You have put your finger on the difference. In a theatre of operations, there is constant follow-up for people. There is a whole structure in place to ensure that they are ready to conduct operations, and they are monitored. In spite of that, there were two suicides on the base, but both were quite particular cases. Basically, the follow-up is continual.
When they go back to their military base, for instance to Valcartier or Petawawa, they resume their normal personal lives. Evenings, weekends and holidays, the follow-up is not as close, even if they are put to work for a month or two, which is one option. This is particularly true for reservists. Rather than just letting them leave, since they have been with the regiment for 18 months, they are kept for a few additional months to see what will happen.
In the regiment that I commanded a year and a half ago, one soldier came back from two tours of duty in Bosnia and three tours of duty in Afghanistan. When he returned he seemed in reasonably good shape. Nine days later, he hung himself. After that everyone tried to figure out why. It is because there was no follow-up.
You talked about isolation. Some men are isolated because they are stressed and at the end of their rope. We need people to carry out operational tasks. The units are small and we have to go and get people elsewhere. The universality of the service does not allow for much leeway. And so they are removed from the structure that is familiar to them. This is being remedied so as to keep them longer within the unit and give them little tasks to do. However, in several other cases things are centralized, and then we lose them. That problem has not been resolved as we speak.