THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, July 6, 1984 31
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ing which directly relates to his com-
bat command role, but always he re-
turns to it. "Officers are often called
by their first names, or rather by
their nicknames. An IDF commander
lives with his men, wears, the same
clothes and eats the same food .. .
The dictum of 'lead from the front' is
driven home to each officer."
In addition, the IDF has a small
number of officers relative to total
troop strength, so the leaders know
one another well They also have to
pass fewer than helfthe promotional
stages undergone 1331'a U.S. military
careerist, which renioves enormous
pressures and allows an emphasis on
the "human values of military lead-
ership."
The overall effect of this train-
ing, Gal concludes, "is to generate
very high expectations on the part of
(an officer's) subordinates about the
manner in which they expect him to
behave under fire. Israeli soldiers
expect their officers to be truly heroic
. . . to be the best soldier among
them." Rather than heightening
stress, Gal has found that such re-
sponsibility is often a coping tool for
those in charge.
Proof that the system works is
provided by bittersweet statistics.
Gal's research has affirmed that
"IDF officers have died at a rate four
times their numbers and have won
Medals of Honor at a rate ten times
greater. That such behavior contrib-
utes to unit cohesion and battle effec
tiveness is beyond question." The
IDF gave out only 283 of these med-
als after the Yom Kippur War, Gal is
quick to point out, emphasizing that
they reflect true heroism. His refer-
ence to a recent Washington Post ar-
ticle stating that 8,000 medals were
awarded by the U.S. after the
Granada' effort (even though only
7,000 men took part), underscores
Gal's claim about the effectiveness of
Israeli training.
Gal has also pinpointed other
areas which affect the workingt of a
military machine. By interviewing
all the medalists from the Yom Kip-
pur War and examining their re-
cords, he hoped to define personality
characteristics which would distin-
guish the hero from his peers. In-
stead, Gal learned that heroism is the
result of interaction between person-
ality and situational factors.
The hero, he feels, appraises
situations differently than most
people, seeing a challenge where
others would be fearful. Gal refers to
one of his hobbies in explaining the
difference. To him, rock climbing is a
, challenge where tension is a positive
factor. Emotion, even excitement,
are part of the experience, but fear is
not in control . One result of -his re-
search is Gal's idea that men facing
combat can train themselves to ap-
praise the rigors they face in positive
terms.
Another area Gal scrutinized is-
the field of stress innoculation tech-
niques. More simply put, that means!
how to get through the high-anxiety
period preceding a dangerous mis-
sion.- At one time, Gal explained, Is
,
-
raeli soldiers were given three hours
to relax before going on a mission.
Realistically, it's impossible to rest
under those conditions, so activity
was suggested to take minds off the
impending threat.
Gal compared the benefits of
straight motor activity (i.e., sports),
to cognitive activity, and found the
latter more helpful. For example, Is-
raeli paratroopers, in the lull be-
tween training jumps, are highly
. stressed. During that time, small dis-
cussion groups talk about dangerous
situations, but in a channeled and
reassuring way — focusing on suc-
cessful, completed jumps or a favora-
ble law of averages. Once again, peer
encouragement is a vital tool.
Recognizing morale as the single
most important element in military
effectiveness; Gal established
psychological surveys to measure it.
A short questionnaire (20-30 items),
determines such things as a soldier's
confidence in his commander and his
weapons or the level • of troop mile-
' sion. Results from an entire unit (and
none is exempt), are fed back to the
commanders, not to rear headquar-
ters. The "emphasis is on finding
Ways of improvement," stresses Gal.
These techniques work for the
IDF, it's obvious. Would they do as
well for other armies? With the head
of the Vietnam Veterans Outreach
Program in Washington, D.C. claim-
ing that 50,000 men treated at VA
centers since that war's end have had
post-traumatic stress disorder, one
wonders if the situation would be bet-
ter had the U.S. adopted. Israeli
methods.
The IDF officer training method,
Gal wrote, ". . . has no particular cul-
tural roots; it should work anywhere,
or at least elements of it should." But
Gal is speaking of "culture" in the
sense of "class."- Israel's military
leaders come from all classes, but
that leaves aside the greater "cul-
tural" issues of how society feels
about its troops and their missions.
The differences between Israeli
and Western military organizations,
Gal says with conviction,' are "tre-
mendous." The IDF is "twice or ten
times more demanding because 'reg-
ular' service (as opposed to- compul-
sory) is not playing games. Every
now and then you find yourself in a
real war. It means a constant risk to
life."
There is a great toll on faniilies,
as well. They cannot be housed on
military posts. Field unit personnel s
typically work 16 hours a -day, six
days a week, with one day off for a
family reunion. If there's an alert,
even' that short weekend is canceled.
What motivates a man to assume
such risks and hardships? One very
clear answer is that Israeli soldiers in
past wars were literally defending
their lomes. In Lebanon,-it was the
same case as long as the target re-
mained PLO entrenchments that
endangered residents of the Upper
Galilee.'But as the fighting got
farther from Israel's borders and
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