The end-of-mission airlock: More than a homecoming tool for French Army soldiers

LAY SUMMARY French soldiers are prepared and trained to go on missions. Their time in theatres of war is part of a larger training program that includes preparation for the mission and return to civilian/garrison life. This program allows soldiers to enter missions in good condition and return to family and garrison at their best after having faced the stressors of war. Returning home involves an end-of-mission airlock between the geographical location of the mission and France where they can ease out of the daily routine of the mission and back into civilian/post-deployment routines. The entire training program involves what anthropology terms a ritual. This article studies the form of this ritual and the ways in which it impacts French soldiers. Comparing the lived reality of a group that underwent an end-of-mission airlock against a group whose airlock was cancelled revealed the components necessary for soldiers to transition out of a theatre of war. Results from this research offer a potential key to understanding the social mechanisms underlying the success of an end-of-mission airlock to best assist soldiers returning from war.