Afghanistan: Voices of service

This project is a collaboration with the Imperial War Museums to examine the experiences and perceptions of those who deployed to Afghanistan, with particular reference to the withdrawal. IWM will be performing the interviewing, archiving, and exhibiting, while KCMHR will perform secondary analysis with a view to academic outputs.

The focus of this project is to perform a secondary qualitative analysis of oral histories collected from those who deployed to Afghanistan, capturing their experiences and perceptions, particularly regarding the withdrawal. This project is a collaboration with the Imperial War Museums; IWM will be performing the interviewing, archiving, and exhibition, while KCMHR will perform secondary analysis with a view to academic outputs.

Secondary analysis of qualitative oral histories, drawn from the approximately 100 who will be interviewed by IWM.

• What are the experiences and perceptions of those who deployed to Afghanistan, particularly with reference to the recent withdrawal?
• How do military personnel reflect on their experiences of conflict after a considerable distance of time?
• How do accounts differ from the original interview, and how significant are recall bias and collective memory?
• How have dominant narratives changed, and has this impacted upon the individual's recollection?
• How does mental health affect the shift in memories and perceptions of war over time?
• What is the role of identity in perceptions and how does this change?
• How has the withdrawal from Afghanistan affected them and their outlook on the conflict?

It is intended that 100-120 individuals who deployed to Afghanistan and their family members will be interviewed.