Comparative analysis of war veterans’ adaptation programs to civilian life in Ukraine, Great Britain and the USA

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Comparative analysis of war veterans' adaptation programs to civilian life in Ukraine, Great Britain and the USA

Tetiana Shapovalova

PhD in Economics, Associate Professor

Lviv Polytechnic National University

Abstract

The relevance of the study is due to the full-scale invasion of Russia into Ukraine with the use of brutal and aggressive actions, which entail consequences in the form of a large psychological impact on the health of the population, especially the military. The purpose of the article is to determine the most favourable programs for adapting the military to civilian life, which can be distinguished using a comparative analysis of the experience of different countries. During the research, a number of such methods were used, such as the theoretical method, the method of comparative analysis, the functional method, the method of logical analysis, the method of deduction, and others. It was determined that it is important to apply the experience of Great Britain and the United States during the development of adaptation programs, since a feature of the policy of these countries is the use of the labour potential of servicemen released into the reserve, which is characterized by high efficiency. The main directions during the implementation of adaptation programs in the analysed countries are cultural and socially significant events, providing veterans with preferential medical care, assistance in training according to their own unique programs, in employment, as well as providing assistance to the families of military personnel. An analysis of Ukraine's experience was carried out, in accordance with which the contents of such programs of military adaptation to civilian life as “NATO-Ukraine” and “Ukraine-Norway”. It was determined that they are characterized by high efficiency, which is due to significant results and the implementation of programs in difficult conditions, which pose complex tasks

Keywords: combatants; medical and psychological rehabilitation; post-traumatic stress disorder; mental health; prevention system; international experience combatants medical psychological rehabilitation

Порівняльний аналіз програм адаптації ветеранів війни до цивільного життя в Україні, Великій Британії та США

Анотація. Актуальність дослідження зумовлено повномасштабним вторгненням Росії в Україну із застосуванням брутальних та агресивних дій, що тягне за собою наслідки у вигляді великого психологічного впливу на здоров'я населення, особливо військовослужбовців. Метаю статті - визначити найбільш сприятливі програми адаптації військовослужбовців до цивільного життя, які можна виділити за допомогою порівняльного аналізу досвіду різних країн. Під час дослідження було використано низку методів, як-от: теоретичний метод, метод порівняльного аналізу, функціональний метод, метод логічного аналізу, метод дедукції та інші. Визначено, що під час розробки адаптаційних програм важливо застосовувати досвід Великої Британії та США, оскільки особливістю політики цих країн є використання трудового потенціалу військовослужбовців, звільнених у запас, який характеризується високою ефективністю. Основні напрями під час реалізації програм адаптації в аналізованих країнах - культурні та соціально важливі заходи, надання ветеранам пільгового медичного обслуговування, допомога в навчанні за власними унікальними програмами, у працевлаштуванні, а також надання допомоги сім'ям військовослужбовців. Проведено аналіз досвіду України, відповідно до якого визначено зміст програм адаптації військовослужбовців до цивільного життя «НАТО-Україна» та «Україна- Норвегія». Визначено, що вони відзначаються високою ефективністю, що зумовлено суттєвими результатами та реалізацією програм у важких умовах, що ставлять перед собою складні завдання

Ключові слова: учасники бойових дій; медико-психологічна реабілітація; посттравматичний стресовий розлад; психічне здоров'я; система профілактики; міжнародний досвід

Introduction

Eight years of experience and modern challenges created by the full-scale war of 2022 convince that the success of social adaptation of war veterans depends on a complex of social, economic and psychological rehabilitation measures. After all, the success of adapting the socio-economic plan depends on a significant list of prerequisites of a medical, economic and psychological nature. If the task of medical rehabilitation is to restore the lost functions and properties of the human body, then socio-psychological rehabilitation aims to overcome or reduce the impact of psychological problems for the normal existence of an individual in society and prevent its degradation. However, one of the prerequisites for the successful adaptation of the studied population category should be the growth of the country's economy, which would allow for an increase in funding for social protection of this category. Unfortunately, the existing system of rehabilitation of war veterans in Ukraine is not comprehensive and does not meet the standards of advanced countries in the world in working with military personnel. Examples of unsuccessful adaptation to the conditions of peaceful life of many servicemen also prove the relevance of this problem (Buryak, 2014).

