The mission of the United States Army’s Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers (BOSS) program is designed enhance the morale and welfare of its, generally, youngest, most junior, and potentially isolated soldiers (Army MWR, n.d.). BOSS attempts to provide safe, entertaining, and enriching activities for single soldiers to take part in, beyond the purview of their command team (supervisors), to socialize with the peers (Pacheco, 2013). Whether Army leadership knew it or not, the BOSS program mirrors many of the core values of community psychology.
Through tits socialization efforts the BOSS program aims to build the sense of community that single soldiers feel while at their current duty station, which is often hundreds to thousands of miles away from any given soldiers hometown. Given distances from home, and because these soldiers are unmarried or otherwise lack a family nearby (Pacheco, 2013)., and are typically in their early twenties, some not even old enough to vote, and therefore often the lowest ranking, their demographic is particularly vulnerable to feelings of isolation and depression. All of which, and because Army life is still likely new to these soldiers, it is particularly important to build upon the sense of belonging, membership (Gruman, Schneider & Coutts, 2017, p 412), and support that they feel within the Army community.
The BOSS program inadvertently provides social justice for young soldiers, though not necessarily in the manner one would think. To the Army’s lowest paid members, a trip to visit a distance landmark, or to enjoy a day at an amusement park, may seem far out reach. Particularly so if the soldier cannot afford, or otherwise does not own transportation of their own. BOSS attempts fill the income void left by the congresses “distribution of capital [military pay scale, approved by the United States Congress) and resources to these, least privileged” (Gruman et al., 2017, p 412) members of the service, by providing free or financially assisted opportunities toward transportation and admittance to events.
BOSS also fosters collaboration and community strengths, citizen participation and empowerment, and social action and activism Gruman et al, 2017, p 412) (to an extent – nothing political – this is the military after all), the three remaining core values of community psychology, by means of providing opportunities for soldiers to volunteer within their new community, or greater civilian communities that reside beyond the gates of their military installation. Moreover, when if properly supported, the program is liable to see former participants (soldiers who eventually marry and/or exceed the local rank requirements upon promotion) volunteer their time conducting fundraising efforts and helping with the programs events, giving back to the program and helping to enhance the community of younger soldiers in-kind.
In my anecdotal opinion, and experience as soldier that has lived in Army barracks before, even if all of the BOSS program’s correlations with community psychology values are an unanticipated by-product, is still of the right mind in its attempting to get its quartered soldiers to emerge from their barracks room when not in uniform. To socialize with their peers, and meet new faces, beyond the dormitory-style units often plagued by too much alcohol and testosterone, whose volatile mixture heightens poor decisions. As well, it provides enticing opportunities for young minds to get away from their televisions, computers, and video games, to conduct socializing activities which, according to research conducted by Kraut et al. (1998), can reduce the loneliness and loss of community that can occur in association with excessive reliance on such technologies for entertainment and interaction (Gruman et al., 2017 p418).
Community psychology aims to foster sense of community, wellness and prevention, diversity, social justice, and collaborative efforts (Gruman et al, 2017, p411-412), and while Army leadership may not have set out to build a program that touched on all of those points, at least in theory, it they seem to have done just that. While the BOSS program did not exist when I was a young-single soldier, and I have often heard of the program referred to as [sic] “an afterthought” or a “half-hearted attempt by senior leadership” on platforms like Redditt, I believe that BOSS has a blueprint toward building and enhancing feelings of community, at least insofar as community psychology is concerned, amidst its members that likely need it the most. Though the program is not command-driven, (i.e. commanders do not run the program), like anything in the Army, it requires the support and encouragement of commanders, officers, and noncommissioned officers alike, in order to obtain single soldier buy-in and reach its full potential.
References
Army MWR (n.d). Better Opportunities for Single Soldiers. https://www.armymwr.com/programs-and-services/boss/about-boss
Gruman, J., Schneider, F., and Coutts, L. (Eds.) (2017). Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN 978-1-4833-6973-0. P 411-412, 418
Pacheco, S. (2013). Program promotes fun, safe activities for single Soldiers. United States Army.https://www.army.mil/article/108519/program_promotes_fun_safe_activities_for_single_soldiers
Tags: Army, BOSS, Community, community psychology