009 in the midst of two wars and as suicide and mental illness were on the rise. To measure resiliency the Army created a confidential, online questionnaire that all soldiers, including the National Guard and Reserve, must fill out once a year.

more...

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/04/16/army-survey-morale/24897455/

[Erich Bloodaxe BSN]

1. Here's an 'optimism program'. Quit making them fight.

End the endless wars and 'actions'. That will raise morale a heck of a lot more than whatever the 'morale program' is doing.

[HereSince1628]

2. I don't know what to thing about that...surveys often are very sensitive to wording.

My immediate reaction to 'counting on good things' was what-the hell? Good things can't be counted on. My maternal grandfather's phrase was "Hope for the best, EXPECT the worst, and take what you get." Having been raised under that philosophy I wouldn't have said I count on good things falling from the sky.

With respect to nutrition, the US media is notorious for sharing mixed messages of dietary guidelines. I wouldn't be surprised if most Americans aren't aware they are violating someone's dietary advice.

When I was in service, I was in a unit that did rotating shifts. Our meals didn't rotate with us, the mess ran on business hours with a single midnight meal mostly composed of choices like pizza and burgers added to the daily schedule. The routine activities of military life was constructed around standard business hours, which 2/3s of the time wasn't the schedule we were on. I felt chronically tired and given a few minutes to relax I could fall asleep in almost any circumstance. It wasn't that I didn't get opportunity to sleep, but that life created terrible sleep hygiene.

[Vinca]

3. They should have split the $287 million up among them.

$400 would have made them more optimistic than a bunch of feel good BS.

[gollygee]

6. That's what I thought too

They don't make much money. Helping their financial situation would probably make them more optimistic.

[woo me with science]

4. Corporate MO = Manipulation

"Optimism program" to try to make blood for profit into something our soldiers can feel good about.

[marmar]

5. There's nothing wrong with an institution that sends people off to die .........

......... in braindead exercises of militarism around the globe........

There must be something wrong with YOU!!!! That frown is just a smile turned upside down......Now put on a happy face, grab that gun and get your ass back on the battlefield!