Change of Command in Combat: A Locus of Stress
DOUGLAS R. BEY JR. M.D.1
1 Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, Peoria School of Medicine, Peoria, Ill., and Champaign School of Medicine, Champaign, Ill. and private practice at 900 Franklin Ave., Normal, Ill. 61761
In the military a change of command is particularly stressful for the members of the unit involved. A comparison of units, some of which showed few increases in the indices of organizational stress and some of which showed great increases, revealed a relationship between the administrative style of the departing commander and the amount of stress experienced by the unit. The author describes methods used in the Army's First Infantry Division to help prevent excessive stress during the replacement period.
