Page 106 - JSOM Summer 2023

SMs to bear the hardships of combat and “bounce back” to to enter and observe the performance culture of an organiza-
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their previous state of being post-deployment. Third, a nor- tion. Analysis of ethnographic data prioritizes participants’
mative baseline of behavioral patterns focuses optimal human day-to-day experiences when drawing conclusions from data
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performance on positive thinking. Fourth, combat expo- collection. 42
sure is assumed to be the mechanism of injury that negatively
impacts human performance. As such, it limits deployment Our ethnographic study is framed by the philosophical world-
stresses to direct-action military missions and performance to view of interpretive phenomenology (IP), which seeks to
direct-action combatants. Fifth, resilience training assumes explore and uncover meaning in human experiences by nar-
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that optimal human performance is predicated on a human rowing in on a specific human phenomenon. We will focus
character that remains static across time and is sustained on the phenomenon of catastrophic injury exposure. IP de-
through cognitive performance. fines practical performance as action that, at its most basic
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level, begins with tactile physical involvement in the world.
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The conventional resilience construct focuses on the individual In other words, it is interested and invested in understanding
conventional SM without reference to human experience, con- performance as a reality predicated on kinetic relationships.
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text, or community. Resilience is viewed as a “part” of the hu- This immediate sensual kinetic engagement is known as
man “machine.” Too much stress on the individual SM causes “lived-experience.” While lived-experience involves elements
the “part” to break and produce not only negative thoughts, of cognition, cognition is an outgrowth of the basic action
but also decreased combat performance. When the “part” is of “feeling our way” through the world. As such, cognition
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repaired through positive thinking, then the SM is supposed is not the starting point nor singular focus of research when
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to express the same mindset and disposition that was present investigating practical performance. Instead, inquiry focuses
pre-deployment. The conventional resilience construct is a form on human practices that give rise to performance capacity.
of stalwart endurism that pushes against hardship through a For example, IP focuses on the combatant’s routine shooting
SM’s individual “force of will.” In so doing, it eschews the practice when investigating combat performance. Similarly, IP
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integration of new information, experiences, and beliefs by ab- focuses on SOST medics’ routine practice of placing a tourni-
stractly relating the SMs performance to a machine. 10,30 quet when investigating their combat performance. As such, IP
allows expansion beyond cognition without forfeiting many
When considering SOF truths, assumptions framing conven- of the important elements of the conventional resilience con-
tional resilience are not aligned with those cultural values that struct and information gained from previous military health
support and enable SOF mission performance. First, using a research. 23,45,46 Consequently, IP subscribes to the day-to-day
mechanistic theory of human performance turns human action tactical and tactile nature of medical and martial performance
into a static, unchanging, inert phenomenon based on auto- in SOF.
matic machine-like responses, not adaptive human responses,
the gold standard against which the SOF medic is evaluated. According to Martin Heidegger, the philosophical father of
As such, the machine is more important than the human. IP, human existence is oriented toward death whether indi-
Second, the goal of conventional resilience is to increase the viduals consciously acknowledge death or not. This “Be-
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quantity of conventional SMs who can endure the stress of ing-towards-death” is that aspect of the human condition that
direct-action combat without considering the quality of their allows individuals to not only care about their everyday prac-
performance across the deployment-cycle. Third, narrowing tices and interactions in the world, but also interpret meaning
combat performance to the avoidance of trauma assumes that about the world. Definitions are meaningful interpretation of
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competent conventional SMs can be created after emergen- our engagement with objects, relationships, and activities that
cies occurs, which is contra to SOF truths. Fourth, looking have particular contextual significance and solicit our atten-
singularly at the individual conventional SM’s ability to think tion because of our ability to engage them through everyday
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positively assumes that combat performance is not collabora- activities and practices. Since human action in the world al-
tive and requires team, unit, organizational, and systems level ways takes place in a particular historical period from a par-
support. ticular cultural perspective, ambiguity is an essential aspect of
lived-experience and a constitutive aspect of meaning-making
Ethnography: The Possibilities of according to interpretive phenomenology. 47
Interpretive Phenomenology
The previous set of assumptions entailed in IP allows us to
In answering the question of “How ought we to research look at some of the cultural concerns that exist within SOF
resilience?” we attempted to avoid some of the main pit- missions to better understand influences on SOF medic re-
falls from conventional resilience research. Specifically, we silience. Furthermore, IP appreciates the grey-zone in which
wanted to avoid using a top-down approach that was based many, if not most SOF missions occur, and respects that death,
in a mechanistic worldview in relationship to human perfor- dying, and disfigurement are all spaces of practical perfor-
mance. Therefore, we chose an ethnographic method because mance wherein meaning-making occurs. Taken together, IP
it allowed us to dwell in the day-to-day SOST performance well-frames our research to evaluate the SOF medic’s lived
culture. While common to anthropology, this qualitative em- experience of resilience as tactical engagement with practical
pirical research method is less well-known in military health tasks that support the SOF mission.
research. Ethnography heavily relies on researcher observa-
tion of human activity conducted in the research population’s Qualitative Research Design:
natural performance setting. Data collection also relies on Data Collection and Analysis
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individual and group interviews to solicit contextual infor-
mation about the participants’ experiences. In addition, re- This study was determined to be exempt by the Air Force Re-
searchers engage in field observations, allowing the researcher search Lab’s Institutional Review Board. Approvals for field

104 | JSOM Volume 23, Edition 2 / Summer 2023