Outpatient mental health care at a remote US air base in southern Iraq

The following article is a comprehensive description and utilization study of a United States Air Force outpatient mental heath clinic at a remote air base in southern Iraq over a 10-month period (November 2003-August 2004). The purpose of the article is to address several salient issues that include a description of the clinic and psychological services (i.e., intake and triage, hospitalization, aeromedical evacuations, and follow-up care), utilization data from the clinic regarding military personnel (soldiers and airmen) seeking mental health care, as well as implications and recommendations to military mental health providers who are serving or preparing for deployment on the front line. The results of the study aim to inform mental health providers of prominent mental health issues on the battlefield rather than rely on assumptions or historical data that may not generalize to more recent events.