Consortium on Veteran Studies

Background

The Consortium was established in 1975 as an informal network of like-minded scholars interested in collaborating on a common goal. The first goal was to focusing on the mental health consequences of the Vietnam War through sessions at national and international societies. From 1976-1980 the Consortium presented such sessions at all of the major, relevant associations (NCFR, APA, ASA, AOA, ApA). The second goal was to publish books that would serve as the state of the arts in understanding combat veterans. Stress Disorders among Vietnam Veterans (1978) and Strangers at Home: Vietnam Veterans since the War (1980) were published with acknowledgement to the Consortium. The third goal was to help establish the diagnosis later known as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The American Psychiatric Association's Nomenclature Committee on DSM-III included PTSD as a diagnosis in 1980. The fifth and final goal was to support establishing permanent institutions within the Department of Veterans Affairs that would address the mental health issues of combat veterans and their families. In 1979 the VA recognized PTSD as a diagnosis for treatment and disability ratings. In 1980 the VA established the Readjustment Counseling Program (Vet Centers) along with a program of national training and orientation to staff them. In 1982 the VA established the National Center for PTSD and a national network of PTSD treatment centers. Both programs are highly successful and one of the most successful in VA history.

The Consortium, having completed its goals, went on hiatus until 2005. Today there is growing evidence that the numbers of those who served in war and require mental health services may be far greater than the Federal capacity to serve their needs and those of their families. Moreover, the current cohort of war veterans are significantly different than past generations of veterans – especially Vietnam veterans -- in four fundamental ways: (1) this is an all-voluntary military composed completely of volunteers; (2) more involvement of women; (3) more involvement of members of reserves and national guard, and; (4) there is far more unit integrity and commitment. Moreover, the United States is different with more knowledge of mental health assessment and treatment and far greater appreciation for the warfighter compared to 30 years ago.

Current Goals

The 2005 Consortium, in contrast to the 1975 Consortium, has four major goals. The first goal is to establish an annual symposium on combat/operational injuries that would both establish the known knowledge based and identify the critical gaps for understanding and helping war fighters and their families. Consistent with this goal, the first annual Symposium, For Those Who Bore the Battle: Research Opportunities and Practice Implications of Combat/Operational Stress Injuries

A Symposium on the Implications for Theory, Research, and Practice, is schedule for February 10, 2006 at Florida State University .

The second goal is to organize a task force that would focus on replicating the success of the Canadian Forces Operational Stress Injury Social Support (OSSIS) Program and Network that identifies, trains, and supports a cadre of peer support specialists among veterans and spouses. See www.ossis.ca for additional information. Representatives of the Program will present the highlights of their approach and experiences so far at the February 10 th symposium. Efforts are underway by the FSU Traumatology Institute and the Virginia Commonwealth University 's Life Skills Center to propose a study focusing on the delivery of a specially designed skills training program for a similar cadre of peer support specialists among members of the National Guard in Virginia and Florida .

The third goal is to identify and test the effectiveness of treatments for PTSD and other combat-related mental health problems that involve and address the family of the veteran. Although there have been hundreds of studies of PTSD assessment and treatment programs for individual warfighters, very few focus on family or family-informed PTSD treatments.

The fourth goal is to more thoroughly understand the current warfighter in the context of service in the reserves/national guard and returning to rural communities. Given the fact that more than 40% of those who served in the current wars are reservists or National Guard members from non-metro and rural areas, it is remarkable that this population has been overlooked and rarely studied.