The relevance of the implementation of psychological rehabilitation in the complex manifestation of military personnel, released to the reserve, as well as their relatives is due to a sharp change in their living conditions and the lack of prior psychological preparation for the corresponding changes in life. It is worth noting that since the majority of servicemen are released into the reserve at a working age, the issue of adaptation to new living conditions in a peaceful society of discharged servicemen and their families, as well as the rehabilitation of their mental health, which will provide an opportunity to bring benefit to society and the family (Kokun, 2014). For people who have devoted their entire conscious life to military service, the issue of their social adaptation remains paramount. They usually take a long time to adapt to civilian life. The following circumstances complicate this situation: a radical change in all aspects of one's life; urgent need for career guidance after leaving the service; the employer gives an indisputable preference to younger employees; inconsistency of the level of military education with the requirements of the market and employers (Buryak, 2015).

Thus, it is important to retrain servicemen released to the reserve for new professions, to help them overcome a certain psychological barrier in choosing a new profession that has a stable demand on the labour market, to help them develop personal qualities for further employment or mastering skills, and skills to create your own business (Shapovalova, 2014; Zlyvkov, 2017).

The novelty of the problem and its growing relevance forces to look for non-standard solutions, to review existing approaches and methods. In order to create an effective system of socio-economic and psychological adaptation of servicemen, their families and the families of the deceased, it is necessary to build an effective system of adaptation of servicemen to civilian life and, first of all, to make a thorough analysis of the current situation, existing experience, and only on this basis to improve and develop new forms of social work with servicemen released from military service. Additionally, there are fewer incentives to serve in the military and a fall in the prestige of serving, which has a negative impact on the social adaptation system.

The purpose of the research is to determine the most favourable programs for adapting the military to civilian life, which can be distinguished using a comparative analysis of the experience of different countries.

Literature review

The social, economic and military-political processes taking place in Ukraine in recent years have actualized the issue of adapting the social orientation of military personnel, released into reserve and their relatives. The importance of research in this area is due to the difficulty of adapting discharged servicemen to civilian life, the transformation of their social and legal status, the change in the external environment, the loss, as a result of military service, of a professional speciality for work in civilian professions, as well as the low level of personal income and material well-being of families. In the period between World War, I and II, scientists held the opinion that only persons whose psyche is weak and unstable are prone to psych traumatization, and mental trauma itself was ridiculed and considered synonymous with cowardice. However, such views were refuted during the World War II, because despite the use of psychological selection measures for military service, which were used in different countries, psychological losses only continued to grow (Zlyvkov, 2017). Researchers of military social work H.-G. Hofer et al. (2011) point out that nervous disorders are a natural result of the impact of significant mental stress on people, that is, it is a reaction of a mentally healthy person to death, and a mental disorder is a means of avoiding these horrors. Similar opinion and researchers M.J. Horowitz and G.F. Solomon (1975), for example, they studied the emergence of neurosis on the battlefield is caused by excessive demands on the personality of a military person, which are much greater than his own psychological resource.

At the same time, Israeli scientists have a different opinion. Through their own empirical research, they provide convincing evidence that there is a correlation between the lack of combat experience, the presence of previously received trauma of a mental nature and the possibility of developing a mental disorder in the course of hostilities. Studying the war in Lebanon (1982), they came to the conclusion that psycho-traumatization depends on the level of intensity of hostilities. It is important that, according to a study by Israeli specialists, psycho-traumatic disorders often occur not during active combat or after it, but under conditions of waiting for a long-term enemy attack without the active use of weapons (Shevchuk & Mentukh, 2017). In the period of the hybrid war with Russia, when, despite the Minsk agreements, Ukrainian servicemen have to constantly expect and repel attacks by Russian troops, such information is extremely important for this study. The “denial-denial” theory was frequently used in the process of developing the psychological support system for military personnel in different armies across the globe. For example, Great Britain during the First World War sent wounded servicemen as far away from the front line as possible. However, the French command abandoned this practice, the French military began to receive psychological help near the combat zone, which immediately increased the percentage of people who returned to the army, unlike the British military, who, after evacuation, usually remained in peaceful territories. Subsequently, such experience was applied by the American command, which proved that a few days of rest in the rear would allow restoring mental balance (Zlyvkov, 2017).

