provided. An overview of research significant to challenges experienced by military veterans will serve as the foundation for a successive presentation of previous findings.
Culture of the Army Reserve Although the military is made up of individuals from varied cultural backgrounds, they all share the experience of assimilation into military culture. During military initial entry training (IET), trainees are removed from their civilian culture and introduced to military culture. This process occurs in three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation (Van Gennep, 1960). In applying these stages to the assimilation of military culture, the separation stage is similar to when military trainees enter IET as the individual is separated …show more content…
These values also reinforce the characteristics of army reservists, which represent a group that is unified in social perceptions. The seven army values are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. These values are the foundation for behaviors and actions that are in sync with the Warrior Ethos, which is defined by Pressfield (2011) as “professional attitudes and beliefs that characterize the American Soldier” (pg. 111). This guiding principle is a source of strength and capabilities for the Army. These values shape the identities of both the active duty and the reserve component of the army by internally cultivating group norms to become personal beliefs, attitudes, and values. As noted by Harris, Gringart, & Drake (2013), the principles of “proximity, similarity, common fate, and cohesiveness” (p. 98) are most influential in a military culture. Working with one another while deployed in close proximity builds comradery and connects military service members. Such comradery reinforces the norms of the army and moderates social gaps between service members which also underscores parallels in the values, attitudes, and behaviors of soldiers while deployed (Akerlof, 1997). Attitudinal similarities promotes comradery and also stimulate collective identities (Read, Vanman, & Miller, …show more content…
Soldiers in the reserve component of the army serve on a part time basis. The majority of these soldiers have civilian jobs and live in communities predominately made up of other civilians. There are unique stress factors associated with managing dual roles of being an army reservist and having a civilian job (Demers, 2011; Doyle & Peterson, 2005). In terms of stress associated with balancing the role of being an army reservist and having a civilian career, Rogers (2013) quoted one army reservist who said “You try to have a parallel career. It 's like dueling interests. Your loyalty to your civilian employer and loyalty to the army are constantly in question". Reservists must manage their military and civilian careers simultaneously in order to meet the needs and demands of both. According to Stetz, Castro, and Bliese (2007) “reservists tend to report experiencing unique stressors, such as being activated to full-time status on their military mission and their military job not being the same as their civilian one” (p.
Culture of the Army Reserve Although the military is made up of individuals from varied cultural backgrounds, they all share the experience of assimilation into military culture. During military initial entry training (IET), trainees are removed from their civilian culture and introduced to military culture. This process occurs in three stages: separation, transition, and incorporation (Van Gennep, 1960). In applying these stages to the assimilation of military culture, the separation stage is similar to when military trainees enter IET as the individual is separated …show more content…
These values also reinforce the characteristics of army reservists, which represent a group that is unified in social perceptions. The seven army values are loyalty, duty, respect, selfless service, honor, integrity, and personal courage. These values are the foundation for behaviors and actions that are in sync with the Warrior Ethos, which is defined by Pressfield (2011) as “professional attitudes and beliefs that characterize the American Soldier” (pg. 111). This guiding principle is a source of strength and capabilities for the Army. These values shape the identities of both the active duty and the reserve component of the army by internally cultivating group norms to become personal beliefs, attitudes, and values. As noted by Harris, Gringart, & Drake (2013), the principles of “proximity, similarity, common fate, and cohesiveness” (p. 98) are most influential in a military culture. Working with one another while deployed in close proximity builds comradery and connects military service members. Such comradery reinforces the norms of the army and moderates social gaps between service members which also underscores parallels in the values, attitudes, and behaviors of soldiers while deployed (Akerlof, 1997). Attitudinal similarities promotes comradery and also stimulate collective identities (Read, Vanman, & Miller, …show more content…
Soldiers in the reserve component of the army serve on a part time basis. The majority of these soldiers have civilian jobs and live in communities predominately made up of other civilians. There are unique stress factors associated with managing dual roles of being an army reservist and having a civilian job (Demers, 2011; Doyle & Peterson, 2005). In terms of stress associated with balancing the role of being an army reservist and having a civilian career, Rogers (2013) quoted one army reservist who said “You try to have a parallel career. It 's like dueling interests. Your loyalty to your civilian employer and loyalty to the army are constantly in question". Reservists must manage their military and civilian careers simultaneously in order to meet the needs and demands of both. According to Stetz, Castro, and Bliese (2007) “reservists tend to report experiencing unique stressors, such as being activated to full-time status on their military mission and their military job not being the same as their civilian one” (p.