Final Research Paper!! - TANNER

Post military fracking

Post Military Fracking

Stephanie Chang

INTS 3300 Section 001

Dr. Gail Bentley

Texas Tech University

2 Post military fracking

Abstract

The purpose of this research paper was to integrate the idea of hydraulic fracturing

better known as “fracking” into an every day life problem we have seen or continue to see on a

day-by-day basis. The problem I am investigating today involes military members after

retirement and whether they chose to continue to further their education or enter the hydraulic

fracturing industry. Scholarary journals were used in order to help eliminate biased opinions. The

types of research in most of the studies were qualitative data, input/output models, case studies,

correlation research, economic impact models, formal requests, and mixed methods. I found

different sources of information and took apart different pieces of the research and formulated

them into this research paper in order to better understand my question of how with army down

sizing how does the impact of post retirement help provide veterans and their families better

opportunities to continue their education vs. entering the hydraulic fracturing business with the

wear and tear of the physical activity caused on the human body by being in the military. I found

that working in the hydraulic fracturing industry could be harmful to the human body internally.



This research paper will provide readers with the ability of being able to see how

hydraulic fracturing could impact military members. The research question I am working on asks

how the impact of post retirement help provide veterans and their families better opportunities to

either continue their education vs. entering the hydraulic fracturing business with the wear and

tear of the physical activity caused on the human body by being in the military. This question is

too broad to only be looked upon by a single discipline. I will be using both exercise and sports

science (ESS) and military science (MS) to improve an understanding dealing with this problem.

The ESS aspect will focus on the human body, while the MS will focus more on the military side

and the downsizing of today’s Army due to the wars coming to an end. Both topics will merge as

the focus becomes drawn on which decision would be better for the retired service member and

their families, whether it be returning to school by using the GI bill or by entering the hydraulic

fracturing industry.

STEP 1: State the Focus of Your Paper

Hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” is the process of extracting natural gas trapped

underground by the use of water, chemicals, and sandstone. Wells are drilled making extractions

in the ground, which are highly expensive. Steel pipes are inserted into the wells called casting.

Casting occurs when fluids are injected into the wells as it flows into the targeted zones. The

pressure that is created causes the ground or “formation” to break/fracture. Once the fractures are

created liquid chemicals are inserted causing them to flow back onto the surface. Proppants,

which are materials (usually ceramic beads or sand) that are also injected into the mixture assist

in keeping the fractures open. Hydraulic fracturing is a complex issue that ties in many other

disciplines such as exercise and sports science, engineering, environmental concerns, etc., which

will allow for the question of “With army down sizing how does the impact of post retirement


help provide veterans and their families better opportunities to either continue their education vs.

entering the hydraulic fracturing business with the wear and tear of the physical activity caused

on the human body by being in the military?” to be solved.

STEP 2: Justify Using an Interdisciplinary Approach

Repko (2012) states that when a problem is complex, examined by more than one

discipline or field of study, and falls within the focus of an interdiscipline, then an

interdisciplinary approach to research is appropriate. Hydraulic fracturing is being viewed by

more than one discipline, deeming it complex. What this means is different disciplines are going

to have to intertwine in order to come up with some type of solution. To accomplish this study

the discipline of exercise and sports science and military science will be examined. The exercise

and sports science aspect of this discipline focuses more on the body mechanics and how the

internally or externally harm could potentially be caused due to the fracking industry. The

military science side focused more on the army downsizing, post retirement, and educational

advances there are for service members after exiting the military.

STEP 3: Identify Relevant Disciplines

Because the question of how the impact of post retirement help provide veterans and their

families better opportunities to either continue their education vs. entering the hydraulic

fracturing business with the wear and tear of the physical activity caused on the human body by

being in the military is too broad, many disciplines may come into place when viewing this

complex problem. The discipline of sociology may view this question as how the veteran may be

perceived in a social class whether he or she accepts the fracking job vs. continuing their

education. Psychology is another discipline that is used because it will view how veterans feel


after investing so much time into a career and how that could impact their decision process on

whether the hydraulic fracturing business is for them or if they should pursue an education. The

most relevant disciplines that will be mentioned are exercise and sports science, and military

science. Exercise and sports science will focus on the physical aspects of the veterans, the wear

and tear their bodies may have went through while in the military. The military science discipline

will focus on positions held in the military and what caused the service member to exit the

military.

