Frontline Stress: The Role of Operational Resilience Training

Service members at the frontlines of a large-scale combat operation are likely to confront a range of stressors and yet formal medical support for mental health concerns may be difficult to obtain beyond support from medics. Consequently, Operational Resilience Training was developed to prepare medics to manage mental health issues in units, including acute stress reactions, assessment and foundational interventions for mental health, mental skills that support performance under stress, and cohesion building techniques. Anecdotal evidence from Ukrainian medics being trained in Norway and Germany supports the acceptability and utility of Operational Resilience training. Collectively, the training provides a foundation for next steps in creating a modularized package of mental skills that can support units at the frontlines of combat.