In general, analysing scientific sources, it can be stated that science in Ukraine has not yet sufficiently studied the psychological aspects of the process of rehabilitation of participants in local wars. Confirmation of this opinion is the absence of state scientific programs dedicated to researching the problems of combatants. Considering the fact that the majority of military personnel are unable to return to the system to the norms of civilian life and peacetime, there is a need for a special, fixed period of organized psychological return of participants in military conflicts to peaceful life. That is, in the process of social and psychological rehabilitation. Therefore, in the opinion of I.B. Kovalova and V.I. Mozgoviy (2016), in order to solve the tasks of rehabilitation of a psychological orientation, the creation of a single Centre for the rehabilitation and adaptation of combatants, whose functions would be interdepartmental and interdisciplinary in nature, namely scientific, practical, informational, expert, diagnostic, and educational-methodological, is relevant. In general, it can be noted that a significant number of works devoted to the social adaptation problems of servicemen released to the reserve are represented in the scientific literature. This problem was the subject of attention of many special conferences and scientific-methodological seminars held in Ukraine in recent years, as a result of which collections of articles were published, which proves the relevance and multifacetedness of this problem both in Ukraine and abroad. Nevertheless, a thorough approach to resolving the issue of military personnel's difficulty adjusting to civilian life is absent from scientific sources, which only cover a portion of the issue.

Materials and methods

The operation of the United Forces (anti-terrorist operation) passed through large masses of young people, and after demobilization returned them to society, making certain corrections in their minds related to the militarization of consciousness, which had an impact on the development of society in general. The change of consciousness occurred directly not only in the participant of hostilities, but also in his close environment - family, friends, acquaintances, who quite often did not know how to behave and react. A distracting factor for the military is the instability of family relationships, which usually only worsens during service, and the lack of an action plan to implement family support results from a soldier's forced discharge. However, it should be noted that the most serious problematic aspect is the return of a military man from service. This is due to the fact that when the soldier returns, he takes over some of the household chores, his spouse often feels that her/his efforts are not appreciated. It is worth noting that the responsibility for the rehabilitation of the psyche of the military and their adaptation lies with the army, the family of soldiers and society, which must unite to provide real and effective support in current and future military operations (Semigina et al., 2017).

Russia's military aggression in Ukraine exacerbates the issue of building a modernized army, its effective leadership, raising the prestige of the military profession, and overcoming the consequences of hostilities on a serviceman and his family members. Taking into account the specifics of military training, a certain stereotype of thinking and behaviour formed in him during military service, their social adaptation is significantly worsened. Significant difficulties are associated with the retraining and further employment of servicemen released into the reserve. In Ukraine, there is only one budget program CPCEC (code for program classification of expenditures and crediting) 1501040 “Measures for psychological rehabilitation, social and professional adaptation, provision of sanatorium-resort treatment for injured participants of the Revolution of Dignity, participants in the anti-terrorist operation and persons who carried out measures to ensure national security and defence, repulse and deter armed aggression of the Russia in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions”, the implementation of which is entrusted to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs of Ukraine. The implementation of this program has a number of shortcomings and is ineffective, the mechanisms are blurred and create the basis for corruption schemes. Taking this into account, there is a need to analyse the international experience of social adaptation of military personnel in order to identify the functions, goals and tasks of state institutions and the public sector and create relevant programs in Ukraine.

