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No. of troops discharged due to mental incompatibility drops

Military says 2008 data indicates number of soldiers granted early release from service due to Profile 21 classification lowest in decade

The number of soldiers who were discharged in 2008 from military service due to mental incompatibility – Profile 21 – was the lowest recorded in the past 10 years, Ynet learned Sunday.

 

Profile 21 is a code used by the military to classify soldiers or potential recruits, who are deemed unable to serve due to mental disabilities or disorders.

 

The change, however, does not seem to stem from the soldiers motivation to serve, but rather from a change in the Israel Defense Forces' policy.

 

Recent IDF data indicates that while the number of soldiers who sought mental help from military psychologists has not decreased, many of them have been able to find a treatment plan to help them finish their service.

 

The number of soldiers applying for a Profile 21 discharge has long been a cause for concern in the IDF. The military's data indicates that those prone to develop mental problems are soldiers in their first year of service, but the army is also acutely aware of the fact that some try to use the section to dodge the service altogether.

 

Since the early 1990s, the number of troops discharged or exempt from service due to a Profile 21 classification has been steadily rising, peaking in 2005.

 

Colonel Gadi Lubin, chief mental health officer in the Medical Corps, was tasked with changing the trend. He formed a plan which included increasing the number of psychologists and psychiatrists stationed on military bases and introduced several changes to the profile setting guidelines; reclassifying certain disabilities, which use to mean automatic discharge, to allow soldiers to receive the proper, supervised treatment within the military and finish their service.

 

Lubin also introduced a new profile – Profile 25 – which is the mental classification for soldiers who volunteere for military service despite having a preexisting mental condition.

 

"Profile 21 has a very negative connotation in Israeli society," said a senior military source. "These soldiers volunteer for service despite being exempt. They deserve a different classification."

 

The slew of Profile 21-based discharges came to somewhat of a halt in 2006, with 2007 noting the first actual drop in discharge numbers; and the numbers presented in 2008 show the sharpest decline yet.

 

The program's success, said a military source, is evident not only in the lesser number of soldiers being discharged on basis of metal incompatibility, but in the fact that soldiers who were discharged due to a Profile 21 have expressed an interest in serving in the military again as reservists.

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.08.09, 15:21
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