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WEEKLY NEWSLETTER
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Israel
Index
Israel Defense Forces members training in amphibious
operations
Courtesy Embassy of Israel, Washington
Soldier operating antiaircraft gun
Courtesy Israel Defense Forces
Upon induction at the age of eighteen, conscripts were assigned
to one of three types of basic training: generalized, for women and
for men with some physical limitation; corps, for conscripts
assigned to noninfantry units, such as armor or artillery; and
brigade, for all infantry recruits. Generalized basic training,
which was an orientation program including the use of basic
military weapons, lasted one month. Corps training lasted from
three to four months, encompassing infantry-type training and
indoctrination into the recruits' assigned corps. It was followed
by advanced training of a more specialized nature, after which
trainees were assigned to their permanent corps units. Brigade
basic training, the most arduous, lasted from four to five months.
It was conducted at training bases of the individual infantry and
airborne brigades and, upon completion, the company created at the
beginning of basic training remained together as a company in the
brigade.
Basic training was an extremely strenuous indoctrination into
the IDF, involving forced marches, bivouacs, night exercises, and
obstacle courses, focused on operations at the squad and platoon
level. It also stressed strengthening the recruits' knowledge of
the country's origins and traditions, and identification with
national ideals and goals. Visits were made to kibbutzim, moshavim
(sing.,
moshav--see Glossary),
and places venerated in Jewish or
IDF history. Basic training also served as a melting pot, bringing
together different ethnic groups and individuals from a variety of
socioeconomic backgrounds. The IDF played an especially important
role in the education and assimilation of new immigrants.
After about five months of service with their field units, all
soldiers were evaluated for their leadership potential. About half
qualified for further training as squad leaders, tank commanders,
and other types of noncommissioned officers (NCOs). Those selected
were assigned to a junior command course of three to four months.
Considered exceptionally demanding, the course was conducted mostly
in the field, where the students acted in rotating command roles in
daytime and nighttime exercises. Those successfully completing the
course either returned to their original units as junior NCOs for
a further six to ten months or were assigned as basic training
instructors. During this phase, they were further evaluated for
their potential as officers. This evaluation included ratings by
their fellow soldiers, recommendations by commanders, and
screenings by military psychologists. Those who were not selected
or who rejected officer training (often because they were reluctant
to serve the necessary additional year), remained as NCOs until
they had completed their three-year tour of active service.
All officer candidates were selected from among conscripts who
had distinguished themselves in their initial period of service;
Israel had no military academy as a source of officers. Three
secondary schools stressed military training, however, and assigned
students to military camps during summer vacations. Graduates of
these high schools were given the rank of corporal on enlistment
and most went on to become officers. After junior officers
completed their obligatory service, they either shifted to reserve
officer status or signed contracts (renewable every three to five
years) as career soldiers within the standing ranks of the IDF. A
wide variety of Jewish social and economic backgrounds were
represented in the officer corps, although
sabras (see Glossary),
Ashkenazim (see Glossary),
and members of kibbutzim and moshavim
were represented well beyond their respective percentages in the
society as a whole.
The IDF course for officer candidates was conducted at a single
base but was divided into three types: the six-month infantry
course for infantry and paratroop units; the two-month combat arms
course for officers in armor, artillery, engineering, and air
defense; and the two-month basic officer course for all candidates
for the support services. The latter two courses were each followed
by specialized three-month courses given by the corps to which the
officer was assigned. Those who completed the course (the failure
rate was as high as 50 percent) returned to their units
commissioned as second lieutenants to be assigned as platoon
commanders. Such officers generally served for two further years of
active duty, followed by many years of reserve officer status.
About 10 percent of junior officers joined the permanent
service corps after their national service, signing up for an
initial period of two to three years. They usually were assigned as
company commanders, sometimes after filling a staff or training
position. Some of the young officers attended the company
commanders' course run by their corps, although the bulk of those
officers in the course tended to be reservists. Those men opting
for longer careers in the military were later assigned to the
Command and Staff School, a year-long course designed primarily for
majors as a prerequisite to promotion to lieutenant colonel. A
small number of brigadier generals and promotable colonels, along
with senior civilian officials, attended a one-year course at the
National Defense College dealing with military, strategic, and
management subjects. A few senior IDF officers attended staff
colleges abroad, mainly in Britain, France, and the United States.
Promotions for regular officers were rapid. Company commanders
were generally about twenty-five years of age, battalion commanders
thirty, and brigade commanders thirty-five to forty. Retirement was
obligatory at age fifty-five, although most officers left the
service between forty and forty-five years of age, in accordance
with a "two career" policy that encouraged and assisted officers to
move into responsible civilian jobs.
Data as of December 1988
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