FRANKFURT — In a remote corner of Germany's Black Forest, the echoes of war linger in the minds of Bundeswehr soldiers, grappling with trauma years after their withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Mike, a military captain and specialist in imaging reconnaissance, is among those affected. He provided crucial coordinates in mid-July 2013 that led a US Air Force B-1 bomber to drop a bomb on a Taliban position, resulting in 12 deaths.
The event left him with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
On a farm in Aichhalden, a village in the Black Forest, a study for the Defence Ministry is under way until the end of 2025. It intends to determine if close contact with horses can aid traumatized soldiers.
Mike experiences strong feelings of guilt and speaks about his experiences with great hesitation. "If I had known there were going to be so many people there, I wouldn't have given them the coordinates," he says.
The therapy horse Kurt seeks closeness to Mike, which brings him some comfort. Mike hopes that working with the horses will help him feel calmer and more relaxed.
"I want to understand what I experienced, deal with it and actually be able to live with it," he adds.
For several years after the bombing, Mike did not dare to tell anyone about the deadly mission, not even his wife. "I was always afraid of being labelled a murderer if I talked about it."
His irritability and aggression increased, and he hoped that his teaching job as an aerial image evaluator would help him process his trauma. However, his condition did not improve. The complete withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021 deeply unsettled his moral compass. He found himself asking what it was all for?
In December 2021, Mike was put on sick leave due to depression and burnout. He is no longer able to fulfil his work responsibilities. Mike shares that engaging with the therapy horse and connecting with others in similar situations has allowed him to breathe a little easier.
"Brushing the horse helps me relax and connect with the animal's strength," he says.
The army, or Bundeswehr’s PTSD study on the effectiveness of horse-assisted therapies has been running since 2020 at two locations in Germany.
By the end of 2025, 100 Bundeswehr soldiers are expected to undergo the therapy, says Christian Helms, a senior physician at the Bundeswehr’s Psychotrauma Centre in Berlin.
The therapy takes place on the ranch of military psychologist Alexander Varn, who learned the horse therapy method during a scientific exchange at the US Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.
Varn notes the project is cost-effective for the Bundeswehr, as it incurs no expenses beyond the salaries of the two-person support team. He privately owns the five therapy horses and manages the ranch.
Varn is supported by Jens Hölzle, who served in a Franco-German brigade and was injured during a mission in Afghanistan in 2009. His comrade Sergey Motz was killed when their patrol was ambushed by Taliban. Motz, a young corporal, was the first German soldier to fall in combat since the end of World War II.
Psychologically stressful experiences can trigger PTSD, with symptoms including jumpiness, addiction problems, sleep disorders, nightmares, aggressiveness, and feelings of guilt and shame.
Last year, the Bundeswehr reported 322 new trauma-related illnesses, 197 of which were classified as PTSD.
"The feedback from the participants in the study is very positive," Helms says.
Varns adds, "There is a clear need for this kind of support."
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