Engineer Corps recruits enlist in a different reality • The outgoing BAH commander says: "The battlefield has become more dangerous and challenging, and at the same time our training has changed dramatically"

• Chief Engineering Officer at the end of the last beret campaign // Photo: IDF Spokesman

After 25 years, Lt. Gen. Raanan Ben Yaakov is currently completing his military service. After decades in the military service, where he served as a bomb disposal training commander in the Yahalam unit and as the unit's first school commander, he encountered terrorists in Lebanon three times and was wounded as deputy commander of the Samaria Regional Brigade as part of the "Size of the Hour" events. His four-year tenure as commander of an engineering training school (BA) prepares the next generation of combat engineering fighters.

"I had the great privilege of being the head of the Baha'i at such a challenging time. We have changed quite a few things in training, when we see before our eyes the enemy changing and evolving. The battlefield has become more dangerous and challenging and combat is becoming faster, "Lt. Col. Ben Yaakov says in a summary call to" Israel Today "against the background of the recruitment of August 2020 to the Combat Engineering Corps.

Recently, after a long staff work, it was decided to focus on training the fighters at the level of the combatant framework, while focusing on the level of the company, platoon and fighter. "We moved to a completely different training course, which focuses on fighting in an open and fortified area, including integration with infantry and, of course, the icing on the cake - sabotage. "The soldiers go through a grueling route and become great fighters that the people of Israel can trust." Also in terms of fitness, he notes, there has been a leap.

The Corps of Engineers, says the outgoing commander of the Baha'i, has become even more critical in recent years than it has been in the past. We have become the spearhead of the military. As the terrain becomes more fortified, with more cargo and mines, combat engineering becomes more pronounced. A few years ago we entered the Leopard Corps (RKM tools) that help us lead. We have other developments that must not be talked about that will help us decide on the battlefield. "

On the new fighters who are recruiting these days, he says: "Our goal is to teach the commanders to strive for excellence, daring and values. To be dedicated to deciding on the battlefield, defeating the enemy in every encounter and outline. Today is contributing. To be proud of this generation as a people, it was a privilege to become soldiers who sometimes find it difficult to be better IDF fighters and civilians. That's what I'll take forward. "