Army Recruiter Stress Prompts Drug Abuse

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Army Recruiter Stress Prompts Drug Abuse
December 24, 2008
Military.com|by Bryant Jordan

While the Army investigates a spate of suicides amongst Soldiers assigned to the Houston Recruiting Battalion, some recruiters working in neighboring Oklahoma say they're seeing the same kinds of stresses plaguing their colleagues, prompting fears of drug abuse and potential suicide there.

Two of the recruiters -- based on their own information and observation -- estimate that at least 30 percent of the roughly 200 recruiters in the Oklahoma City battalion are on anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medications. Some recruiters are taking drugs to try and cope, one recruiter claims, including one NCO who smokes marijuana "to calm down."

A third recruiter would not offer an estimate of how many in the Oklahoma City Battalion are on prescribed medications, but said he knows "a lot of guys are taking anti-anxiety" meds -- in some cases because being on the medication is a way of keeping their supervisors "off their backs." An Army spokesman said Dec. 24 that the Army probably does not track the number of Soldiers on prescription medications.

The three -- two of whom are still recruiters and another who recently finished his three-year assignment -- spoke to Military.com on condition they not be identified.

"They work you until your mentally fatigued, they threaten your career over and over" when you fail to meet your quota, said one staff sergeant who recently concluded his recruiting tour.


Rest of article at: http://www.military.com/news/article/army-recruiter-stress-prompts-drug-abuse.html?col=1186032310810