Abstract:
This qualitative study described the experiences of members of the United States
Armed Forces in communicating and maintaining relationships with family and other
loved ones while deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. Service members described a range of
communication issues related to their abilities and desires to maintain their roles in the
family unit while deployed, the effects that 21st century communication technologies had
on unit safety and mission focus, and the effects and expectations that nearly real-time,
round-the-clock access had on the stresses of living in a combat environment.
Twenty interviews were conducted either by phone or face-to-face with veterans
who were deployed at least once to Iraq and/or Afghanistan. This sample represented
enlisted and officer personnel (generically referred to as soldiers) from four uniformed
military services (Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps). An interview script with
13 primary questions was employed; spontaneous probes and follow-up questions were
used to elicit more detail or for clarification.Using inductive content analysis, the interviews revealed five main themes
related
to experiences in communicating with their loved ones while deployed: (1)
Creating
Normalcy Through Connecting With Others; (2)
Understanding the Spoken and
Unspoken; (3) Connecting and Disconnecting; (4) Changing Sense of Self; and (5)
Sustaining a Common Bond. Under each theme were two to seven dimensions of each
theme that participants had described.
The findings illustrated a broad range of complex interactions between and within
soldiers, their families, comrades-in-arms, the home environment, and the combat
environments. These were all influenced, for better or worse, by the presence or absence
of 21st century communication technologies. Based on these findings, several
recommendations for military leadership and for those working with loved ones left at
home were developed. These are based on the notion that, while deployed, soldiers have
the opportunity to become or remain involved with their families, including family
problems, without sacrificing mission or safety.
