Army Social Work Deployment

The focus of this session is to give participants a glimpse of what it’s like to be a deployed social worker. The discussion will include mental health stigma, military suicide, Afghan evacuation, traumatic event management, and ethical considerations during deployment. The knowledge that social workers bring to the military can’t be overstated. We are one of the subject matter experts for mental health. The Army has coined the phrase “person first” to change the priority from the mission to the soldiers. They rely on social workers for leadership consultations, command climate advice, and guidance that can impact soldiers’ careers. Our skills in human behavior and the lens of “person in environment” allow us to impact military culture significantly. Some ethical considerations are confidentiality with soldiers and their leadership and boundaries between social workers and clients.