Pacifying Somalia: How KDF Is Promoting Mental, Physical Wellness For Soldiers On The Frontline

DHOBLEY, Somalia, Oct 15 – For the last 10 years, every October 15, the Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) has honored its gallant men and women in uniform for the sacrifice they continue to make in order to defend the sovereignty of the nation.

For many, the battles at the frontlines, sometimes continue internally and when they are not armed with the best defenses, they could lose the war that could have been averted.

It is for this reason that the country’s military has over the last few years made a deliberate attempt to cater to the well-being of soldiers wholesomely.

The United States’s Five-Star Army General during World War Two, Douglas MacArthur once noted that “the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war,”

This is a reality that many who sacrifice their freedom in defence of the sovereignty of their country have to endure as they battle physical and mental scars inflicted in line of their duty.

“In this kind of an environment, a soldier can acquire a physical injury, a spiritual or a hidden wound. When the doctor is dealing with the physical wound, the chaplaincy and psychological teams sit and try to heal the hidden wounds not being seen. Issues of stress, and stress management, signs of depression and how they can come in, issues of relationships, especially because of the distance being away from home and our personal interactions. It’s very important to have the spirit mentors and even the psychologists,” Lt. Col, Reverend Jane Wairimu, Chaplain Dhobley FOB said during an interview with Shahidi News.

Once the physical injuries have been catered to, soldiers come to the KDF wellness centre at the Lang’ata Barracks to receive care from a team of experts.

“We sit as a team, we hold a conference where we incorporate a psychiatrist, a psychologist, a social worker, a dietary nurse, and a counselor. This is the team that sits with the medical officer to discuss the patient’s needs because here we talk of meeting the patients’ needs individually,” Lt. Col. Obadiah Yator, Deputy Senior Medical Officer, KDF wellness Centre, Lang’ata Barracks said.

Military formations work as a single unit, just as the nervous system works for the human body. Experts believe that for this to be able to work effectively, the single soldier has to be in tandem as one physically, mentally, and even in the soul.

“Napoleon Bonaparte said that one must speak to the soul because it is the only way to electrify the man. spiritual nourishment is very important for soldiers and for that reason, I make sure every soldier within my region and responsibility is spiritually nourished. This helps them in improving their reliance on God. Also, it improves their confidence and belief in themselves, which is very important also,” Major Salim Mwarora, Imam, Masjid Salam, Dhobley FOB said.

For those who have incurred injuries, the journey to recovery is delicately dealt with precision to allow and encourage their independence once they get back to life within their homes and areas of duty.

Once the process of enabling the injured soldier, now abled differently, like modification of the home to suit his or her new needs, it is important to incorporate the family as well and counsel all parties involved on how best to accept and deal with their kin’s new physical or mental status.

“A counselor will be keen to see the reaction of the children, because of the injury. The counselor will be able to give them psychological first aid, which will prepare them to receive the mother or father who is injured and to be able to have positive thinking towards recovery, including even, using artificial limbs. So the family is very important because just like we say, family is the basic unit of our society, also in the military we believe the same,” Lt. Col. Obadiah Yator said.

Following the mantra of leaving no man behind, the inability to undertake your core duties before can be an open door to venturing into a different path once one is fully able to resume duty.

“One of the things we do is cross-training. Like enabling them to use specialized motor vehicles that are driven by hand. Such a person can be given an opportunity to do classes, while here. Even on discharge from the wellness centre, we can recommend that you undergo cross-training. Previously you were an infantry person, you can go and do clerical work,” he said.

Back at the frontline, the connection that helps keep the soldier grounded, involves the chaplaincy that is tasked to ensure the spiritual nourishment of the troops is catered for on a daily basis.

“We also encourage the soldiers to keep on communicating with family back home. That helps them to feel supported by the family back at home, and also here we work as a team and support each other. The administration is able to plan leave days for every one of us. When they go home, it enables them to feel emotional issues are well taken care of and they come back strong and able to continue with the work,” Lt. Col, Reverend Wairimu added.

Before a tour of duty, the military takes those awaiting deployment through physical and psychosocial exercises to prepare the body and mind for the task ahead.

Back on the home front, those who visit the wellness centre for specialized medical care are received and taken through the best medical practice.

“Just like any other part of the society, KDF are sons and daughters of Kenyans. We come from homes, living in the community just like any other person. We have common mental illnesses that present themselves in society, but then again our unique area is brought about by prolonged deployment, exposure to ambushes, and life-threatening events during deployment. Here we receive cases from depression, anxiety disorders, PTSD which is quite common in our case, child developmental disorders, mood disorders. In our case, we are advantaged because we have a modern approach to mental health, we have enough personnel, and every year we sponsor experts to study in specific and unique areas and also at the unit level we have mental health personnel,” Lt. Col. Yator., Deputy Senior Medical Officer, KDF wellness Centre, Lang’ata Barracks added.

Meanwhile, on the frontline, chaplaincy plays a huge role in interpersonal relations between servicemen and across the ranks. This they say is key in enabling a conducive work environment that is already under pressure from the threats that face them each moment.

“I encourage them to maintain the military values that are important for the success of any military operations. This includes among others discipline, respect, and obedience to their seniors and kindness to their juniors,” Major Salim Mwarora, Imam, Masjid Salam, Dhobley FOB said.

When the day winds down along with the temperatures, the men and women get into the tracks and lay down their days’ pressures on the field to loosen up a bit.

It is through such engagements that senior commanders believe will improve the interpersonal relations across the ranks and instill the importance of the team to be on the lookout for each other. This will be key in determining life and death in the theatre of war.