Although shunning the phrase "post traumatic stress disorder," Army leaders said this week that intense combat exposure could have contributed to the violent behavior of Ft. Carson-based soldiers accused or convicted of murder once returning home from deployment.

That conclusion is from a three-month study of what the service calls "a cluster" of violent crime from 2005 to 2008, in which nearly a dozen slayings were allegedly committed by soldiers from the 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division.  

The study found in part that there's "a possible association between increasing levels of combat exposure and risk for negative behavioral outcomes."

Of the 14 soldiers involved in the crimes, 10 had deployed once, two had deployed more than once and two had never deployed. The study compared the 4th Brigade Combat Team to a similar brigade at Ft. Carson that didn't have the same problems and found that the 4th experienced significant more deaths.   

Army leaders stopped short, however, of saying there was direct causation between combat exposure and violent behavior. Instead they stressed that the investigation didn't identify one singular cause for the behavior. The study named substance abuse and enlistment waivers as other factors.

"We would all like to look back at the cluster of misconduct and criminal activities that resulted in devastating human tragedies here in Colorado and be able to say, 'This is the reason they happened and we know exactly what could have been done to prevent them,' but that's rarely the way things work when dealing with human behavior," Lt. Gen. Eric Schoomaker, Army Surgeon General, said Wednesday when the study's findings were released.

The study recommends better reintegration programs, eliminating the stigma associated with seeking mental help - including training noncomissioned and junior officers to better deal with the issue - eliminating barriers to getting help, and developing a method to identify high-risk individuals.