The veteran population qualifies as a community through their shared military identity and the bonds created by the common military culture is, according to Lancaster et al. (2018) so strong that military personnel view their comrades as family. This continues after service within the military legacy described by Cooper et al. (2017). One veteran interviewed for this study stated that he did not know of any veteran that would ever call themselves a civilian. This insider/outsider view has been strengthened by the activism and protests of the veteran community to the extent that the government created the Armed Forces Covenant in 2011 and the creation of the appointment of Johnny Mercer MP as Minister for Veterans Affairs in 2022. A veteran himself he was driven into politics by his displeasure at how his cohort of military personnel and veterans had been treated by the government (GOV.UK, 2022). The Armed Forces Covenant was made law by its inclusion in the Armed Forces Act 2021. The veteran population is also a significant community at 2.8 million, 4.4% of the population of Great Britain (RBL, 2014).
According to Iversen and Greenberg (2009), the limited existing evidence suggests that the majority do well after leaving the armed forces, and as previously stated the RLB household survey of 2014 findings were that PTS, mental health problems, homelessness, prison populations and suicide rates amongst veterans were comparable to the general population, however, Cooper et. al. (2017) describes the military culture as biased by hegemonic masculinity where qualities of emotional toughness aggression and self-reliance are promoted and dependence, displaying emotion and weakness are frowned upon. Mental health issues in the defence forces often exist within a culture of stigmatization with servicemen often reluctant to admit having a problem (Balfour 2018) and it has been identified that for various reasons some veterans do not seek help. The diagnosis of mental health conditions is also constantly evolving, and it is now more unlikely to be diagnosed with PTS for example due to the changing diagnostic criteria Shalev (2017) that is only a 55% overlap in diagnosis under DSM-V compared with DSM-IV this will affect whether an individual qualifies for treatment. Authors also quote different statistics from different studies and this, combined with evolving diagnosis criteria and veterans not coming forward for help contributes to making mental health statistics complex, confusing and possibly unreliable. While the MoD uses gaining employment as a key measure of successful transition (Ashcroft, 2014), Cooper et. al. (2017) cite Jolly (1996) and acknowledge gaining employment does not necessarily indicate a good transition back into civilian life. One could argue then, that, having a job and not having a diagnosis of a mental health condition does not necessarily mean that the veteran is living a fulfilling life, coping, and doing well. Soon, the demographic of the veteran community is also set to change drastically by a reduction of one million by 2028 (MOD 2019). This will be almost a one-third reduction from the RLB (2014) survey. This will result in an increase in veterans working to 44% compared to the previous 38% (MOD 2019). These sudden changes in statistics will cause the RLB and other studies' findings irrelevant while research catches up. In effect, the community will quickly get smaller but younger where increased support may be required and projects such as CM interventions become more appropriate.
Just because there is a lack of empirical evidence to support the notion that community music projects can be of value to the UK veteran community it should not result in the notion being discounted. There is evidence through Bensimon et al. (2012) and Bronson et al. (2018) that group music making is valuable within wider treatment protocols in with Israeli and US military suffering from PTS. Bradt et al. (2019), Specifically investigated the value of songwriting with US veterans and found positive results in reducing the symptoms of mental health conditions. Noyes and Schlesinger (2017) observed similar results in civilians using songwriting as therapy for PTS. Although these studies were conducted by music therapists, group music-making and collaboration in these studies fall clearly within the community musician’s boundary walker remit. Groups created by community musicians to work with the veteran population can give access to the wellbeing-promoting effects of collaborative music making to those who do not qualify for medical referral of self-diagnose, and also provide continuity and extended support for those whose prescribed treatment has ended.
The Dillingham (2011) study with G4V in the US also studied veterans with PTS but the sessions were conducted more in line with community music focus rather than music therapy. The sessions were facilitated by experienced guitar instructors rather than music therapists, with weekly individual sessions and monthly group sessions resulting in a 37% increase in feelings of a better quality of life. The study by Dhokai (2020) carried out again in the US, using guitar workshops as a pathway way to community engagement also had more of a community music focus and was not specific to PTS suffers but rather to veterans in general. It describes inclusion and collaboration as some of the important learning goals shared by all participants regardless of age, level or ability and the group sessions were held weekly and facilitated by a guitar tutor. Through surveys of the participants, improvements were found in feelings of well-being, reduced social isolation, better family relationships and strong retention in playing the guitar. G4V-Wales in the UK also has a community music philosophy, it has been running weekly guitar lessons and group sessions since January 2022. The facilitators are professional guitar tutors funded by the charity and there is no focus on specific mental health conditions, anyone that has served one day in the military, or anywhere in the world can join a group. The only measure of success for G4V-Wales so far, however, is the growing numbers of participants and new groups being formed across Wales.
