In the heart of the Beit Lid base, an unusual and first-of-its-kind structure was recently established to train commando brigade fighters for one of the most challenging positions - interrogators who would interrogate suspects and terrorists and obtain the information that would prevent a real-time attack or attack on IDF forces.
In contrast to the standard interrogation course of the Intelligence Corps, which teaches fighters from all over the IDF Arabic at a basic level, the commando took the subject ten steps further and trained dozens of fighters a year deeply to know the language, behavior and structures. And Magellan, currently two interns are qualified for each team and additional fighters based on available space, in order to provide as many fighters as possible with the ability to communicate with the environment in enemy territory.
"In the past, interrogators would come and join units, but for us, even though an interrogator is an intelligence tool that comes to the field - he is first and foremost a fighter," says Sergeant R., the intelligence officer of the commando school and head of the division's Arabic section, who led the construction of the new simulator.
"Without a question, the commander is helpless. How much can people be activated without speaking the language? This is what we come to perfect and streamline."
"Inside the house there are a lot of slicks and places where we hid things," reports
The attention to detail inside the facility is impressive, from the designed front door, the bedroom, the living room and the kitchen, to the curtains and rugs, the pictures, and even kitchen or microwave utensils. "When I took the interns' course, I was put in an empty building in the ISA (buildings for training in a built-up area) and I had to imagine what a house would look like. The respondents would enter the area, meet the houses in shock and fail several times until they learned. This is the significant X Factor in the new home. The fighters encounter the area in a very similar experience to reality, a house in Gaza that is actually in a nearby house. We collected the items one by one - a sofa, an armchair, knives, old things that people threw away, and that's how we built the structure. And this is not the end of the verse - the ambition is to also build a tunnel leading to the mosque. True, it's theoretical now, but when I talked about this facility six months ago, they thought I was kidding. "
For six very intense weeks, the warriors go through the advanced course - they learn Arabic at a good level, practice in the new simulator and meet reality with their own eyes.
"We do not teach sentences like a parrot, but provide all the tools for military language and vocabulary. In addition we do field refreshments on the understanding that learning is never over. Inside the house there are lots of slicks and places where we hid things, like a knife or rifle. Be sharp and recognize the connection, even the writing on the wall. "
"We collected the items one by one," reports
In addition, future questioners go through a two-day course with a well-known player in Israel who teaches them a crash course in the game, so that they know how to act in the field - identify behavior and at the same time know how to deal with different types of people - pregnant woman, small child or sheikh.
"This is a very well-known player who works a lot with security officials," reveals Sergeant Major R. and refuses to elaborate further.
The main target of the interrogators course in the immediate range are the fighters of the Cherry unit who work on a daily basis in Judea and Samaria, but Sergeant Major R. clarifies that the goal is not only in BTS but preparations for combat in the depths of enemy territory.
"In the Walnut, Magellan and Cherry units will need the interrogators during combat. We are talking about topics that will allow for the opening of deputies, security of crews, neutralization of terrorists and more, everything needed at the tactical level for combat. We have researchers who have been combat and experienced these things That they will have to fight. "
The exercises include many simulations, reports
The internship course is relatively new, and opened exactly a year ago, in August 2020. So far, about 60 interns have passed the course, a small number of the hundreds of fighters who want to attend the requested course. In each cycle there are only 12 warriors, who are escorted on a significant scale. Thus, in the last week the fighters went through the concluding exercise of the course, which included many simulations - locating through interrogation, finding a weapon removed, catching a person fleeing, sleeping or praying and interrogating, in order to get the necessary information as efficiently as possible. For each fighter who passed the simulations there were two practitioners - one impersonating the suspect being questioned and the other examining the trainee. Sergeant R. concludes: "We take only the best, with the highest motivation, who can manage situations and events in real time."