Stress 'excuse to quit Army early'

One of Britain's best-known soldiers has dismissed post-traumatic stress disorder among the armed forces as little more than an excuse for recruits to leave the service early.

Andy McNab, the former SAS soldier turned best-selling author, said servicemen and women "were very resilient" and the perception that significant numbers of them suffered PTSD was wrong.

McNab, who spent the best part of two decades in the Army, said there was a trend for armed forces personnel wanting to leave before the end of their contract to claim they had PTSD in order to obtain a medical discharge and a pension.

"It is starting to be perceived as an honourable excuse for leaving prematurely. It is in effect the new 'back problem', an injury that is very difficult to diagnose."

McNab made the comments before an inquiry into the number of former armed services personnel who are in prison. The inquiry has been established by the Howard League for Penal Reform because of concerns a large number of soldiers are ending up behind bars.

The British probation service, Napo, estimates there are 8500 former service personnel in prison - around 10 per cent of the prison population. The Ministry of Justice puts the figure at 2500.

McNab identified a lack of education as a key factor.

"An average reading age within infantry is 11, but the Army will recruit from a reading age of 7," McNab told the inquiry.

"The usual period an infantry soldier will stay in the Army is between four to six years. When they leave the Army, they will usually go back to the same environment they came from and often tried to escape by joining the Army.

"They still have low literacy levels and, as infantry is very transient, no attachment to any other place. It is vital to get numeracy and literacy up, so that there is a broadening of horizon for these service leavers."

He said that, with few qualifications or skills, a person's employment chances were limited once out of the Army, where its "tribal system" had looked after them.

"The Ministry of Defence should recognise that it has a responsibility to progress the recruits, to educate, raise their aspirations and change their horizons for when they leave the Army," McNab said.

Andrew Neilson, assistant director of the Howard League, said that McNab's comments helped to shine new light on the reasons why former service personnel end up in prison.

In the US, research published by the National Institute of Mental Health estimated 19 per cent of Vietnam veterans experienced PTSD after the war.

But McNab told the inquiry: "The reason our armed services are more resilient to PTSD than, say, the US armed forces is that in the US there is a heavier reliance on the use of reserves.

"There is a distinction between the military and the reserve, people coming into the system for a year who have not got the depth and, although they are present physically, emotionally they are not part of the tribe."

- OBSERVER