The author decided to examine the social adaptation mechanisms of the United States and Great Britain - two nations that make the best use of the labour potential of military personnel released into reserve - in order to analyse the experience of military personnel adjusting to civilian life. In the United States of America, there are many legal norms that regulate the social adaptation and social protection of servicemen released to the reserve or retired. Adaptation of military personnel and their social protection is carried out through the activities of the USA Department of Defence, the USA Army and the USA Department of Veterans Affairs. Work with military personnel begins with psychosocial support during their military service and includes the following stages. The sectors of protecting mental health are established on the basis of departments of mental for the purpose of primary, secondary and tertiary care for the control of combat stress. This sector consists of a psychiatrist, psychologists and military social workers. Its tasks are: provision of clinical services; consulting on issues of mental health of commanders and surgeons of the division; cooperation with military chaplains and medical personnel who are sent abroad; mentoring and familiarization of medical personnel with modern practices of diagnosis and treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, combat mental trauma and the need for the use of psychotropic drugs; assessment and diagnosis of the risk of possible suicides among military personnel. For this purpose, the “Battlemind” program was implemented, which aims to increase the adaptability of military personnel to stressful situations. Also, the program is aimed at military spouses and commanders and relies on mutual support of military personnel and their strengths (Semigina et al., 2017).

An important role is assigned to military chaplains, who conduct religious services, conduct religious ceremonies, advise commanders on religious and everyday issues, conduct training and education of personnel, strengthen the combat condition and moral and psychological training of the military, and carry out patriotic education. The work of a chaplain is so important to the USA Army that every soldier receives a pocket Bible after being sworn in, and a “chaplain's hour” is held every week during military service. In addition, servicemen can communicate with the chaplain in the “seclusion house” and “chaplain's corner” (Voro- na, 2018). American researchers also note the importance of chaplains and religion in the army. According to their data, the success rate of adaptation to civilian life of servicemen who regularly attend church is 67%, compared to 43% for less religious servicemen. Before the deployment of combat operations, specially created units for the control of combat stress conduct an assessment of the mental health of military personnel and determine which resources can be used to protect, preserve and restore mental health in the conditions of a military operation (Semigina et al., 2017). The important directions of the policy of adaptation to civilian life are:

• pension provision and life and health insurance of military personnel;

• the possibility of obtaining higher education, advanced training and retraining courses;

• care for the health of war veterans and preferential medical care;

• social support for families of military personnel;

• assistance in employment and building a career in a civilian profession (EUROMIL..., 2010).

Each American military member has the opportunity to participate in the state pension savings program and build his own investment plan aimed at increasing the size of the pension after leaving the service. It is assumed that the military can independently mark the percentage of the salary that is transferred to the pension savings account. In this way, the pension system is built on the principle that the more a soldier transfers funds during his service, the larger his pension will be after it ends. The advantage of this program is the absence of taxation on accumulative pension accounts (Gorbenko, 2014). No less interesting is the system of life and health insurance for military personnel in the USA, which is not always state and mandatory. The state provides life insurance for a serviceman in the amount of $250000 when he serves in a hot spot. However, there is an opportunity to refuse such insurance and additionally receive a salary supplement in the amount of $10. There is an opportunity for servicemen under the age of 35 to increase insurance coverage up to one million US dollars. The serviceman can insure his life, while the monthly insurance contribution is transferred from the salary of the serviceman to the account of the insurance company. With a monthly insurance premium of $4, the insurance amount reaches $50000.

For the health insurance of military personnel, the USA Congress adopted the “CHAMPUS” program. This program helps veterans of the armed forces, their family members and family members of military personnel partially pay for medical services. The “CHAMPUS” program covers part of the costs of medical services only in civilian medical institutions that have a contract with the Department of Defence (Zhidchenko, 2016). The state allocates significant funding for the education of military personnel during service and after discharge from it. The tuition assistance program is very popular among military personnel. The program provider, the Department of Veterans Affairs, covers the main costs, and the military fee is only $100. Its significant advantage is the constant updating of specialities that can be studied. At the same time, the list of specialities is formed by the Ministry of Defence and educational institutions that conduct retraining focused on the needs of the labour market of a particular state and the country as a whole. Those servicemen who are engaged in conducting scientific research, creating innovative technical and humanitarian developments for the defence department receive separate funding. Children and women of military personnel are also not left without the attention of the state, they have the right to receive free education or its partial payment (Husak, 2008).

