Deployment and redeployment: The lived combat experiences of U.S. Army social work officers in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2007-2009

This study was qualitative in nature, exploring from a basic interpretive framework the lived combat experiences of U.S. Army social work officers who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2007-2009. This researcher utilized a semistructured interview to facilitate in-depth exploration of the lived combat experiences of U.S. Army social work officers who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2007-2009 and to understand how U.S. Army social work officers defined those lived combat experiences from their perspective. The findings revealed that for each U.S. Army social work officer, the deployment process was a rewarding, difficult, complex, nonlinear journey. Although the actual lived combat experience was unique for each U.S. Army social work officer, all participants were motivated to find freedom from the stress, anxiety, unwanted thoughts, and unwanted feelings caused by deployment, and all participants experienced rewarding job satisfaction as they navigated a path fraught with obstacles in the combat environment. The lack of empirical research investigating the lived combat experiences of U.S. Army social work officers inhibited a full understanding of the effects of deployment on U.S. Army social work officers in the combat environment. This researcher sought to fill the gap by discovering what the lived combat experiences consist of for U.S. Army social work officers who deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom during 2007-2009. This basic interpretive qualitative study begins to deepen the insight into the lived combat experiences of U.S. Army social work officers by presenting and interpreting the data obtained by individually interviewing 10 U.S. Army social work officers who experienced deployment during 2007-2009 in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom.