A slim majority of Army soldiers in Iraq — 52 per cent — reported that their morale was low, and three-fourths of them said they felt poorly led by their officers, according to a survey taken at the end of the summer and released on Thursday by the Army.In addition, seven in 10 of those surveyed characterised the morale of their fellow soldiers as low or very low. ‘‘Nearly 75 per cent of the groups reported that their battalion-level command leadership was poor’’ and showed ‘‘a lack of concern’’ for their soldiers, said an Army report.The survey was part of a study initiated by the Army last summer after a number of suicides provoked concern about the mental well-being of soldiers in Iraq. The report faulted the Army for how it handled mental health problems, saying some counsellors felt inadequately trained and citing problems in distribution of antidepressant medication and sleeping pills. But perhaps the most surprising findings were the grim conclusions about troop morale, which indicate that Iraq is taking a toll that goes beyond casualty figures. The Pentagon has been intensely worried that more frequent and longer combat tours will prompt more soldiers to get out of the Army rather than re-enlist, especially if it means a second stint in Iraq or Afghanistan. Army insiders say it’s likely that brigades from three divisions that served in Iraq over the past year are likely to be sent back in 2005. The Pentagon data on morale also appear to give official confirmation to a more informal survey conducted last summer by Stars and Stripes, the military newspaper. That survey found about half of troops described their unit’s morale as low and their training as insufficient. Col. Virgil Patterson said then, soldiers were still feeling the effects of an Iraqi summer, and that since then troops have had better living conditions and are better able to communicate with their families. — (LAT-WP)