It can be also noted the American system of prevention and combating depression, post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of military service. For this, modern technologies are introduced, namely: online consultation with specialists through the Skype program, a 24-hour hotline, specialized Internet sites, forums, blogs, and social networks. It is not possible to hear often conversations about fear from the American military, usually they talk about regret, shame and guilt, because they are under pressure from the fear of appearing “weak”. Thus, they can no longer fully trust friends and family. In their opinion, the only ones who understand them are other military personnel who were also “there”. Therefore, the use of the “Friend-to-friend” system is effective in the USA. After special training, volunteers (friends) help other war veterans. They can persuade a veteran to consult a psychologist or visit psychotherapeutic selfhelp groups of veterans based on the principle of “Alcoholics Anonymous”, consult on legal and financial issues, help with receiving benefits, professional retraining (Zhilenko, 2017).

Employment assistance is one of the most important elements of the social adaptation of servicemen in the United States. In the late 1980s, the Department of Defence, the USA Department of Veterans Affairs, and numerous military organizations that provide employment assistance to veterans created the Reservist Employment Service. The employment service has created a program “combination” of military and civilian specialities. Thanks to cooperation with corporations, companies and labour recruitment bureaus, everyone can get information in which area and in which sector specialists of his profile are needed. There are also programs that are focused on employment for spouses of servicemen (Gorbenko, 2014). When studying the experience, place and role of the USA non-governmental sector in the social adaptation of war veterans, it is necessary to note their significant number and the number of members of the organizations themselves, as well as the tasks they perform. One of the largest such organizations is the organization “Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan”. The organization unites more than 300 thousand veterans and positions itself as the largest in the USA. The key areas of its activity are:

• providing veterans with preferential medical care;

• assistance in learning according to one's own unique programs;

• assistance in employment - established contacts with small and medium-sized business companies facilitate rapid employment after the end of military service;

• assistance to families of military personnel: assistance in finding employment for spouses of military personnel, organization of leisure activities for children, psychological support for families of war veterans;

• the organization “Veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan” annually holds more than a hundred cultural and socially significant events for military personnel: job fairs, trainings, seminars, round tables, conferences, donations for veterans in need of immediate treatment, etc.

“American Legion” is an organization founded by veterans of the World War I in 1919. Today, the number of members of the organization exceeds two million people. The Legion implements more than 100 different social programs, which can be divided into two types:

1. Programs aimed at veterans of military service: assistance in retraining for civilian professions; employment; insurance; assistance in obtaining free medicines; investment and financial literacy program.

2. Programs aimed at family members of military personnel: organization and conduct of sports events; payment of scholarships to children of retired military personnel who have significant achievements in sports or academic success; guardianship of families that have lost a breadwinner (EUROMIL..., 2010).

Experience of social adaptation of servicemen of Great Britain. First of all, it can be noted that the Ministry of Defence of Great Britain conducts significant work with future military personnel during their military service. Since, an important direction of the Ministry's work is the formation of the morale of servicemen, the education of patriotism, a sense of pride for the country and its armed forces, and the development of qualities necessary for defending the interests of the state. The assigned tasks are carried out by means of civic education, thanks to which it is conveyed to the consciousness of military personnel that the command, the leadership of the state and all citizens respect his profession and value it highly. The responsibility for such educational work is assigned to the pedagogical apparatus consisting of military chaplains and the education service, which organizes leisure time and arranges the life of military personnel. Also, during such pedagogical work, servicemen receive information about their privileges and benefits after leaving the ranks of the army (Buhun, 2015). The very system of social protection of military personnel in Great Britain is one of the best in the world. In 2011, the government approved a new program “The Armed Forces Covenant”, which highlights the basic rights and obligations of military personnel. The program specifies deadlines for service conditions, regulation of education, housing, health care, financial support, exemption from taxes (Avtushenko, 2014).

