Afghanistan has been Australia's most intensive military commitment since Vietnam. As deployment ends, what will be the mental toll of combat on our returning troops? Read the full story in the latest issue of Uniken.
When Private Paul Warren had one of his legs blown off by an improvised explosive device just six weeks into his first tour of duty in Afghanistan, he was one of the luckier ones on patrol that day. His mate 22-year-old Private Benjamin Ranaudo was killed.
What followed for Warren was months of rehabilitation and an ongoing battle with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
More than 27,500 Australian soldiers have served in Afghanistan since 2001, including 40 who have died. The war has been Australia’s most intensive commitment since Vietnam.
In our cover story, we look at how the Australian military is preparing for a battle at home as the mental toll of our commitment in Afghanistan impacts on returning troops. UNSW’s Professor Richard Bryant, a world expert in PTSD, believes the Australian military has learned from experience in Vietnam, and despite predictions to the contrary, there will be no “epidemic” of PTSD.
Also in the our Spring issue, we look at Big Data and some of the questions being asked about how our personal information is being collected and used online; we investigate the relatively new field of neurofinance and how some of us have brains hardwired for business success; and we meet The Bone Builder, Professor Melissa Knothe Tate, UNSW’s new Chair in Biomedical Engineering.
Download the Uniken app for video, audio and slideshow.
Australian SAS soldiers in Afghanistan. Photo: Simon O'Dwyer/Fairfax
