The Army Manpower Division reported that more young draftees are volunteering for special units and hazardous duty now than before the Yom Kippur War. According to an army spokesman, this repudiated rumors that since the war, Israeli youth has become disaffected, tries to evade military service and talks of leaving the country.
A survey of two groups of draftees that entered military service since the Yom Kippur War showed a significant rise in volunteers for the paratroops. Air Force, special reconnaissance units and special naval units, the Manpower Division reported. About one-third of all conscripts are volunteering and 44 percent of those with a higher level of education–high school graduates.
Military sources said that since the war the army’s infrastructure has changed with greater emphasis being placed on tank crews. By the end of the year Israel will have twice the number of tank crews than on the eve of the Yom Kippur War, the sources said.
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