The British government allocates significant funds to support servicemen in order to popularize service in the Armed Forces. Financial support depends on years of service and military knowledge and has several components: salary, allowances for the officer's personal qualities and the specifics of military service and type of troops. These can be allowances for serving in Northern Ireland, for being at sea or in overseas territories, benefits for paying communal services, extra payment for knowledge of foreign languages (Shkuropat- skyi, 2016). The pension provision of military personnel also depends on years of service (minimum from 16-22 years and above) and is determined by a fixed monetary amount. Additional pension allowances are provided for persons injured or disabled during military service. One of the priorities of the Ministry of Defence is providing servicemen with housing. Considering the fact that during service in the army, most soldiers are not provided with their own housing, so they have to live in barracks. Military servicemen who have a family are provided with official housing from the housing fund, which can be purchased by them later on preferential terms. It is assumed that a soldier can take out a home as a mortgage, and the country helps to pay 30% of the loan. If in the USA, the Ministry of Defence deals with the professional retraining of servicemen released into the reserve, then in Great Britain, the retraining of servicemen is carried out by the State System of Personnel Retraining created by the Ministry of Education. Features of Great Britain's practice in the retraining of servicemen released to the reserve are:

1. Retraining programs are carried out at the expense of the state, and not at the expense of employers, the military, public organizations or grant programs.

2. Providing the opportunity for retraining after 5 years of military service, it is mandatory for privates and voluntary for officers.

3. Two to two and a half years before a military serviceman is discharged from service and one year after discharge from military service, the Ministry of Defence provides free assistance in matters of retraining and employment.

4. The possibility of obtaining grant aid of Ј534 to pay for retraining courses not developed by the Ministry of Defence.

5. Every year, 25 thousand servicemen are subject to release into the reserve, half of whom are given full support in retraining and employment, partial support is given to absolutely all released servicemen.

6. During the retraining of servicemen, the Ministry of Defence reimburses travel and accommodation expenses. The duration of retraining depends on years of service and ranges from four weeks after five years of service to seven weeks after sixteen years of military service.

7. Weekly publication of new vacancies and courses for discharged military personnel, publication of an annual guide to the topics of retraining courses, a directory of employment and regional opportunities for discharged military personnel; the possibility of obtaining a few days' leave to get acquainted with the working conditions (Husak, 2008).

The results of employment assistance programs are quite successful: half find work immediately; 75% within three months after dismissal; 7 - undergoing training; 18 -- do not find a job, but after a year only 7% of those who did not find a job. Also, all contract soldiers can receive higher education with the help of the Ministry of Defence. A few months before the end of military service, they are offered help in finding a job or training. At the same time, the Ministry of Defence conducts negotiations with companies that are guaranteed to be able to hire a former soldier or pay him a salary during his studies at the university, as a future employee (Husak, 2008). An important role in practical assistance to veterans belongs to public organizations financed by the government and charitable foundations. For example, the active organization Royal British Legion. The organization was created by veterans of the First World War in 1921 in order to solve the material problems of military personnel. Such a program of the organization as “Civilian Street” helps to find employment for servicemen who have been discharged from the reserve and those who will be released from military service in the near future. In addition to war veterans, widows, widowers and family members can participate in the program. One of the ways to solve employment problems is the self-employment of servicemen, so the Legion offers help in creating a business: mentoring, business planning trainings, help with finding sources of funding for a business plan.

Another important element of the institution for the protection of military rights, which operates in most European countries, is military trade unions. Although the current legislation in Great Britain prohibits the establishment of military trade unions. However, at the end of their service, military personnel can join professional unions of a civilian nature in their professional fields with the aim of creating a connecting link for the transition to civilian activity (Datsyuk, 2007). Having studied the experience of social adaptation of military personnel in the USA and Great Britain, author notes their success and efficiency, which is ensured by the following key positions:

• positive coverage of a person -- a military serviceman in society;

• psychosocial support of military personnel occurs during military service and after its completion;

• military social workers and chaplains play an important role in educating, strengthening morale, and providing psychological assistance;

• excellent material support of military personnel;

• the possibility of obtaining higher education while in military service;

• retraining of a military serviceman begins long before he completes his military service;

• grant assistance in the retraining of military personnel outside the government retraining system;

• the non-governmental sector does not perform the tasks that the state is engaged in;

• the synergy of state institutions and public organizations will optimize the process of retraining and employment of servicemen, as well as employment of spouses of servicemen;

• state and non-governmental institutes already have a developed base of employers for retrained military personnel.

