Blog posts with the tag "Staff Perspective"

Moral injury remains a murky concept, despite the growing body of literature on this important topic. While there’s not a consensus on exactly what moral injury is, Phelps et al. (2024) describe it as enduring psychological, social, and spiritual distress that can occur when individuals are exposed to high-pressure situations that violate or clash with their deeply-held moral beliefs or values. Moral injury may stem from one’s own actions or inactions, the actions of others, or a perceived betrayal by trusted leaders or institutions. In military contexts, including those with complex rules of engagement, moral injury may occur after engaging in or witnessing acts that conflict with one’s sense of right and wrong, such as causing harm to civilians, being unable to prevent the loss of life, seeing human suffering, or feeling deeply misled by command.

Sleep isn’t just a personal health issue for service members; it’s a mission-critical factor that affects unit cohesion, operational performance, and overall force readiness. Yet for years, military culture sent a different message. Pushing through exhaustion was worn like a badge of honor, and phrases like “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” were all too common. Sleep deprivation was seen as a sign of toughness rather than a threat to mission success. Thankfully, the conversation is shifting.