STEP 4: Conduct a Literature Search

Being deployed should come to no surprise to any person serving in the military. They

know once you make that commitment into serving there is a chance of getting deployed. Apart

from possible physical external injuries, soldiers could potentially face coming home with

internal injuries, or both. According to the journal of postsecondary education and disability after

serving in the Global War on Terror (GWT) service members return with injuries that are not

only physical but can be internal such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and

traumatic brain injuries (TBI). These veterans will be attending school by the use of the GI

Educational Bill, but while being allowed to use classroom accommodations they fail to take

advantage of these services because some colleges and universities aren’t advertising these

services as much as they should be (Thomas, C., 2009). Campaigns could be launched, as well as

social media feedback, and being more welcoming to these veterans in order to accommodate

them and catch their attention into wanting to be a part of that school.

Before being discharged from the army regardless of the reason, a screening is done in

order to assess the soldier on their physical condition and mental stability. According to the

journal of cardiovascular surgery, service members returning from war (some medically


evacuated) had open surgeries, accumulated lesions, and wounds (Adams, E., Rich, N., & White,

P. 2007). While going into war with a positive mindset, injuries are very possible during times of

war. Although most service members don’t think anything will go wrong while being deployed,

the sad truth is that accidents happen, soldiers may die, and families suffer.

STEP 5: Develop Adequacy in Each Relevant Discipline

After doing research and realizing what plans or ideas would work best in relation to the

topic of how the impact of post retirement would aid in providing veterans a better path to

further their education or enter the fracking industry with the wear and tear of the physical

activity caused on the human body by being in the military after retirement; adequacy can now

be developed in the disciplines of exercise and sports science and military science. In the text

Repko quotes Klein about, Adequacy in and interdisciplinary context means knowing enough

about the discipline to have a basic understand of how it approaches the problem and how it

illuminates and characterizes the problem (Repko, 2012, p. 1288)

The primary theory that was used for both disciplines was the systems theory. The system

theory is the most basic theory, which incorporates multiple systems. The quantitative methods

of research were used because the use statistical analysis, examination of physical traces and

surveys are all incorporated within quantitative data.

Exercise and sports science is a discipline having many sub disciplines. The sub

disciplines would help readers better understand how the body responds to sport training.

Because exercise and sports science is very broad those who have served in the military can use

it to help find how the wear and tear on the human body is affected by the impact of the physical

activity. Exercise and sports science has sub disciplines such as health science, pre-physical


therapy, nutrition, and kinesiology, which can aid in these finding tremendously mainly because

they are all within the same realm of one another.

Military science is again another very broad discipline having many sub disciplines

within it. Military science focuses on the behaviors, processes, and institutions coinciding with

the study of warfare as well as the application and theory of organized coercive force. It is

primarily focused on political, strategic, economical, psychological, social, technological and

tactical elements needed in supporting the military force.

Each method being used has its pros, cons, and biases that have to be examined. Different

scenarios will dictate if one or many of these methods will be used. These methods accumulate

both qualitative and quantitative data depending on which one is used. The health science sub

discipline can be used more effectively than the overall exercise and sports science discipline

because in the health science field is where doctors and physical therapists evaluate the

individual deciding whether or not they are physically intact or not. The military science side

will focus more on veterans’ war related injuries.

