Assimilation of US Snipers back to the Society - Research Paper Example

? ASSIMILATION OF US SNIPERS BACK TO THE SOCIETY The type of job that US military snipers take requires they maintain low profile among the people and this tend to stretch past retirement period. This is a risky mental status when they come back to live their retirement part of life among the ordinary civilians. It has to do with their moral perception over various issues surrounding life. This matter calls for well researched assimilation mode for them to fit into the freely interactive social environment among the people. Statement of the problem The underlying threat of security and social ills that the ordinary United States citizens face with the retirement of the military snipers is high if appropriate measures are not put in place by the government. This calls for various ways of rehabilitating them to conform to the societal norms. It is therefore in the interest of security that government and its various security agencies need to put in place measures that will mitigate risk of exposing the retired personnel to discrimination and isolation in the society. Objective of the study The issue of central concern is how to reform the mental perception of the society that had been built in the mindset of the retired military snipers. It is therefore important to discuss what it takes to be a sniper, the subsequent mental restructuring it causes and the remedial measures required to provide a smooth transition into the ordinary society upon retiring from the service. Background study Being a military sniper is a job that completely changes the behavior of individuals and distinguishes them from the ordinary society. It is therefore relatively tricky to absorb such people back to the society and restore their normal interaction with the people (Meyer & Weaver, 2006). In this respect, it is important to undertake critical analysis of the psychological realignment that these people undergo when they are in this work and the complications associated with their transition from service back to the society. The nature of any job creates a new person in somebody and the military snipers are not exceptional (Poyatos,2002).It therefore tend to take some process and time to get them assimilated back to the society after they retire or get their jobs terminated under some condition (Golledge, 1999). Due to the type of the training they go through, their mentality gets altered towards some code of conduct and this significantly affects their interpersonal skills. Appropriate approaches of rehabilitating this special group of people who has served the nation to conform to the ordinary society system need to be investigated (Mestrovic? & Mes?trovic?, 2009). Discussion It is important to explore the personal attributes of a sniper which are partly acquired through training and partly by birth. One of the conditions to be a sniper is having worked as a government security agent or a military officer with in-depth prior knowledge of handling different types of guns and rifles. The concept of knowing the various concepts about the arms is not limited to use but should cover even the ability to understand their structural components. The training of a sniper is costly and requires perseverance of the highest degree with maximum self-discipline. This explains why a single sniper is worth more that several untrained rifle users. These people go through a series of thorough physical and mental training that steadily realign their perception about various issues within the confines of social order (Austin, 1992). Due to their critical role in the military operations, snipers are people with high intelligence that goes beyond shooting .They also have internal psychological understanding of any social environment and that is the reason they are able to camouflage and single out the target from a crowd without interfering with non-target (Perline & Goldschmidt, 2004). Their ability to take any angle and take into consideration the physical factors like wind and other environmental impediments that must be sorted out for successful execution of any operation makes them a real threat in the ordinary society in case they can apply such tactics among the civilians (Fazekas, 2010). They are trained to stalk the enemy without being noticed or suspected and strike just at the right time and position. Their job is basically to deliver a highly discriminate and accurate rifle shot against a targeted enemy that cannot successfully be engaged by other riflemen due to size, location, range, nature of fleeting or visibility. This role requires intensive training focused on maximum accuracy at minimal risk. Execution of such a task is not complete by shooting the target but extends to clearing the targeting position since the security agents are likely to mop up the surrounding to find out the person responsible for the shot (James, 2008). It is important to note that the primary role of this class of military personnel is to kill the target enemy. This means that with time as they stay in the job their psychological and mental composition shift away from the ordinary behavior of common man. Snipers are like hunters in the context of a human being and this means that they are morally falling in another definition (Fong, 2004). The challenge is the modality of dealing with the mental disorientation at work when they retire and want to live with the free civilian society. There is need to restructure their way of interacting with people in the society and shed of some of the hunting techniques they used to apply in the field (Sun, et al, 2006). It is a fact that their mere presence among the people sends shivers in the society like it happens to the enemy in the battlefield. It is therefore important that they appear to the ordinary society like any other person .It is only on such observation that people will be free to interact back with them and