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After an improvised explosive device demolished a 30-ton Bradley, killing six men, Chaplain (Capt.) Ed Choi gathered the men of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 26th Infantry Regiment, for a Critical Incident Stress Debriefing.

When a unit experiences a catastrophic event, a chaplain or mental health professional talks them through what they’ve experienced in the belief that reliving the event right away will help them deal with it better later. The debriefings also help chaplains discern which soldiers may need more attention.

“At first they’re hesitant, and then everyone starts talking,” said Maj. Scott Riedel, brigade chaplain when the June 21 tragedy occurred. “It may seem cruel, but in all honesty, they’re all thinking about it anyway. We are the healthy way of getting this out.”

Chaplains perform the debriefing, but Riedel said it’s more of an additional duty than part of their religious duties.

“We don’t pray before and we don’t pray after,” he said. “It’s just the chaplain who does the CISD.”

Some chaplains perform an immediate “diffusing” session — within hours of an incident — that consists of just a quick “what happened,” with no major detail.

“I don’t think diffusings work as well,” he said. “Their minds are not there — they’re not ready. You have to give them one day to grieve.”

Riedel said the most effective way to debrief the men is to feed them, let them sleep, and then talk with them eight to 72 hours after the event.

he said he then leads them through every second of the day — from waking up in the morning to when they knew they had lost a friend.

“I help them talk about it,” Riedel said. “What did you smell? What did you see? Did it remind you of music? Of anything from your childhood? I take them through it like I don’t even know what a Stryker is.”

Often, as they talk, the men comfort each other. For example, one guy might be upset he didn’t move quickly enough to cover a man who had been shot. But another guy may have seen the incident and can say, “There’s no way you could have made it in time,” releasing some of the guilt reactions that inevitably occur.

Riedel said that as he leads the debriefings, he takes silent notice of anyone who seems quiet or distant. He later works one-on-one with those soldiers or refers them to a unit psychiatrist.

During 1-26’s 2004 deployment to Samarra, Iraq, Lt. Col. Graham Hoffman embedded with them as their unit psychiatrist, going out on patrols and gaining their trust so they would allow him to help. At first, he said, he tried to avoid medicating the men who needed extra help. But the anger issues that arose, as well as the fear of going back out made it nearly impossible for the unit to operate. So he started prescribing medications — Prozac or Celexa.

“Thirty-one guys of 100 were on anti-depressants by the end,” Hoffman said. “We kind of pushed it a little. We stretched it because that’s what they’re doing in the civilian world.”

The meds, he said, helped. After seeing five men killed and 22 wounded in one day, Hoffman himself went on Celexa after being diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. When he stops taking it, he said, his own anger bubbles to the top. But with it, he feels calm.

“It’s like you’re Teflon-coated,” he said. “It’s still a bummer to be over there, but they can go back on patrol.”

But Hoffman doesn’t rely entirely on medication: He talks to the soldiers about how many missions they’ve been on in which nothing happened, or about how well their vehicles protect them.

Maj. Patrick Brady, 4-2’s brigade psychologist, said 1-26 leaders encouraged their guys to seek help after five of their buddies were killed by a roadside bomb June 21.

Thirty soldiers in the brigade came to see him regularly, and dozens more came in for just one appointment.

“I try to challenge their beliefs about an incident,” Brady said. “For example, if they say, ‘I can’t get through this anymore,’ we talk about alternative beliefs.”

That can be particularly hard when a soldier has just watched his friends die, but Brady tries to lead him back to times when a situation went well.

“The other day, I had a guy come in upset because an IED had hit his Stryker, but he came out fine,” Brady said. “Now he’s having trouble getting back in the Stryker because he’s afraid. I might talk to him about how the Stryker saved him.”

DISCUSS: Talking about the pain

Multimedia

See photo galleries and video of Charlie 1-26

The complete saga

Part 1: To Adhamiya and back

Part 2: ‘I’ve seen enough. I’ve done enough.’

Part 3: ‘Not us. We’re not going.’

Part 4: Picking up the pieces

Extras

‘Nothing was done.’

Leadership in the midst of loss

Building a life after escaping death