30 Friday, July 6, 1984
1.
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
euven Gal de-
scribes the Forest Glen section of the
Walter Reed Army Institute as a
Disneyland. An eroded summer
camp is closer to the mark — a drama
camp, most likely. Tucked in a resi-
dential section of Silver Spring, Md.,
on 188 acres, the institute buildings
include a pagoda, classical Greek
theater, Swiss chalet, and other ar-
chitectural archetypes. Inside there
is a good deal of peeling paint and
shopworn office space.
What started as a Congressional
retreat hotel in the 1800s later be-
came a girls' boarding school and
then a military convalescent hospi-
tal. Today it is headquarters for the _
U.S. Army Department of Military
Psychiatry. That explains what Gal,
an Israeli, is doing in an office mid-
way between the PX and the pagoda.
Gal is a psychologist with exper-
tise in the area of stress management
as it affects military combat per-
formance. In Israel, with its frequent
wars' and constant military vigi-
lance, this is a field of obvious need.
And in the United States, where the
Vietnam War has scarred veterans
and public, alike, it is a field of no less
need.
Gal, himself, is no stranger to
the horrors of combat. From 1960 to
1963 he served as a paratrooper in
the infantry of the Israeli Defense
Forces. From 1963 to 1983, Gal was a
reservist who participated in the
Six-Day War, seeing action in
Jerusalem, and again in Lebanon.
While a reservist, Gal completed a
B.A. and an M.A. in clinical psychol-
ogy at Jerusalem's. Hebrew Univer-
sity. By 1975 he had received an M.A.
and a Ph.D. in psychology from the ,
University of California at Berkeley.
Between 1969 and 1983, Gal worked
for the IDF, becoming head of its
psychological research department
and then chief psychologist from
1977 to 1982. Col. Gal retired from
the military in May of last year at age
40.
) There seem to be no traces of
military deportment left from his
years in the service. Dressed in
slacks and a plaid shirt, Gal sits at
his desk surrounded by posters of
rock climbers and Israel. His manner
is easygoing and sincere, his eyes al-
ways on you as he answers questions.
When Gal returns to Israel he plans
to establish a research institute deal-
ing specifically with the ethical is-
sues of military use. Right now how-
ever, he is in the middle of a two-year
sabbatical with a National Acadelny
of Science fellowship. The time will
be spent writing a book about the Is-
raeli army and his experiences.
"The 'basic principles (of stress
nanagement) should be well known
:y American medical personnel," he
days, "but they always seem to dis-
cover the effectiveness of Israeli
techniques," as though they were
new.
One of these surprising tech-
niques is a method for treating com-
bat shock. The Yom Kippur War was
the first to produce "a high number of
psychological casualties" in Israel,
says Gal.
A three-step treatment was de-
veloped to help these men. First,
physical needs are met by giving the
afflicted soldier enough sleep, food,
drink, and clean clothing. Then fol-
lows a period of "ventilation," where
the dramatic moments of combat are
recalled and retold many times,
while verbal reassurance is provided
by others. All this is done close to the
front line, and when the soldier is
ready to rejoin battle, he is escorted
back to his unit by members of his
troop.
"In the Yom Kippur War," Gal
explains, "most of the men suffering
psychiatric breakdowns were sent to
a hospital in the far rear. They never
managed to recover and go back to
the unit. From the hell of the
battlefront, a ten-minute trip to
safety in a city-hospital. The shift was
tremendous . ." In treating combat
shock, the Israelis found "proximity,
immediacy, and the use of the unit as
a curative vehicle" to be more effec-
tive.
The success of this technique is
due, in large part, to the excellent
morale of Israeli troops. Gal speaks of
the "bonding" that takes place be-
tween a rehabilitated soldier and his
colleagues as they head back to the
front.
The faith 'that Israeli soldiers
have in their commanders is another
binding force. It can, Gal points out,
lead to strange situations. For exam-
ple, he says, a reservist might be tak-
ing part in a demonstration against
the war in Lebanon and Begin's
policies on a Monday night, but on
Tuesday morning he reports "to go to
work at the gates of Beirut." If a
soldier's confidence in his comman-
der is great enough, he can "follow
orders and not be bothered by larger
questions of legitimacy."
The same, Gal continues, is not
true for Israeli commanders, who are
more aware of the variables in a
battle situation. Their excellent per-
formance, historically, Gal feels, is
due to Israel's unique system of offi-
cer selection and training. In a paper
titled, "The IDF Officer: Linchpin in
Unit Cohesion," Gal describes that
system and contrasts it to military
leadership programs elsewhere.
"The Israeli officer selection and
training system," Gal wrote, "stres-
ses basic soldiering over technical
mastery (the U.S. tradition)." Service
for everyone begins with a three-year
conscription, the first five months of
which are spent in vigorous basic
training, where a man "lives as what
he is, a combat soldier assigned to a
combat unit engaged in or preparing
for war."
This unit becomes the
touchstone of a soldier's career, even
if he should remain in the military
for the maximum span, about 20
years. At various times the officer-
in-training leaves the unit for school-
EN
ROES
EED
HELP
Reuven Gal, former chief
psychologist for the Israeli army,
feels ,there pie fundamental
differences between his country's
soldiers and those of the U.S. For
one thing, Israeli soldiers expect
their bfficers to be heroes . .
BY MIMSI KROMER MILTON
Special to The Jewish News