Normative Behavioral and Psychiatric Effects of Alcohol Abuse in Military Special Forces

Abstract

A Normative Behavioral and Psychiatric method makes use of focus group surveys and individual
interviews rather than simplistic analyses of variance that soon becomes outdated. This paper makes
use of normative behavioral and psychiatric to analyze the effects of alcoholism and alcohol abuse on
the operational-readiness of Special Force (SF) units in Southeast Asia. Many such abuses occur during
airborne, ranger and other specialized skills’ training. These specialized skills include Military Free
Fall (MFF) courses; parachute Jumpmaster courses; Pathfinder courses and demolition courses. The
paper also explains why there is a virtual absence of women in Military Special Forces (SF). The paper
concludes with the prospects for the deployment and development of Military Special Forces (SF) in
America, Southeast Asia and around the world. The main focus of this paper is on the behavioral and
psychiatric effects of alcohol consumption among military personnel with special reference to Special
Force units in Southeast Asia. There are several factors involved in alcohol abuse in the military. One
of the enablers of alcohol consumption and alcohol abuse in the Special Forces (SF) is ease of access.
The other factors include discounted alcohol; peer-pressure; hypermasculinity and hero-worship; and,
the system of rewards.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this paper is to analyze the normative behavioral and psychiatric effects of alcoholism
and alcohol abuse on the operational-readiness of Special Force (SF) units in Southeast Asia.