The "Un-comfort-able:" Making Sense of Adaption in a War Zone

Analyzes the stressors and psychological anxiety experienced by the crew of a hospital ship, the USNS Comfort, in its unanticipated August 1990 deployment in support of Operation Desert Shield/Storm. Stressors resulted from separation from loved ones, lack of personal privacy, and the unplanned nature of the deployment. Medical personnel aboard ship attempted to adapt by using psychological defenses, humor, group identification, external boundaries of appearance and behavior, and group defenses, among other mechanisms. Several coping strategies were suggested for future deployments: (1) assignment of personnel to a berthing space and a work center on immediate arrival, (2) high visibility of the ship's administrative command to personnel, (3) willingness by the chain of command to accept input, (4) preservation and encouragement of some individuality, and (5) training in the facility prior to a deployment.