After studying the international experience, it can be stated the fact that despite the problem of implementation of the budget program, which is supposed to finance measures of social-psychological and professional adaptation of veterans, Ukraine has its own experience of implementing international projects. Thus, programs for retraining and social adaptation of military personnel and members of their families are successfully operating in Ukraine, within the framework of the “NATO-Ukraine” and “Ukraine-Norway. Retraining and social adaptation of military personnel and their family members in Ukraine” and “Norway-Ukraine. Professional adaptation. Integration into the state system” (NUPASS).

Since 2000, Ukraine has been home to the “NA- TO-Ukraine” program, which helps military personnel retrain and adjust to civilian life. The program operates in more than sixty cities and towns throughout Ukraine and is implemented by retraining and social adaptation centres in cooperation with city employment centres and public organizations with NATO funds. The organization also provides assistance in the form of expert plan consultations on policy development in this area and the application of best practices of NATO countries. The process of retraining takes place taking into account the needs of the labour market of the region in which the Program is implemented and is conducted on the basis of educational institutions of secondary and higher special education. Usually these are computer and economic fields of study. A significant advantage of the Program is the opportunity for servicemen who are discharged from military service in the current year to undergo retraining at the expense of service time. The duration of retraining depends on the direction, but usually the courses last for five days for 6 hours over two months. Not everyone copes with this intensity of study, so the first week of the courses is a trial, after which it is not possible to refuse to study. The level of employment in the amount of at least 75% after passing the NATO program for the retraining of servicemen during all the years of its existence proves its high efficiency and need among servicemen. In addition, during retraining courses, trainees can establish social ties and, in case of opening their own business, by employing fellow soldiers, contribute to their socio-economic adaptation (Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, 2022).

“Ukraine-Norway. Retraining and social adaptation of military personnel and their family members in Ukraine” project started in 2003 and until 2014 was implemented exclusively on the territory of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea. With the beginning of the aggression of the Russia in 2014, the project in Crimea was closed and moved to the mainland of Ukraine. Financing was provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Norway -- the coordinator is the International Fund for Social Adaptation (IFSA). Thanks to the project, a partner network was created in almost all regions of Ukraine, which includes leading universities and public associations of veterans. During the years of operation of the project, a model was created that provided a high-quality, flexible and responsive system of effective professional and social adaptation of veterans and their family to civil society. In 2020, the project “Ukraine-Norway. Retraining and social adaptation of military personnel and their family members in Ukraine” found its development and continued under the name “Norway-Ukraine. Professional adaptation. Integration into the state system”. The main goal of the NU- PASS project is to integrate the model of professional and social adaptation, developed by the “Ukraine-Norway” project during 2003-2019, into the state system of Ukraine for the effective adaptation of the professional and social nature of veterans and their family members into civil society. The proposed model poses the following tasks:

1. Retraining of military personnel and their family in civilian specialities that are in demand on the labour market in Ukraine, to increase their level of professional competitiveness.

2. Providing project participants with psychological adaptation to increase their level of motivation to actively adapt the social plan in civil society.

3. Ensuring legal adaptation of project participants in order to improve their social protection in the conditions of life in civil society.

4. Provision of employment assistance to project participants in order to improve the living conditions of their families.

5. Providing project participants with assistance in creating their own business in the conditions of unemployment in Ukraine.

6. Promotion of cooperation between educational and business institutions of Ukraine and Norway.

Beneficiaries of the project (i. e. participants) are:

1. Military officers of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and other military formations created to protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine. Professional soldiers who were educated in military schools and who dedicated their lives to military service.

