Pick five of the following questions/scenarios and answer the questions

Assignment Brief

In this assignment, you are required to select any one scenario out of five and then answer them using your crucial thinking and course materials. Also, you have to meet the school-level academic writing caliber.

Instructions 

1. Address all elements of each question. 
2. Display an understanding of the course materials. 
3. Appropriately integrate the course materials in your answer. 
4. Display critical thinking in analyzing the scenarios and using the course materials. 
5. Meets graduate school-level writing standards. 

Pick five of the following questions/scenarios and answer the questions:

Assignment Rubric

1. You have taken a job as the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office Director in Washington, DC. Despite years of prevention efforts, the rates of sexual assaults remain stubbornly high. The Chairman of the Joints Chiefs of Staff has asked you to brief him on the program and make recommendations to improve it. What are two changes or improvements you would make to the program to address the problem? Justify and support your answer. Discuss possible barriers to implementing your recommendations. 
2. The survival rate of military members who have been wounded in combat has been high with some estimates that as many as 99% of those who make it to a medical facility survive. You have been asked by a group of political leaders to explain this remarkable accomplishment. Explain the reasons injured military members are surviving at such high rates and discuss the process of care from being wounded on the battlefield to getting back the United States and how this process saves lives.
3. Veterans with less than honorable discharges struggle with finding employment and often end up homeless. You are the director of a non-profit organization that helps veterans and have an appointment with the Deputy Chief of Veteran Policy to the Chairperson of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. The Chairperson has publicly stated that she has no interest in helping veterans who have not served honorably. Your job is to show the Deputy and Chairperson the problems created by less than honorable discharges and provide her with a recommendation that would help these veterans. In your recommendation, you must consider that some veterans truly served dishonorably, so you must explain who should and should not receive benefits. Justify your recommendation. (Warning: Avoid appealing to emotional arguments such as our obligation to serve all veterans. Instead, focus on actual results that your recommendations would have). 
4. Your boss is a curmudgeonly retired Air Force Colonel who thinks that resilience training is “a bunch of bull” and the DoD should eliminate these programs. You are a lead researcher on resilience for the Defense Center of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, and your boss has asked for your recommendation. Based upon available evidence, explain and justify why the DOD should or should not cancel its resilience programs such as Comprehensive Soldier Fitness. 
5. You have decided to start a non-profit helping female veterans transition from military to civilian life. Briefly describe the challenges female veterans face in transition and propose two steps your non-profit would take to address some of these problems. 
6. You are in charge of a Vet Center, and one of your social workers comes to you with a problem. She has been helping Bob, a combat veteran with PTSD. Bob has made remarkable progress and is almost entirely symptom free. Bob, however, is getting a check from the VA each month based on being 100% disabled. He has pleaded with the social worker to not report his improvement. In fact, he has threatened to “relapse” if the VA tries to reduce his benefits. Based upon the Social Work Code of Ethics and your knowledge of the military and VA, what advice would you give to this social worker? Justify your guidance. 
7. You are running for Congress, and the Veterans of Foreign Wars have asked you to speak at a monthly dinner. After your talk in which you discussed the problems with recruiting for the military, one of the members stands up and says, “If you want to help recruiting, then you need to stop letting gay people in. It is destroying the morale and hurting the military.” What would your response be? Justify your answer.

Sample Answer

Military Policy, Ethics, and Veteran Support: Responses to Key Scenarios

Scenario 1: Sexual Assault Prevention – Improving the Programme

As Director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office (SAPRO) in Washington, DC, it is evident that sexual assault rates remain persistently high despite long-standing prevention efforts. This reflects systemic and cultural challenges within military institutions. Two key improvements I would recommend are:

1. Mandatory Bystander Intervention Training with Accountability Mechanisms
   Research shows that bystander intervention training can be effective if implemented regularly and reinforced with real consequences for inaction (Banyard et al., 2014). Military personnel must be trained not only to identify problematic behaviour but also to intervene safely and report it. Commanders must be held accountable for failures to act on reported misconduct, with disciplinary action where necessary.

2. Independent Reporting and Investigation Mechanism
   Survivors often fear retaliation or lack confidence in internal processes. Introducing an independent body to handle assault reports and investigations can increase reporting rates and ensure neutrality and fairness (Morral et al., 2015). This system should be entirely separate from the chain of command.

Barriers include cultural resistance, particularly from senior leadership, and budget constraints. Additionally, jurisdictional conflicts between military and independent bodies may arise. To overcome these, pilot programmes can demonstrate effectiveness, and legal frameworks can be established to ensure cooperation.

Scenario 2: Survival Rates of Wounded Military Members

Military members wounded in combat today survive at unprecedented rates, with survival reaching up to 99% if they reach a medical facility (Eastridge et al., 2012). Key reasons for this include:

• Rapid Medical Evacuation (MEDEVAC): Advanced evacuation systems ensure quick transport from the battlefield to field hospitals, often within the “Golden Hour”, significantly increasing survival chances.

• Forward Surgical Teams (FSTs): These are highly mobile, specialised units that provide surgical care near combat zones, offering life-saving interventions immediately.

• Combat Lifesaver Training: Soldiers receive basic trauma care training, enabling immediate first aid before medics arrive, often controlling bleeding and stabilising casualties.

• Technological Advancements: Use of tourniquets, haemostatic agents, and telemedicine improves care. Once stable, soldiers are transferred to Role 4 facilities such as Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, and later to specialised hospitals in the U.S. like Walter Reed.

This streamlined continuum of care, from battlefield to home country, is highly coordinated, reducing complications and deaths.

Scenario 3: Less than Honorable Discharges and Veteran Support

As Director of a non-profit supporting veterans with less than honorable discharges, it is critical to address their barriers to employment and housing, particularly when discharge status is linked to mental health or minor infractions.

Recommendation: Implement a tiered benefits system, allowing veterans with misconduct linked to PTSD or service-related conditions access to basic housing, healthcare, and employment support, while excluding those with violent or egregious dishonourable conduct.

Rationale: Studies show that veterans with mental health-linked discharges face higher homelessness and unemployment (Tsai et al., 2013). Addressing their needs can reduce public costs related to homelessness and promote rehabilitation. Limiting aid to those not involved in serious crimes maintains integrity of benefits.

Continued...