Page 39 - Journal of Special Operations Medicine - Summer 2014

can be used to predict outcome scores of interest and to from small arms, artillery, rockets, mortars, or bombs
determine the accuracy of results. Assuming a two-tailed (57.5%); being in a vehicle that was under fire (52.7%);
test of significance, power was sufficient (>.80) for the and being involved in searching and/or disarming civil-
2
planned analyses to detect a small effect (f = .04). ians (50.9%). The most commonly endorsed events on
the ABS were encountering severely wounded or disfig-
ured Americans or Allies after combat (65.5%); observ-
Results
ing homes or villages that had been destroyed (61.9%);
Tables 1 and 2 summarize the percentage of partici- being exposed to the sight, sound, or smell of dying
pants who endorsed each CES and ABS item, indicat- men and women (60.9%); and seeing severely wounded
ing they had experienced the event at least once during or disfigured civilians (60.3%). Participants also indi-
their most recent deployment, as well as mean scores cated they had experienced ABS events more frequently
for each, indicating the frequency or intensity with while deployed than CES events.
which each event was experienced. Overall, partici-
pants tended to report a greater likelihood and intensity Means, standard deviations, and intercorrelations of all
of ABS events relative to CES. The most commonly en- variables are displayed in Table 3. As would be expected,
dorsed events on the CES were going on combat patrols age, number of deployments, and years of service were all
or missions (71.1%); receiving hostile incoming fire highly intercorrelated. PTSD and depression symptom

Table 1 Proportion of USAF PJs Reporting Each Type of Event on the Combat Exposure Scale of the Deployment Risk and
Resilience Inventory, With Mean Intensity Level
%
Event Endorsed Mean* SD
Going on combat patrols or missions 71.1 3.19 1.69
Encountering land or water mines and/or booby traps 27.4 1.50 0.99
Receiving hostile incoming fire from small arms, artillery, rockets, mortars, or bombs 57.5 2.05 1.13
Receiving “friendly” incoming fire from small arms, artillery, rockets, mortars, or bombs 13.3 1.18 0.50
Being in a vehicle that was under fire 52.7 1.87 1.08
Being in a vehicle that was hit by an IED, VBIED, or suicide bomber 8.8 1.09 0.29
Being attacked by terrorists or civilians 26.5 1.42 0.83
Being part of a land or naval artillery unit that fired on the enemy 15.9 1.19 0.47
Being part of an assault on entrenched or fortified positions 14.2 1.19 0.55
Taking part in an invasion that involved naval and/or land forces 8.0 1.08 0.27
Engaging in battle in which the unit suffered casualties 15.9 1.18 0.43
Personally witnessing someone from the unit or an Allied unit being seriously wounded 29.2 1.51 1.01
or killed
Personally witnessing soldiers from enemy troops being seriously wounded or killed 36.0 1.69 1.14
Being wounded or injured in combat 5.3 1.06 0.28
Firing my weapon at the enemy 20.4 1.24 0.54
Killing or thinking I killed the enemy in combat 8.1 1.10 0.38
Participating in a support convoy 9.7 1.13 0.49
Wounding or thinking I wounded someone during combat operations 10.7 1.13 0.41
Being involved in locating or disarming explosive devices 9.9 1.12 0.38
Being involved in searching or clearing homes, buildings, or other locations 19.6 1.25 0.56
A unit member I knew went missing in action or was taken prisoner/hostage 4.5 1.04 0.21
Participating in hand-to-hand combat 5.4 1.05 0.23
Experiencing a “close call” or attack by the enemy combatant 26.8 1.30 0.53
Being involved in searching and/or disarming civilians 50.9 2.15 1.36
Notes: IED, improvised explosive device; VBIED, vehicle-borne improvised explosive device.
*Items used the following response scale: 1 = never, 2 = a few times over the entire deployment, 3 = a few times each month, 4 = a few times each
week, 5 = daily or almost daily.

Stressors and Unit Support Among U.S. Air Force Pararescuemen 29