"Protecting our people": the squadrons that will rescue the IDF's special forces from enemy territory

Just before they joined the Air Force helicopter array, Lt. NA and Lt. NR spoke in a conversation with Walla!

About the difficulties in the course, about an exercise that imagined escaping an enemy surface and what they think of the new film "Top-Gun Maverick".

"Every time I went through a stage I was surprised"

Amir Bohbot

25/06/2022

Saturday, 25 June 2022, 09:47 Updated: 10:59

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In the video: 2 graduates of a pilot course 184 in the helicopter program conclude the course (Photo: Dotz)

The operation on November 11, 2018 of the IDF Intelligence Division's Special Operations Division was exposed in the heart of Khan Yunis by Hamas commanders and became entangled. A-Din, who was later decorated with the Chief of Staff, was fatally wounded.

Various aircraft and Air Force units were ordered to take to the air and open with a huge firefight, to secure the special force vehicle on the escape route. They were also required to isolate The area from any terrorist and level the way to the storm helicopter under the command of the experienced pilot Major E., who was later decorated by the Air Force Commander Amikam Nurkin due to his courage and striving for contact.

The pilot landed in Palestinian territory, despite the heavy fire, waited briefly on the ground, until the last of the fighters boarded, and took off back to Israel.

The heroic action of E. and his friends was well integrated into the corps' battle heritage and became a source of pride for the participation squad and helicopters, to which this is the only unit to which he belongs.

"We are here to rescue people. Lt. NR and Lt. NA (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

The new helicopter squadron, Lt. NA, was asked to comment on the action in an exclusive interview with Walla !.

"We learn a lot about getting a job done and doing it, and being able to disconnect from emotional things and stress. That's a big part of our training. I'll know in the moment of truth if I'm successful or not. That's where we strive to get. "We are here. In the three years you have been working hard. And it is clear to you that in the end the end point is to protect the country and to protect our people."

This week, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Minister of Defense and the Chief of Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff completed the 184th pilot course as an assault helicopter squadron, along with dozens of other pilots, including another assault helicopter squadron. As cockpit pilots make the right decisions.

"We do everything that is necessary to complete the task successfully and that is what I intend to do," she explained.

The 21-year-old NA lieutenant from the Emek Hefer Regional Council, the daughter of her mother, a food engineer, and the father of a software engineer completely accidentally rolled into a pilot course.

"I told myself I would not go through the formation anyway, but it would be a very challenging experience. A pilot would have seemed interesting to me but unrealistic. Every time I went through a stage I was surprised."

After the first screenings, when the majority drop out due to incompatibility, it has reached the stage of formation.

"I wanted to go through the formation as an experience but in the end when you come to experience an experience that I enjoyed in part but it is difficult then you say to yourself: Why am I doing this? I came to experience an experience I do not enjoy. So what's going on here? What held me back? I started it and I "I have to finish things I start so I had a very hard time giving up. In retrospect? It's really a crazy experience. I'm very glad I went through even if the answer was at the end that I did not pass."

NA said that only after a year in the course did she know which squadron she wanted to be.

"It seemed to me a connection to the field - I was more interested in it, more attracted to it. It developed over time. I did not know any types of fighter jets before the course, I did not know anyone. I only learned about them in the course."

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"In the end these are crazy experiences": the message to girls who also want to be squadrons

For Lieutenant NR, the 21-year-old from Raanana whose mother is a lawyer and her father is a Google programmer, it would have looked different.

She decided to attend an Air Force women's conference, following a proposal from a friend and the dialogue with the squadrons changed her thoughts about the difficult screenings and the grueling course.

Something in the competition drew her into the track, and despite the difficulties there was not a single moment that she thought of giving up and giving up.

"In the sorties I thought I was not doing well and I was misled over and over again. I came to the formation - some was really fun, being part of a group, experiences. It was hard. It's ongoing, you have no time for yourself. ".

"I went up to the committee twice, and it's not pleasant. It's scary. It's especially unpleasant that friends go. In hindsight they don't disappear, they keep in touch and everyone who joins the course is very helpful to them," N.R. continued.

"My good friends went on to be air patrols. And following the course as UAVs (remotely manned aircraft) they asked for great roles."

Already at the beginning of the course the two realized that the overwhelming majority in the course are boys.

"Very quickly realize that it does not affect. It does not have the effect I was afraid it would have. It is not felt. I have always felt equal among equals," Lt. NR said of the comparison between boys and girls in the course.

