Page 47 - Mind, Body and Spirit 2016/17

Looking at the cold facts I have to count myself lucky. As someone who has been on the wrong end of the mental health continuum and fortunate enough to recover from
a serious illness, I belong to at least two distinct groups over- represented in the Army Recovery Capability (ARC). In what is my nal entry in the MBS, there is no room in these column inches for the ubiquity of routine Corps business, no pressing of esh pictures, nor mention of outgoing or incoming SO2’s. Instead, this submission aims to deliver an informed viewpoint of what is representative of the Wounded, Injured and Sick (WIS) personnel’s best last hope and the guided path to recovery.
Taking the objective view; the Battle Back Centre (BBC) represents a regrettable necessity in the modern Armed Forces community. Our student population is disproportionately made up of soldiers, sailors and air force personnel who have suffered a degree of
neglect at unit level, who may have been failed by the stretched and under resourced welfare systems available to them. Some students have grown up in regimental systems where appropriate guidance has been absent or eeting, duty of care arbitrary or inadequate, all of which contribute to the psychosocial mental health epidemic now prevalent in service life. Students frequently arrive at the BBC in a mentally depleted and withdrawn state following a prolonged period of ‘sick at home’ status that has counter intuitive connotations. These are the WIS cohort of the Tri-Service community and thus, the main subscribers to the BBC who deserve all the more recognition for the challenges they overcome in adversity.
If ever there was a practical use for Bruce Tuckman’s (1965) group development theory, then the BBC Multi Activity Course is surely the epitome. What follows is a series of group development stages
Performing
Clear Vision and purpose
Focus on goal achievement Delegation
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22ND SIGNAL REGIMENT
SSgt (SSI) C McMullen RAPTC
Outside the new Gymnasium facility
View from new gym rehab balcony MoD Stafford 5G Arti cial pitch
THE BATTLE BACK CENTRE
WO2 (QMSI) AP Durrands RAPTC
“An introspective analysis of the best last hope in service life”
• Little agreement
• Unclear purpose
• Guidance and
• •
Storming
Conflict • Increased clarity of
purpose • Power Struggles
Coaching
Agreements and Consensus Clear Roles and Responsibility Facilitation
Norming
• • •
• Task completion
• Good feeling about
achievements • Recognition
Adjourning
Direction • •
Forming
•
Tuckmans theory of group development (1964)