Since there are no official metrics being recorded on the matter ( at least to my knowledge ), and so all information anyone has to share on the topic is tachles mere heresay – I’ll throw in my 2 cents as well, as someone who was in a Haredi battalion (gdud 97), as a combat soldier, and as someone who has seen at least 15 individuals go completely OTD while in the IDF in a Haredi battalion (only counting those whom I can mention by name, and discuss their specific journey in some level of detail – NOT including all the other dozens who I’ve seen go OTD without being directly involved in their story in any way shape or form).
The issue with Yiddishkeit in the IDF, even in the Haredi battalions, is a bit complex, and I don’t have the time to sit through an entire explanation of my own observations atm – do let me know if you’re interested in the rest of my take – but the gist of it… In the army, the first stage is always to break down the person in order to rebuild him the way the army wants him to be – with complete submission and loyalty to their system. Every single minute of the day is planned out. Important to mention as well, is that it is not common enough to have an actually religious commander over you, and even in the Haredi battalions, at best you can hope to get a commander that is either OTD himself – but technically Haredi because “he’s been there” – or a Mizrachi, which has its own issues (they have no problem being lax in many mitzvos as a way of life, something which someone from a Haredi backgorund will falter in). So for 4 entire months of Tironut/basic training, excluding a very brief Shabbos break every few weeks where all the soldier wants is to sleep and eat well before going back immediately after – every. single. minute. is planned out. A combat lesson here, a physical test there, run here, run there, eat for this amount of time, bentch for this amount of time, daven for this very limited amount of time. If you’re ever late by a single SECOND anywhere (quite literally – you have to start a stopwatch and match to the second of the commanders), you get punished, and any punishment is severe enough that you avoid it like a disease. 5 minutes to snack on this little cake that’s supposed to be shared among 20 soldiers, etc. etc. etc…at night you have your only “free hour” to do whatever you want, within the limits of the base…so you call mommy, and the stronger soldiers will at the beginning attempt to learn something while falling asleep, while everyone else will play a video game or shower or whatnot, because they have no strength WHATSOEVER to sit and learn after such an intensive day, and after waking up at whatever unGodly hour…
And then some days you have to wake up at 4 am — what about davening? you have to demand from the commander to give you davening time, because he might forget, that you’re not allowed to do anything until you daven once the sun comes up…but you’re int he middle of an exercise??? Not simple! And the soldiers don’t really have strength to daven anyways – it’ sjust an excuse to “relax a bit” because they’re so worn out….see where the problems start?
The Haredi battalions CLAIM to provide a learning hour once a day – but that’s nonsense…it doesn’t always happen, and most soldiers abuse it to put their heads down and sleep. Once or twice a week some rabbis come and give chizuk shiyurim….but do I need to expand on the efficacy (or lack thereof) of this, in the grander scheme of things?
So only 4 months this goes on? Nope! Now that the soldiers are worn dry of ruchniyus, they have 4 more months of advanced training! Certainly NOW they’ll start taking Yiddishkeit seriously again, right? Think again… Months of field work, having to fight for your rights as a Haredi, not many survive this long….Then another few months of getting adjusted to real-life combat duties, and you finally have SOME freedom to practice Yiddishkeit with some form of freedom – taking advantage of long hours of nothing in between activities. But even then, you will often have to wake up before dawn, or only come back to base at that time –you’re already half asleep, will you now daven with kavana? Learn something? Not a chance, after all these months of being starved spiritually…
What could be the solution? If the ARMY has a ruchniyusdig underlying spirit, and the commanders take it seriously, and they provide ample time for grouped shiyurim, a rabbi on base in the same capacity as the base psychologist – always available to guide any soldier needing spiritual assistance and to answer questions on demand – negelvasser that’s expected of every soldier in the morning in the same manner as being in uniform for morning call, some sort of system-backed agenda etc. etc…then it could EASILY work. But the army does not care about this! It’s all an EXCUSE to get Haredim to join and leave the yeshivos – it’s 100% a scam. There are very earnest rabbis out there who truly care to help Haredim be the best they can be, since if they’re already going to join, at least give them a proper system, and they help many bochurim become more frum as a result of the army – but they have to fight by their teeth against the army system in order to make it work, and yasher koach to them. But the army itself is not in and of itself a place for a yeshiva bochur, no way no how…