27% of soldiers returning to combat are experiencing mental health problems

More than a quarter of high-ranking enlisted soldiers showed signs of having mental health problems after being sent to war zones for the third or fourth time, a sharp increase over those on their first or second deployments.

The findings, contained in a new report on the behavioral health of soldiers in Iraq issued by the Army on Thursday, are the first to quantify the stress of repeated deployments on combat soldiers. The data are likely to increase calls by senior Army leaders to cut down the length of combat tours and increase the length of time soldiers have in between deployments.

Although the Army has been measuring the mental health of troops in Iraq since the beginning of the war, the new study is the first to examine soldiers on their third or fourth tours of duty.

It showed that 27.2% of non-commissioned officers – the sergeants responsible for leading troops in combat – reported mental health problems during their third or fourth tours. That was up from 18.5% for non-commissioned officers on their second tour and only 11.9% of those on their first tour. Mental health problems include signs of depression, anxiety and stress disorders.

The report detailed the findings of 2,295 soldiers in Iraq surveyed by Army researchers during October and November of last year.

peter.spiegel@latimes.com