She said, "In the first year there were few differences. Coming from places of fitness. Because there were a lot of physical acts. I came to the course in very low fitness. There were a lot of guys with low fitness. Making adjustments so that everyone could face the same difficulties and the same pressure. "Everyone needs help, and then they get to the point where they do the same thing. The same ranges in runs, the same navigations. Of course, even later and in the flight stages there is no difference."

In the meantime, NR asked to speak directly to the girls who are currently in the process of being drafted, and are debating whether to join the most prestigious track, but also difficult and obliging to build in the IDF. "In the end, these are crazy experiences.

From the first sort to the end.

And certainly from what awaits me later, "she said." Every second added to the course brings you so much.

Beyond that, in the end the Air Force takes care of everyone who started the sorties.

He goes into a family, and even if you fall at some point along the way, you get to really good places.

"" A lot of girls don't try, they say 'only four girls finish anyway', it happens on a lot of topics.

My message is simple: this experience has no cost.

You gain a lot from trying, even if you do not succeed and fail, "said NA in a very confident and clear voice." But going through an experience is not enough, you have to hold yourself here for three years.

It happens because it is a desire to serve the country, to protect it. "

NA added that "the decision of the integration made me very happy. The criteria for integration do not yet allow for a full integration, but it is progress, it is a significant milestone. There are a lot of women who are able to be there. I personally think it is a very important issue. We want "Protect our country the best we can. We want to take the best people who can do it."

"Always equal among equals."

Lt. NR and Lt. NA (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Alongside the flights, there is quite a bit of grueling training and exercises on the ground.

One of the most fascinating among them is the escape test that simulates the landing of an air crew in enemy territory, and a combination of escape and hiding until the arrival of 669 fighters.

For the test, the IDF selects the best scouts for the mission, allows the flying flowers to escape and hide in a desert area and then begins to follow their tracks and "hunt" them one by one. Remember the escape phase? I asked them and Lt. NA smiled broadly, saying “It was a crazy experience.”

"Painful point. We were caught once unfortunately. We made a crazy hideout with a tree we laid on. I was sure I was a tree, and no one sees me, and then someone comes and says 'there is a tree here, but it's clear to me that someone is here'. We invested too much, "It was a mistake. You've already built a hideout, they've caught you, now you're up, you're building a new hideout. While you want them not to catch you again. Not only did you get caught being caught, now you have to start over.

Each cadet in a pilot course goes through stages with himself, with the staff and the social fabric of the course in general.

Lt. NA said of her angle: "Obviously I was apprehensive at the basic stage of how the social fabric of the team would be affected. For example learning to ask for help. It was a complex process for me. Like learning to say 'hard for me now let's help me' , And where I'm now strong and looking for someone to give help to, how do I make my team better. The sense of ability is greatly strengthened. "And she understands that this feeling of inability is imaginary, and that you are capable of much more than you think. Every time you reach your limit and break it."

"At the end your border is very, very widening. I think today I am a N. who believes much more in herself," N.A. continued.

"The second point is that I have a hard time dealing with failure. Going down emerges interrogating why you were less good. There are all sorts of methods to deal with. I found something practical that I improve on next time. Instead of clinging to a sense of not being good. The answer? Investigate. First time to experience failure. "It's very difficult. Once in a tenth you realize that you can't succeed in everything. You learn from it, you turn failure into a learning tool."

Loved "Top-Gun Maverick".

Lt. NR and Lt. NA (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Have you seen the new movie with Tom Cruise "Top-Gun Maverick"?

Lieutenant NA: "Great movie. We saw it together the whole course. What do I take away? Take a task that seems impossible and make it happen."

Lieutenant NR: "Really cool movie. What was relatively similar to a pilot course is that after every attempt and failure you sit and talk about what was wrong, what to do differently, criticize each other, work in a team on each other's mistakes. It reminded me Our reality on a daily basis. The research, also the work in the team. At an advanced stage in the course there is a nucleus of helicopters, and you understand that this is the nucleus that will be with you in a challenging semester. Many hours in the squadron together, there are many tasks Your friends need help, and also know how to ask for help.

Lieutenant NR and Lieutenant NA completed the pilot course after three arduous and fascinating years, during which they also completed a bachelor's degree at Ben Gurion University of Computer Science and now face seven years of permanent service in the Air Force.

On the future, NA said, "Our service is very diverse. As a squadron you go through at least three positions in the seven years, probably more. In the end you engage in a profession that is interesting, you are not static. It creates new challenges. I do not know where I will be after seven years, "I do not deny anything. I leave everything open."

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