March 15, 2005
For Troops, Home Can Be Too Close
Experts say that even seemingly mundane e-mail and cellphone exchanges have implications for troop morale and the emotional health of service families, reports The New York Tines.
"Military scientists have long studied wartime communication, but the war in Iraq is opening a new dimension. Virtually every soldier, sailor and marine there has access to e-mail and cellphones, a broad and largely uncensored real-time communication network unprecedented in military history.
The military is taking steps to control the information flow, in part with Internet kill switches at bases to give senior officers a means to enforce communication blackouts. Military researchers, meanwhile, are scrambling to track the broader impact of instant communication technology.
[...] Just as television coverage during Vietnam brought shocking images of war into living rooms, so today's communications technology has the potential to immerse already anxious families in the raw experience of combat, while miring soldiers in domestic problems that distract from the mission.
Related: The Military and Iraq. Images and issues
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