The North West Veterans Corps of Drums (NWVCoD), by the admission of its founder, was originally intended to maintain the traditions and military music of the Infantry Corps of Drums. This is what Higgins (2012) would describe as ‘music of a community,’ this is because the vision of the NWVCoD was to preserve the musical identity and traditions beholden to a particular group of people, in this case, ex-military CoD musicians. Since the start of its group sessions in February 2022 the vision of the group has shifted and whilst there is a very strong commitment to the music and traditions, the value of the group to its member's wellbeing has become an increasingly more important rationale for its existence. As Tom the founder states ‘We hope to be not just a Cops of Drums but also the “Go To” for Veterans around the Northwest.’ The group now better fits the perspective of an ‘active intervention between a music leader or facilitator and participants’ Higgins (2012) and the interventions are intended to have consequences other than musical Everitt (1997) cited by Deane and Mullen (2013). The data as to the success of the group so far is limited but through observations, interviews, and conversations with participants it appears that the group provides a welcoming, supportive atmosphere that is contributing to the participant's sense of identity, self-esteem, and wellbeing, renewing in pride in restoring old skills and providing a supportive social network.
Both the G4V-Wales and the NWCoD observe that one of the greatest obstacles they have encountered so far is obtaining funding, in a telephone conversation with the president of G4V-Wales, it was explained that even though the group is hosted by the charity, The Friends of the Royal British Legion Band of Wales, they have had difficulty convincing funders to commit. The NWVCoD are also suspicious of the strings attached to funding that may cause the group to change its approach. Recruitment of participants is also difficult, veterans seem to be resistant to put themselves forward and G4V-Wales have found a good model to follow in taking the concept to the veteran by visiting existing veteran support hubs, talking to the veterans that attend, allowing themselves to become familiar faces and the drip feeding the idea of guitar workshops at the hub, this softly, approach and entering their safe space rather than advertising for the veterans to come forward to something, somewhere, they do not know and maybe suspicious of.
Even once on board, the veterans are difficult to work with. For the small case study supporting this research, the veterans were welcoming, warm, friendly, and supportive of the research. The group made it clear that this was due to positionality and that the welcome may not have been so warm to a civilian researcher. The group were open and freely disclosed their individual problems and effective participation in the group. They were happy to take part in group and one-to-one conversations and discussions but were not forthcoming when it came to answering questions in written form and completing written reflective evaluations post rehearsals. Members would always say ‘oh I need to send you that stuff from last week’ or that they had forgotten it and would bring it next time. None of the reflective evaluations appeared and it was clear that transcriptions of online interviews, observation notes and researcher notes of conversations and telephone calls would have to do. The fact is that future research methods with veterans need to be flexible and reactive, and the data collection needs to be in a form that the group dictate and not what the researcher thinks would be most appropriate.
The limitations of this research are that there is a scarce amount of previous research to draw from, if community musicians are working with veteran communities, they are not openly advertising it and it does not appear that any research is being carried out in the area. This research however confirms what the previous research in other areas has found. The military identity creates individuals that set themselves apart from the civilian population and as a collective create an insider/outsider relationship with society. For a civilian this can make the veteran population difficult to work with, positionality is important and as Balfour (2018) states ‘social instinct, genuine interest and authentic communication is as important (if not more so) than good musicianship’ (p570). This study has identified that although in their infancy there are the beginnings of some community music groups involving veterans in the UK and that if the lessons can be learned from these emerging groups there is scope for more groups to spring up and evolve in the future. The findings of this research may not be sufficient evidence to convince and inspire funders at this stage therefore further research in this area is also necessary. Further research is required with this community that studies these veteran music groups as they grow, to involve greater numbers over a longer period to enable a more detailed enquiry into the benefits of community music with veterans. The notion of CM projects with the veteran community is theoretically sound, CM practice encompasses the values of the five steps to well-being and could be of great value. Further research in this area would further inform other practitioners seeking to work with this population and provide further data surrounding the trauma-informed practice and contribute to creating conceptual frameworks and pedagogies to enhance work in this area.