Combat and Operational Stress Conference Lays Groundwork for Future

By Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Josh Cassatt, Navy Public Affairs Support Element West

May 21, 2010 - SAN DIEGO (NNS) -- The first joint Navy and Marine Corps Combat and Operational Stress Control (COSC) Conference concluded May 20, after three days of discussions and presentations on stress control.

The symposium, organized by the Naval Center for Combat and Operational Stress Control (NCCOSC) to address combat, operational and daily stress, brought together hundreds of Navy and Marine Corps leaders, medical and mental health professionals, counselors, chaplains, combat veterans and family members.

"This conference has been overwhelming," said Medical Officer of the Marine Corps Rear Adm. Richard R. Jeffries. "The next step is, now that we have brought together all these brilliant minds, and all these programs are now going, what can we create to be more proactive and make a difference in the future? That is what everyone here is excited about. Now we are looking at the growth side instead of the problem side."

The NCCOSC invited individuals and organizations from around the world to discuss the new combined Navy/Marine Corps COSC doctrine, as well as new policies, research, data, programs, interventions and the best practices pertinent to combat and operational stress control.

"This conference has been a culmination of what we have been working on for the past several years," said Capt. Paul Hammer, NCCOSC director. "Even though the Marine Corps developed the COSC model and the Navy adopted it, this conference was a success because we have been able to look at the COSC from the perspective of naval service as a whole."

One highlight of the conference was the presentation of the new COSC doctrine, expected to be formally introduced within months. This doctrine promotes effective leadership by enhancing the mission capabilities of caregivers. It also empowers commanders and important links in the chain of command to perform the five core functions of combat and operational stress control: to strengthen, mitigate, identify, treat and reintegrate.

Psychological stress, according to this new doctrine, is plotted and measured on a continuum of severity, duration and impairment. This paradigm ranges from "ready" (mission ready) to "reacting" (mild/transient/functional) to "injured" (moderate/persistent/distressed) to "ill" (severe/prolonged/disabled).

In years past, the Marine Corps held their own COSC conferences, but this year's conference was the first time there has been a wide array of experts and greater collaboration.

"I was most pleased with the level of collaboration among a lot of different groups that would normally not be collaborating," Hammer said. "We had line leaders talking with researchers; we had family members talking with clinicians. I think we broke down a lot of barriers that would normally limit who people would talk to or what they would talk about."

NCCOSC is a Navy Bureau of Medicine and Surgery program created to improve the psychological health of Navy and Marine Corps forces by helping to build and promote resilience.

Its goals are to provide service members, combat veterans and their families with educational programs to effectively address combat, operational and daily stress, reduce the stigma in seeking mental health treatment, and to facilitate research in psychological health, especially in relation to post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injury.