SGER: Coming Home: Exploratory Research on the Reintegration of National Guard Troops to Rural Native Alaskan Communities

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This Small Grant for Exploratory Research, Linda Green, proposes to do exploratory investigation of the social and cultural reintegration of Alaska Native troops, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, into their communities in southwestern Alaska. Green notes that of the approximately 2000 Alaska Army National Guard troops serving outside of the United States, most of them are from rural communities, 10% of whom are serving on the Kuwait-Iraq border and are from 25 Yup'ik villages located in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta region of Alaska. Green points out that there is a growing body of research that shows an "alarming rise in mental and behavioral health issues affecting active duty soldiers, reservists, National Guard troops, and veterans returning from the Middle East war theater." Examining the statistics, it is possible to predict that rural Alaska Native communities will be disproportionately affected by the anticipated increases in suicide, depression, alcohol and drug abuse, and an increase in domestic violence that has been reported for returning veterans. In small rural villages, where populations frequently number under 100 occupants, the affect of one individual's experience is dramatically magnified.Green proposes this SGER as an exploratory project to build a community collaborative project for research on how communities are affected by the reintegration of returning veterans; how the veterans' experiences affect their own social and cultural integration; and how to explore these issues in the historic framework of experiences previous veterans. The PI correctly states that a subject of such political and ethical considerations could only occur by building strong community and individual collaborations that include active participation, input, exchange and cooperation between the people of the region and the researcher.