Erin K McFee, MBA, PhD

In the high-stakes realm of international SOF, operators often encounter situations that challenge their moral frameworks and leave lasting psychological impacts. This panel discussion illuminates the complex landscape of moral injury and trauma experienced by these elite forces. Our diverse panel of experts, drawn from various corners of the globe, delve into the multifaceted nature of these experiences, exploring how they differ across cultures, missions, and individual backgrounds. It also outlines the differential impact and experiences of men and women in special operations, with an eye for the evolving role of women in combat and special operations roles. The panel addresses the unique challenges both men and women face and the way that gender influences the perception, processing, and aftermath of morally injurious events and traumatic experiences. The session further highlights innovations and services for support and recovery, offering pathways towards healing and resilience. This dialogue is essential for shaping policies and practices that effectively address the mental health needs of all special operations personnel, according to their distinct needs.

This conference was organized by the Corioli Institute. The findings and talk made a case for expanded (inter)national attention to the holistic health (physical, psychological, spiritual) demands of Ukraine's fighters and contextually relevant approaches to increasing readiness for care. Additionally, I presented the differentiated needs of women veterans, which include combatting harmful stigma, access to reproductive health, and psychosocial supports tailored to the unique experiences of women in war.

This paper presents a novel application of affect theory, with a focus on Sianne Ngai's concept of stuplimity—a fusion of shock and boredom—in the context of sustainable action and measurement in the regime-level response (RLR) to ex-combatant reintegration in Colombia between 2013 and 2018. The study employs an exhaustive ethnographic approach, encompassing semi-structured interviews with 106 individuals across 22 organizations and institutions in seven sectors. It draws from 18 months of immersive ethnographic research among implicated actors and beneficiaries. I argue that stuplime experiences within the context of the RLR generate a centrifugal force that moves people away from one another even as they engage in the acts intended to convene and hold them together over the long term. By integrating ethnographic observations at the regime level with the principles of affect theory, this research enriches the field of organization studies along several lines. Firstly, it contributes to our understanding of how RLRs can hinder their own effectiveness through sustainability practices. Secondly, it underscores the significance of affect theory in organizational studies by examining how the experiences of multi-organizational action, shaped by cultural contexts and institutionalized through relational interactions (including aversions), are rendered through ‘intersubjective transmissions of intensity’ (Fotaki, Kenny, & Vachhani, 2017). Thirdly, it introduces Sianne Ngai's concept of stuplimity to organization studies and demonstrates its relevance in understanding the dynamics of producing, sustaining, and reporting RLR activities. Taken together, this work advocates for a renewed consideration of the circuits of embodied and relational experience among those whose everyday lives constitute multi-organizational action in contexts of ambiguity, uncertainty, and high-stakes outcomes.

Panel Event with Department of Treasury; Department of State; TRM Labs and Alexandra Solórzano - Owl Consultancy at NatSecGirlSquad Conference 2024.

"Money laundering, antiquities theft, counterfeiting, the trafficking of people, drugs, weapons, and goods. Where is the line between homeland defense and national security - if it exists at all? How do evolving foreign policy priorities impact the US’ involvement in international efforts against organized criminal networks? How can the national security apparatus map, track, combat, and prevent these crimes and is Indiana Jones real?"

Discurso preparado para el Seminario "Internacional Desarme, Desmovilización, Reinserción, Reintegración y Reincorporación: Estrategias e iniciativas para la paz y la reconciliación". | Panel: El papel de las víctimas en la construcción de paz. | 12-13 de septiembre de 2018