STEP 6: Analyze the Problem and Evaluate Each Insight or Theory

The use of fracking uses 632 out of 944 toxic chemicals, in which 353 of those chemicals

have been identidied by the chemical abstract services (CAS). Research showed that 3/4th of the

chemicals used in the process of hydraulic fracturing could potentially affect internal organs as

well as external organs. Because fracking is a process where large amounts of water is used to

fracture shale and excrete the natural gasses, citizens in Pennsylvania have become concerned.

Researchers conducted a study called Nvivo to analyze 10 major themes that citizens

demonstrated concern over. Nvivo used qualitative data and took into consideration the citizens

photographs, letters, videos, transcripts, and news articles. (Journal Of Community Health,


2013).

A chemical called PM2.5 has alerted health risks. PM2.5 are tiny particles in the air that

reduce visibility and cause the air to be hazy and can harm the respiratory tract which can lead to

upper respiratory infections and cause shortness of breath. Studies have shown an estimated

possible health risk due to the use of this chemical. The component of the chemical is limited in

regards to the actual toxicity in the chemical. This study investigates hospital admissions for

cardiovascular diseases as well as respiratory diseases. Carbon was found in about 8/10 of the

individuals that were admitted that day for cardiovascular complications. Also a 1.01% increase

of individuals were admitted that same day for respiratory complications due to the increase of

organic carbon matter (American Journal Of Nursing, 2013).

STEP 7: Identify Conflict Between Insights and Their Sources

When using the disciplines of military science and exercise and sports science conflicts

may be identified. A conflicting idea may be how fracking could potentially produce internal

harm to the human body, while at the same time assist with the accumulation of natural oil, but

could also provide military veterans with a job as opposed to attending school. There are three

possible sources of conflict between insights, which are concepts, assumptions, and theories

(Repko, 2012). A problematic situation may arise within insight if perhaps a situation involves

only a few authors using concepts (Repko, 2012). Another issue that can arise through conflict

would be having assumptions. If a person is lacking on knowledge, the author of the article fails

to provide as much detailed information as possible or if the information isn’t coming from

credible sources that can lead the fourth problematic situation as stated in the book (Repko,

2012).


STEP 8: Create Common Ground

Common ground can be found through the technique of organization (Repko, 2012).

Organization would be a vital tool when dealing with the harm fracking causes on the human

body vs. trying to provide veterans a secure job instead of going to school. Organization creates

common ground by clarifying how certain phenomena interacts and maps out the casual

relationships (Repko, 2012). Because organization focuses on the overall relations between

distinct variables, it will allow a better understanding of how a better relationship can be built

amongst veterans attending school, or heading into the fracking industry.

STEP 9: Construct a More Comprehensive Understanding

At the start of this semester I did not have a single clue of what hydraulic fracturing or

“fracking” was. I had never heard anything on the topic nor did I know the process of the actual

art of fracking. Not being from Texas or knowing about the oil industry I was at a disadvantage.

In completing the assignments and reading the necessary materials for this class I began gaining

the necessary knowledge I needed to start the writing process on how hydraulic fracturing affects

the surrounding comminutes. I haven’t really encountered a lot of positive aspects of fracking. I

have mostly came across negative aspects such as health issues.

The key to understanding what fracking is in order to find and understand all the

important parts that are involved in ways the windfall of money are handled. Knowing what the

pros and cons are of fracking will assist in coming up with possible solutions in order to help

society. I believe that having health care professionals, such as doctors or physical therapists

available could assist people when it comes to health issues or common injuries. Another

solution would be making sure that people dealing with the fracking industry are well informed

and knowledgeable about the dangers and potential hazards. The more information that is


provided, the better the public would benefit. Communicating effectively and advertising is

extremely important in order to protect all parties involved.

STEP 10: Communicating the Results

There are many studies on how the fracking cycle has moved throughout other mining

towns in order to give people an idea of what to expect. As I mentioned above with the amount

of negative literature there is vs. the positive amount of literature on the fracking topic, positive

information is hard to come by, but that does not mean it isn’t there. More research is needed to

be conducted in order to see if the positive outcome outweighs the negative outcome. More

studies need to be done specific to fracking to further investigate the effects that it has on

communities.