2. Participants of hostilities in the East of Ukraine, called up to the Armed Forces of Ukraine for mobilization, from the reserve or from the reserve under contract.

3. Family members of servicemen and combatants.

4. Family members of those who died for the independence of Ukraine in the war with the Russia in Eastern Ukraine.

All these groups vary in terms of their educational background (higher, secondary, technical, military, civil, technical, humanitarian, etc.), whether or not they have a civilian specialty, their practical work experience, the availability of benefits and their pension rights, and their mental health, which can range from normal to post-traumatic stress disorder in combatants. All this complicates group organization of socio-psychological and professional adaptation of the specified category of persons. The Norwegian project is significantly different from the previously discussed NATO program. The essential difference is that its executors are higher educational institutions of Ukraine and the Norwegian NORD University. Therefore, graduates of the project “Ukraine-Norway. Retraining and social adaptation of military personnel and their family members in Ukraine” and “Norway-Ukraine. Professional adaptation. Integration into the state system” receive three documents at once: a certificate from the Ukrainian educational institution and NORD University, a diploma from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence of Norway, and a certificate of professional retraining of the state standard. That is, the received documents are internationally recognized. Another significant advantage of the Norwegian project is the comprehensiveness of the assistance received by its participants. They have the opportunity to receive services:

• professional retraining for civilian specialities and their competitiveness in the labour market;

• psychological rehabilitation;

• increasing the level of motivation of the participants of a specific group to actively adapt the social plan in the conditions of civil society with a market system of relations, thanks to the organization of specialized measures for the adaptation of the social plan;

• legal adaptation to increase social security in new living conditions;

• assistance in the employment of trainees of professional retraining courses by conducting trainings and informational and advisory meetings;

• assistance in creating entrepreneurship among the military through the creation and functioning of special trainings, the purpose of which is to study aspects of starting one's own business and organizing a business.

No less striking difference in the composition of the group. After all, the Norwegian project has the following differences:

• the possibility of participation of family members of military personnel;

• gender aspect, up to 30% of the group are women;

• participants of the Higher Education Project must have at least a bachelor's degree;

• age restriction, participants must not be more than 50 years old.

The importance of the Project lies in the fact that it is aimed not only at military personnel and their families, but also at the development of cooperation between educational institutions of Ukraine and Norway, the creation of joint research and educational projects. And also, for the development of business relations between enterprises of both countries (International Fund for Social Adaptation, 2022). The effectiveness of the project “Ukraine-Norway. Retraining and social adaptation of military personnel and their family members in Ukraine” was proven by a monitoring mission in 2019 commissioned by the Government of the Kingdom of Norway. The assessment was carried out by the Advisory Group on International Security of the Centre for Democratic Control of Armed Forces. The evaluation covered the following areas: relevance, effectiveness/impact, quality, sustainability and coordination. So, the assessment showed:

1. The relevance of the content of the training courses offered by the partner universities, including the subject training materials, as well as psychosocial and psychological support, and the method of meeting the needs of the participants was highly appreciated by all focus groups and further confirmed by the effectiveness of the project. The project has demonstrated the ability to identify and test innovative approaches, as well as continuously adapt the content of training courses to reflect needs or opportunities.

2. The results achieved by the project remain significant and correspond to or even exceed the achievements that could be expected from a project that works in difficult conditions and has complex tasks in front of it, and also, the project has a significant positive impact on the psychological state of the participants, which is one of his tasks.

3. Quality. The project is executed with high quality and during this time implemented a clear management system to ensure timely and efficient implementation. There are further opportunities to improve the quality of the project through a review of management responsibilities and budget balancing to better reflect the gradual transfer of management responsibilities and its implementation at the national and local levels in Ukraine.

4. Stability. In the absence of Norwegian funding, the sustainability of the project remains a major, critical issue. The main focus of this program was on conducting training events, providing services and increasing the number of participants. To a certain extent, this reflects a reasonable and measured approach in conditions where the attention of the Ukrainian government is concentrated on the conflict, and funds are not allocated for long-term personnel management and organizational development.