Anticipating Army Exit: Identity Constructions of Final Year UK Career Soldiers
Abstract: There is recent concern about what becomes of Armed Forces leavers. This is most apparent among leavers themselves and is a feature of short careers that compel individuals to find replacement jobs and lifestyles. Concern for one’s civilian future rises to prominence in the preexit period and is confronted in resettlement processes during this time. Based on qualitative analysis of interviews with twenty-eight UK regular Army career soldiers and officers, the article argues that the final year of service—though mostly a practical endeavor—is also an important time for tackling matters of identity. The work is underpinned theoretically by a combination of Mead’s pragmatism and Ricoeur’s hermeneutics and constructs a typology of preexit orientation. This is an approach that casts some doubt about the utility of projecting oneself into unknown civilian futures from the context of distinctive and familiar Army relations.
Abstract: Background: Exposure to potentially morally injurious events (PMIEs) during military service can lead to moral injury (MI) outcomes and posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). This longitudinal study examined the relationships between PMIE exposure, MI outcomes, and PTSS among Israeli combat veterans, and the potential protective role of dispositional forgiveness in these associations. Method: Participants were 169 Israeli combat veterans who participated in a six-year longitudinal study with four measurement points (T1: 12 months before enlistment, T2: Six months following enlistment- pre-deployment, T3: 18 months following enlistment- post-deployment, and T4: 28 months following discharge). Participants’ characteristics were assessed via semi-structured interviews (T1) and validated self-report measures (T2-T4) between 2019-2024. Results: Approximately 36% of participants reported exposure to PMIEs during service, with 13% exceeding the clinical threshold for probable PTSD at T4. PMIE-Betrayal at T3 was positively associated with MI outcomes of shame and trust violation at T4. The indirect effect of PMIEs on PTSS through MI outcome-Shame depended on forgiveness levels. Among veterans with low forgiveness, higher exposure to PMIE-Betrayal was associated with increased MI shame, which was linked to more severe PTSS. Conversely, for those with high forgiveness, exposure to PMIE-Self and Other was associated with decreased MI shame and subsequently reduced PTSS. Conclusion: Dispositional forgiveness moderates the relationship between PMIE exposure and MI outcomes, particularly shame, which mediates the development of PTSS. These findings highlight forgiveness as a potential target for intervention in treating moral injury and preventing PTSS among combat veterans.