My solution in order to integrate the fracking world into the post military world would be

to view each individual on a case-by-case basis. This seems like a lot of work I am sure, but in

reality it would be the best outcome. After discharge from the service, every veteran is different

because they all potentially hold different jobs. Some have deployed, and some haven’t. Some

jobs require physical demands such as rangers, and Special Forces, while others work in an

insulted building having a finance job doing paperwork. Their missions are different. A medical

personnel’s primary mission is patient care while an infantryman’s mission would ideally be to

“get the job done”, whatever that job may be. I use these scenarios to give the reader a better

view on post military conditions. A veteran that has worked in a hospital their whole life and

never deployed may be discharged with no disability rating because he or she has never been

faced with a deployment or a physically demanding job. Another scenario may be an

infantryman could be discharged with a high disability rating because he may have been blown

up, gone partially deaf, and or lost a limb. Again every situation and individual is different. Once


the conditions of the service member have been determined, then the decision would be made to

see if they would either join the hydraulic fracturing industry or continue their education upon

leaving the military life.


References:

1. Repko, A. (2012). Interdisciplinary Research Process and Theory (2nd ed.,). Los Angeles:

Sage.

2. Cannuscio, C., Powers, M., Saberi, P., Pepino, R., Strupp, E., & Bugos, E. (2014).

Popular epidemiology and “fracking”: citizens’ concerns regarding the economic,

environmental, health and social impacts of unconventional natural gas drilling

operations. Journal Of Community Health, 8(10), 2-52.

3. McDermott-Levy, B., Kaktins, N., & Sattler, B. (2013). Fracking, the environment, and health.

American Journal Of Nursing, 113(6), 45-51.

4. Peng, R. D., Bell, M. L., Geyh, A. S., McDermott, A., Zeger, S. L., Samet, J. M., &

Dominici, F. (2009). Emergency admissions for aardiovascular and respiratory

diseases and the chemical composition of fine particle air pollution. Environmental

Health Perspectives, 117(6). 957-963.

5. Wurster, K., & Rinaldi, A. (2012). First-generation student veterans: Implications of

poverty for psychotherapy. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 69(2), 127-137.

6. Blevins, J. (2012). Classroom strategies for teaching veterans with post-traumatic stress

disorder and traumatic brain injury. Journal of Postsecondary Education & Disability,

25(1), 87-95.

7. Thomas, C. (2009). Returning veterans on campus with war related injuries and the long road

back home. Journal of Postsecondary Education & Disability, 22(1), 43-52.

8.Adams, E., Rich, N., & White, P. (2007). Physical exam and occult post-traumatic

vascular lesions: implications for the evaluation and management of arterial injuries in


modern warfare in the endovascular era. The Journal of Cardiovascular Surgery, 48(5)

581-586.

9. Currie, D., (2012). Summaries of 2012 APHA policies adopted by governing council in San

Francisco: New policies address issues such as military recruiting in schools, gas

fracking, health impact assessments. Journal of Public Health Association, 42(1), 10-24.

10. Russell, K. (2013). Will fracking bring the soldiers home? Journal of Social Justice, 25(4),

550-558

11. Christopherson, S., & Rightor, N. (2012). How shale gas extraction affects drilling

localities: Lessons for regional and city policy makers. Journal of Town & City

Management, 2(4), 350-368.

12. Depledge, M., Haines, A., Wilkinson, P., & Fleming, L. (2014). The health implications of

fracking. The Lancet, 383(9919), 757-758.

13. Howarth, R., Ingraffea, A., & Engelder, T. (2011). Natural gas: Should fracking stop?.

Nature, 477(7364), 271. doi:10.1038/477271a

I chose this document because it is pertinent to the military world. I plan on returning

back into the military upon the completion of my degree. Anything having to do with the

military not only interests me but is also very important to me.


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Final Research Paper!! - TANNER