Significant efforts have been made to address combat stress among personnel deployed or returning from deployment, but far less attention has been given to the “deployed-in-garrison” work environment of distributed common ground system (DCGS) intelligence exploitation operators, who remotely monitor and report real-time, hostile, enemy contact and facilitate redirection of ground forces to engage enemy combatants. As the “eyes and ears” of the battlefield, these personnel vicariously experience the combat environment on a daily basis. This study investigated the impact of the deployed-in-garrison environment by surveying DCGS intelligence exploitation personnel, DCGS system sustainment personnel, and noncombatant support and logistics airmen from the same installations. The survey included a demographic questionnaire, items assessing sources of stress, as well as standardized instruments assessing occupational burnout, clinical distress, post-traumatic stress disorder, as well as vicarious exposure to combat. The results of the study suggest that the primary sources of occupational stress for the DCGS intelligence exploitation personnel are operational in nature (i.e., long hours, shift work, organizational and leadership difficulties, nature of work, additional workload, low manning and training challenges, and work-rest cycle management), and that these stressors contribute directly to high levels of emotional exhaustion and clinical distress. Additional research is required to more thoroughly understand the impact of the deployed-in-garrison, around-the-clock operations on the psychological health of DCGS intelligence exploitation operators.
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