Eye on the Enemy: Reservists: We Aren’t in Zoo, Tanks Practice on Jordan River

15 regiment commanders, who serve in the Reserves, wrote a letter to Prime Minister, Defense Minister and Chief of Staff, warning that "continued government's failures" may soon cause the Reserves to collapse.
The letter, published in Yedioth Ahronoth, was sent ahead of a special Knesset session on "Israel's" Reserves Force.
"We are not pets in the Knesset's zoo. We are a sector, and just like you we can pay little regard to our responsibilities like you, "If you don't start working for those who serve in the Reserves, you will find that there is no one there to protect your seats and homes," the letter said.
The letter cautioned, "The military has forgotten how to train for elementary things, because there isn't any budget. We are sorely lacking in training days and the troops are worn out. In five years, you won't find officers willing to become more than company commanders. You will lose the professional advantage."
"Should we be called for duty, we will report immediately. We will be given uniforms, weapons and munitions, but will others show up? Will they remember how to use their weapons?"
"There has been a lot of talk about universal service. Let's start by giving those who are already serving their country the maximum in civilian life. Then we won't have to constantly deal with the question of why everyone isn't willing to share the burden," the letter concluded.
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Army tanks practicing over the Jordan River
Amir Bohbot - Walla! News

The "Israeli" army recently performed an unusual drill, in which it practiced moving tanks and heavy vehicles over the Jordan River. The exercise, which took place a week and a half ago under the command of the brigade commander 401, Col. Enab Shlou, was the first of its kind since 20 years.
Elite units participated in the exercise where it cleared the transition area from mines and fought with soldiers who played the role of anti-tank units. Troops from section 401, which operate the Merkava Mk 4, air force troops and the Corps of Engineers, also participated by putting bridges and engineering instruments recently purchased by the land unit, under the command of Major General Sami Turgeman.
Colonel Shlo said that the exercise, which lasted seven hours, included a combination of new capabilities recently acquired by the army. "The special exercise, conducted at night for the first time in 20 years, prepared the unit 401 and all units for the future challenges. You do not have to be a genius to figure out what else would Brigade 401 do and how many rivers and streams they crossed to reach their way," he said. "It proved that we can face the threat and much more."
Brigades' Commanders attended the exercise, as well as commander of the army's northern corps, General Noam Tivon. Everybody came to know more about the military capabilities the soldiers have been gaining over the past year, to be able to cross the river at night in a complex condition of fighting against special skillful anti-tank units.

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Observation units to detect missiles, HFC maneuvering
Amir Bohbot, Walla!News

The "Israeli" army does not ignore the events of Syria and the possibility of a hostile takeover over chemical weapons depots, and it is increasing the preparations for the extreme scenario of non-conventional weapons.

Last week, deputy chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Yair Naveh said at the opening the international "Fire Conference" that despite the riots in Syria , "the array of chemical missiles and rockets is being extremely preserved by the existing regime; An array that includes hundreds of fine weapons."
Home Front Command finished in recent months training 86 observation units in the reserves that will be deployed across the country during the war to report on the exact location of rocket targets. They will be using advanced technological equipment to be able to transmit videos and photographs at the right time to the various war rooms.
Such Detection warning systems can locate the launch site of the rocket or missile, and assess the place of fall. Therefore, emergency rescue organizations are obliged to survey the area for a long time and use the reports of civilians, as happened recently in Eilat when a citizen helped find a Grad rocket fired from the Sinai.

Commander Eyal Eisenberg, who took office a year ago, identified some gaps in the detection systems and ordered to rebuild the observer units in the reserves, purchase the suitable technological detecting equipments and implement a special training for them to develop their professional level. In addition, a comprehensive analysis of the effective location of real-time observations was performed.

HFC night exercises to evacuate civilians from central neighborhoods
"It is until the discovery and identification unit arrive to the fall scene, it will be impossible to know whether it is a conventional missile or non-conventional and every minute is important on this issue," a senior defense official, familiar with the preparatory procedures of the Home Front Command, explained.
It should be noted that HFC has recently begun to conduct night exercises during which civilians are evacuated from neighborhoods in the center and loaded on buses to test the level of preparedness of all rescue services. Home Front Command, expressed satisfaction with the exercises conducted to date, and the willingness of citizens to take part.


Source: Hebrew papers, Translated and Edited by moqawama.org