Volunteer burnout problems

USA Today:

During the worst of Bravo Troop's 15-month tour in Iraq, when soldiers were dying in bunches, families here poured out their fear, frustrations and even hysteria onto one young woman: Bana Miller.

She's not Army. She's not trained. Her only qualification, then at age 24, was being an officer's wife who volunteered to run Bravo Troop's Family Readiness Group —a job of e-mailing and organizing potluck dinners in peacetime.

But when Bravo went to war, she became a social worker, grief counselor and a 24-hour hotline overnight. At various times, wives threatened to commit themselves to a mental institution or go to the media if Miller did not help bring their husbands home.

"I was in this alternative universe thinking: 'What has my life become?' " says Miller, who grew up in the Main Line suburbs of Philadelphia and married the boy she met in seventh grade.

As the Iraq war nears a sixth year, the Army has more than 3,000 volunteers such as Bana Miller, and many are buckling under the pressure of duties that they never expected would be so hard or last so long. The Army and Marine Corps lean on these family support volunteers to be the first stop for families struggling to deal with war, separation and loss.

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Volunteer burnout has touched Army and Marine Corps bases nationwide, says Fonta Footman-Mitchell, director of volunteer services for the National Military Family Association, a support and advocacy group with liaisons at U.S. military installations. From 5% to 7% of the association's own volunteers also have quit, she says.

Though neither could provide statistics, the Army and Marine Corps are seeing an increase in turnover among volunteers, according to Marine Lt. Col. Jacqueline Melton, head of family readiness programs, and William Bradner, a spokesman for the Army's Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation Command.

Melton says the increasing turnover in volunteers stems from "the demands of wartime operations."

Volunteers grow weary of "not knowing when (combat missions) will end," Bradner says.

The problem, says Melton, is that the volunteer programs are "based on a peacetime model with normal deployment cycles and largely supported on the backs of our dedicated volunteers."

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These volunteers make an important contribution to the war effort and the morale of the troops and their families. It is in the military's interest to have an effective organization to support the families of the troops when they are in a combat situation. They need to find a way to make this work. Putting all that stress on one or two people from a military unit is probably too much. They need to find ways to rotate the volunteer assignments. Getting other family members involved or bringing in outside volunteers might take off some of the pressure. Some of my readers are volunteers and if they have suggestions to pass on their comments would be welcome.