PRAGUE (dpa) – Soldiers taking the front line in a global war against terrorism need more than camouflage uniforms and high-tech weapons to beat their adversaries.
They also need the mental and emotional strength to battle an enemy that may be extremely difficult to detect, or even define. Without that strength, soldiers may feel as ineffective as a shadow boxer.But how can armies mentally prepare soldiers for such a daunting task? The key question has been confronting military psychologists such as Captain Katerina Bernardova in the weeks since U.S. President George W. Bush declared a war on terrorism in response to the devastating terrorist attacks in New York and Washington.Bernardova is chief psychologist for the Czech Republic Army, a force that’s part of the NATO alliance and whose troops were have been on alert for possible action ever since the September 11 bloodbath. She’s also worked with Czech units assigned to recent NATO duty in Macedonia.Although she acknowledges that, at this stage, the war against terrorism is an American initiative, Bernadova and other NATO military psychologists have been forced to carefully examine the conflict’s implications for the mental preparedness of their troops.“There is a problem of the enemy and who is the enemy,” Bernadova said in an interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa. “The situation, of course, affects the mental stability of every individual.”A basic starting point for a military psychologist facing the terrorism issue, Bernadova said, is to recognise the humanity of each soldier.“Soldiers are human beings,” she explained. “Some soldiers are physically like Rambo but, in the field, beneath the Rambo body is a sensitive soul. Whoever says they have no fear is either a liar or a fool.”Such fear can be compounded by a flood of information soldiers receive before entering a conflict, including information about the specifics of their job and facts about the enemy, delivered by superiors and fellow soldiers. “A lot of information makes them nervous,” Bernadova said.Military psychologists, then, must find ways to ease a soldier’s mind so that all energy is focused on the task at hand.One technique is to assure the soldier that his or her family is safe and cared for, Bernadova said. Another is to educate the soldier thoroughly about the culture, terrain and people of the enemies’ country or, as in the case of terrorists harboured by countries not their own, the land where the fighting will take place. And she said soldiers are more mentally prepared when superiors share with them “the basics” of a military operation.Moreover, psychologists should help wherever the soldiers go, Bernadova said. “In our army, the motto of the military psychologist is, ‘Follow a soldier to the battlefield’.”But what if the enemy is not just a single country or group of people, but an abstract phenomenon such as “terrorism”?Fortunately for the soldiers, Bernadova said, the name of one U.S. enemy – Osama bin Laden – has been made clear. The current effort to find and capture bin Laden – which she calls “fox hunting” – is at least one aspect of the anti-terrorism war that’s easy for soldiers to grasp.At the same time, she said, the “unprecedented event” in the U.S. has created an “unpredictable” situation for soldiers that deeply affects their minds and marks “the end of traditional war.”Knowing that terrorists think differently and will even kill themselves for a cause affects the mindset of anti-terror troops, too. Bernadova describes the typical terrorist as an introvert who was may have been a social outcast, but who kills out of a twisted sense of self-importance.Although she is not a military strategist, Bernadova suspects that rooting out individual terrorists and their leaders will require special forces whose members are selected according to the results of psychological tests, and who prove they can cope with mentally taxing extremes. “Traditional soldiers” are incapable of such tasks, she said, because “it’s like fighting blind.”But special forces have their limits. That’s why building up the mental muscle of all troops to confront terrorism – with or without a face – has become a crucial task for NATO-member armies.More than ever, Bernadova said, military psychologists are needed to give personal attention to soldiers so that these can channel their nervous energy into combat strength, overcome fears and repel doubts.Whether the fight is against terrorism or another enemy, Bernadova said, the psychologist can contribute by “giving him courage, motivating him, keeping his morale up and promoting his self- confidence in every way possible.”
