Amateurs Rule Again

What could you, a long-standing psychologist in JNA,  tell parents fearing for the life of their recruited son today?

The developments in Vranje and Sabac should not consign to oblivion a similar tragedy which occurred in Cuprija three  or four  years ago, no matter what nationality the  perpetrator  had been.  This can happen to anyone. I believe that  in  all  these cases,  it  is more a question of personality structure than  of nationality. However, all these developments are naturally  causing major concern among the parents. More and more  parents  are now,  for a number of reasons, searching for and finding ways  to have their children exempted from military service. It is  normal that the present situation poses demands which differ from  those set in peacetime. Today, the army does not have the same requirements for drafting conscripts as it once had.

To  put it bluntly, does this mean that  young  men,  who would at other times be unable to pass all the tests, are now declared capable?

Absolutely.  Political developments in the world  and nearby always crucially determine whether more than 95% or  less than 80 % of the overall recruit population will be  called up. The recruitment criteria always depend on such demands in all armies throughout the world. In such a situation, the conscription sieves are definitely not as fine. As far  as  I know, the recruitment medical tests last only one day and if  the recruitment  committees do not have complete documentation  about the  recruits,  from their health to behavior,  they  can  hardly recognize potentially dangerous traits of these young men.

The  system of recruiting in military  health  institutions, which had  been applied  from the  mid-seventies  to  the  mid-eighties, is actually a copy of a good French system. In addition to  medical  examination, the young men had to undergo  psychological tests, which means that we were mostly able to recognize possible psychological disorders. The knowledge we obtained from the tests did not only help us decide whether someone was capable of serving the army, but also what corps he would best serve in and what tasks he would perform the best.

In these turbulent circumstances, one of the problems lies in the fact that an unstable personality can satisfactorily function as long as he does not encounter circumstances in which he can be provoked.  And the army always represents such a  situation,  because  the recruit has left the safety of his family,  girl, studies,  his customary way of life. The army  cannot  exist without  "military  drill", and when an unstable  personality  is confronted with it, there is absolutely no way of knowing whether he will accept it or face a yet greater conflict.

The culmination of the regressive course dates back to early or  mid-1992, when psychological testing of recruits  in  health centers was practically cancelled. Now, on the one hand, you have calls  for  greater recruitment, while on the other, you  do  not have  filters  which  would prevent  persons with  psychological disorders from being drafted.

Doesn't it go without saying that civilian health  centers could not have cancelled psycho-tests of their own accord?

Of course, they had done so with the approval  of  the competent army officials. I believe that was a major mistake and one of the reasons for the developments we are talking about now. This  does  not mean it is possible to absolutely  prevent  such things,  but the risk of such tragedies can be considerably  reduced. I think that filters for joining the army must be finer

precisely at times marked by the need to recruit more young men.

Of  course, I am not saying this was directly the cause of the Vranje and Sabac tragedies. What we know from official statements is that there were oversights of the commanding  officers, ie,  in  control and security and other aspects,  which  had  all together resulted in the tragedies.

What powers does a psychologist have when superior  officers are in question?

The aim of introducing psychologists in the  army  was that they help not only the troops, but their superiors as  well, including the resolution of the officers' numerous personal  problems,  particularly  now, when they are in a state of complete confusion,  their  ideology and survival brought  into  question.

This  is why it is now important to realize that a new state  has been  created and that it is necessary to create a new,  adequate army.  Delaying that task increases the danger of new  tragedies because  there are many more provocative issues than  before - multi-partism, the social, national and all other issues. You can see  for yourself that grown men are mixing up  their political affinities with their professions and young men are called up  to serve  in an army which has, essentially, not rid itself of its former aureole. They are not sure which uniform they are donning: the old Yugoslav, the communist, the Serbian, ie, national -  and they  simply do not know at whose disposal they are. On the other hand,  it is natural that superiors are more indoctrinated  than the recruits, which means that psychologists must work more  with officers and restore what we had once qualified as "each officer - a small psychologist". This is impossible without  strengthening the  army's psychological corps, a corps which would act professionally  and independently from others in reducing incidents  in the army.

It turns out that it would be more natural if  the recruits targetted their superiors than their fellow recruits?

I think you are wrong: the chief tension does not arise between the troops and their superiors. Recruits are young people and after a period of adaptation, they accept subordination to officers for a number of reasons.

I  think that most conflicts now break out between  the young, who group themselves in the army under various criteria: starting from the division into city and country boys, those with more or less money, more or less education, to  national  and political affinities. If their superiors are above such divisions, then they can be "small psychologists" and protect the recruits from incidents such as the ones in Vranje and Sabac.