Extract from ABC News
The need to dominate the mind of an adversary while hardening the minds of one's own people is an enduring feature of war. It has also been a consistent theme in the Ukraine War.
Both Russia and Ukraine have mobilised large armies, which have clashed in multiple major battles. Violence and influence are intimate partners in these battles. And, as demonstrated in the huge artillery duels in eastern Ukraine last year, and in the current Ukrainian counter-offensive, the intense firepower employed causes tremendous psychological as well as physical harm to combatants and civilians.
To prepare their soldiers for the psychological challenges of combat, the Ukrainian military has developed a sophisticated, yet constantly evolving approach.
During my recent visit to Ukraine, I had the opportunity to meet with the officer who leads the efforts to develop mental resilience in the Ukrainian military.
Major General Vladyslav Klochkov is a combat-seasoned former brigade commander in the Ukrainian ground forces and leads the Ukrainian armed forces General Directorate of Moral and Psychological Support. "I was appointed by General Zaluzhny to respond to change and oversee the mental readiness of all our people," he says.
Constant adaptation is an important part of his role. The Ukrainian Armed Forces studied psychological support lessons by western armies in Iraq and Afghanistan, but the intensity of this war meant an evolved model was required.
Ukrainian soldiers are exposed to sustained close combat and the kinds of artillery barrages that no western army has experienced since World War II. Soldiers also have to deal with Russian minefields, the ubiquitous presence of enemy drones and the stress of possible capture.
According to Ukraine's Coordinating Headquarters for the Treatment of POWs, 78 per cent of returned Ukrainian POWs have been tortured by Russia.
What does resilience training look like?
The shape of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has also changed since February 2022. When Russia began their large-scale invasion, Ukraine's military had around 200,000 personnel. It has since mobilised its population and now deploys a military of a million people.
This mix creates a range of issues. As Klochkov notes: "Regular army and mobilised army people are very different."
A significant challenge for Ukraine is that the scale of the conflict means they have limited ability to rotate units away from the frontline. Major General Klochkov has a research centre that has produced studies on how long soldiers should be left in combat situations before being rested.
However, battlefield requirements mean that soldiers are routinely exposed to much longer periods of combat than the research recommends. It's why mental resilience and psychological hardening is a critical element of training for Ukrainian soldiers.
The Ukrainians use a blend of techniques to mentally prepare their soldiers. Live ammunition is used in training to acclimatise soldiers to the sounds of bullets passing close by. Trainees are exposed to explosions, fire and heat to build their resilience to artillery barrages and other explosions. They are also exposed to drones and an array of other battlefield threats.
Animal entrails and blood are used to condition recruits to the sights, touch and smells they will almost certainly encounter in a high casualty battles.
Cultural activities are another important pillar of mental preparation for combat. The Ukrainians have found that learning about their culture builds team cohesion. Crucially, it provides a clear purpose for their soldiers — it reminds them of what they're protecting.
Insights for other militaries
There is very little time for all this mental toughening, though. Ukrainian soldiers receive a month of basic training followed by about a month of specialist training such as infantry, engineering, artillery and other skills. Every moment counts and, as General Klochkov says, the intensive psychological preparation is designed to "ensure our soldiers can control their stress, panic and fear".
The magnitude of the challenge has resulted in Klochkov's research organisation, which supports military personnel on the front lines through smart devices and mobile teams, and oversees the resilience of all Ukrainian military personnel. It also plays an important role in reintegrating military personnel back into society and supporting families.
While these initiatives are specific to Ukraine, there are insights that might be useful to other military institutions.
During two decades of military operations in places such as East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, there was a reinvigoration of learning about the psychological impacts of military operations on our people. But as traumatic as these conflicts were, they were very different to the constant, searing violence of the firepower-intensive conflict in Ukraine.
While recent government initiatives such as the Defence Strategic Review has laid out a pathway for the physical form of Australia's future defences, perhaps an even more crucial commitment is the resilience, preparation and post-combat support for military personnel (and their families). The conditions of modern warfare, with Ukraine as an example, will be far more violent and demanding than anything seen by the ADF in the past several decades.
Major General Klochkov is the kind of battle-experienced leader that's effective strategic military personnel agencies. He is enthusiastic about his responsibilities, has seen the impact of combat, and is keen to share what he has learned with other military institutions.
The initiatives he is implementing are worthy of closer study by the leadership of the Australian Defence Force. They could be a vital investment in our military's most important resource: its people.
Mick Ryan is a strategist and retired Australian Army major general. He served in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, and as a strategist on the United States Joint Chiefs of Staff. He is also a non-resident fellow of the Lowy Institute and at the Washington-based Centre for Strategic and International Studies.
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