accept them within the community frame work as one of them (Canter & Youngs, 2009). From the experience that society has got with other retired security agents or military personnel, people tend to develop rebellious association with such people when they retire to the society. The perception of the unease that the society has with their presence equally scare the snipers and make them keep low profile characterized by isolation. This occurrence explains the need for rehabilitation programs that they should be introduced to before they are let to retire back to the society. Given the type of the job they undertake, snipers tend to stay in hiding and rarely interact freely with people (Cook, 2011). This explains the reasons as to why they gradually develop isolation behavior that sucks them in during the long stay in work for the better part of their life (Albarus & Mack, 2012). In some instances, they go for long term missions that keeps them far even from their families and this enlarges the social wedge in their interaction with the ordinary society. They need to be humble in the face of any person whom they interact in total concealment of their job description. It is also worth to note that snipers have requisite knowledge in military or police training with excellent understanding of the various psychological behaviors of people (Murphy, 1996). Many psychologists and sociology scholars asserts that the general mental configuration of an individual undergoes steady alteration based on the nature of the environment in which one interacts. Social environment is a significant player in shaping the emotional behavior of a person and this is a factor of great influence in the post-job interpersonal skills of snipers (Del & Trulson, 2005). If they are not given fair reception back to the society and they are kept isolate then there are chances that they may become lethal crime organizers or train some illegal gang that can hold the society at ransom with bitter consequences (Canter & Youngs, 2009). Assimilation requires a long time since it is fairly difficult to alter a mature mind of an adult towards a given way of life. The lengthy mental hangover from the experiences these snipers go through after retiring from the job may make them develop some psychological instability and social stress which will be characterized by personal guilt among the people in the society (Martin, et al, 2000). It is important to note the fear of association that the society will develop towards such persons and this requires that a reconciliatory strategy from the behavior of the snipers is adjusted. This is a group of people who have spent better part of the life in secret missions with limited interactive sessions with other people apart from taking orders from their seniors (Caforio, 2009). It proves relative challenging to revise this psychological and mental orientation and force them to fit the other side of the world. It is imperative that US government boost its support in maintenance of rehabilitation centers that grooms potential retirees on how to conform when they get back to the society. One of the most challenging cultures of such persons is how they address their issues to different people from their families to other community members (Ast?or, 2012). Their life revolved around orders which they equally take up and exercise in their homes while interacting with children and this explains the common complaints of such people’s children of an authoritarian parent. This mode of interpersonal relation is not favorable with the ordinary society hence need for reform. It has been noted that the snipers have families who in some cases move with them in various military deployments across the world. US have been engaged in various defensive and offensive military operations in the world most of which require the input of this important wing of the military. Research has found out that the families staying with military camps commonly referred to as military families also live in isolation with the rest of the world. In that respect they develop different cultural behaviors due to the different social settings they stay in (Jervis, 2011). They tend to develop loose attachment in friendship with others due to the possible transfer of the family to new deployment workplaces of the serving parents. This means that upon retiring, the snipers experience a double challenge which is at personal level and their families. Recommendations It is important that the government introduce learning environment for the children of military families with a focus of the outside world interactive influence. This may be achieved by harmonizing their academic syllabus and various learning activities with the public system and frequently exposing them to the civilian society through excursions and tours. It is imperative that the government set up rehabilitation centers for retired officers. In some cases some of the former snipers are useful in terms of engaging interested members of the society in training services (Mitchell & Hirsh, 2007). They need to be given moral support by the society as this will initiate better life in the society after retirement. References Albarus, C., & Mack, J. H. (2012). The making of Lee Boyd Malvo: The D.C. sniper. New York: Columbia University Press. Ast?or, R. (2012). The pupil personnel guide for supporting students from military families. New York, NY: Teachers College Press. Austin, L. S. (1992). Responding to disaster: A guide for mental health professionals. Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press. Caforio, G. (2009). Advances in military sociology: Essays in honor of Charles C. Moskos. Bingley: Emerald Group Pub. Canter, D. V., & Youngs, D. (2009). Investigative psychology: Offender profiling and the analysis of criminal action. Chichester, West Sussex, UK: John Wiley & Sons. Cook, Robert C., Rev. (2011). 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