Golani Shalem: Golani's training battalions have not formally completed their training. When the war began, they were sent to the combat zones in the south to help and assist. Some of them, still wearing berets in the Comm, assisted forces on the ground during the fighting itself. Tonight, they embarked on an expedited and improvised beret journey, in order to receive the brown beret and be officially accepted into the Golani family just before the ground entrance.
The fighters carried out a beret campaign in southern Israel, the place drenched in the blood of Israelis who were murdered and fell in battle, including 71 Golani fighters who fell in battle against the terrorists at the beginning of the war. The fighters of the 51st Battalion set out on a journey from the training grounds in Tze'elim and the fighters of the 13th Battalion set out on a journey in the early morning from Sde Boker.
Golani fighters at the beret award ceremony, photo: IDF Spokesperson
"It was very exciting," says Sergeant Nimrod, one of the squad commanders in the 51st Battalion. "For us, it's a message – we're moving forward. We were hit hard, but it only strengthened us and increased our desire to act. My soldiers wanted a week of war and got a real war. We're ready for any mission they send us, and we're just waiting to get going." Nimrod says that it was very important for the fighters to receive the brown beret prior to the ground entrance. "It was important for us to do this now, before the fighting – to make them feel part of the Golani family."
Golani fighters at the beret award ceremony, photo: IDF Spokesperson
Captain Moshe, a company commander in the 51st Battalion, gave a speech to the fighters and made it clear that the beret campaign is of significant importance now. "Being a warrior is in character. It's cohesion, it's friendship, it's resilience, it's helping a friend when it's hard for him, and it's this family called the Golani Brigade," he told his fighters. "Today we are in the fighting, and we are making history. There has not yet been a company that rises as a company, usually you go up to a battalion and split into different companies. You finished your training as lions, and that's how we'll fight. Until victory!"
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