The Iron Sword War reveals one of the basic principles on which the IDF is built - the words of Justice Gideon: "From me you will see and you will do." This refers to the fact that our officers show true leadership on the battlefield and lead their forces on the ground.
Documentation: Booby-trapped vehicle and operational shaft found in raid on Shifa // IDF Spokesperson
Unfortunately, I see this reality not only through information that comes to me from the battles, but also through the list of fatalities that is published. I follow these lists with great heartache, and through them I see that the spirit of the IDF continues strongly. Many officers in the positions of commander, company sergeant, company commander and even battalion commanders are killed during the battles.
This leadership also stems from the commander's actual connection to the field. With us, the commander goes out to his post from the fairy of the greasing. He was a soldier first, a commander, then an officer leading a platoon and a company, and so on. Such a commander knows the soldiers and is connected to their world. He is also required to be not only the most senior professional in his unit, but also the one who unites the unit and causes it to follow him into battle.
People in battle look up to the leader
This form of fighting, in which the commander, company commander, company commander and battalion commander head the forces, is a reality I know from my fighting in the Six-Day War and in the Yom Kippur War.
IDF Chief of Staff Herzi Halevy with IDF forces inside the Gaza Strip, photo: IDF Spokesperson
During the Six-Day War, my tank was the first tank to enter the Gaza Strip, and on Yom Kippur, my tank as battalion commander was also at the head of the force. Twelve of the 12 people killed in my unit on Yom Kippur were commanders. Most of the citation recipients from the later days of battle were commanders who set the tone of fighting on the ground.
In this way, the IDF is completely different from other armies, and thus a true leadership of commanders is built within it.
In other armies, such a reality is impossible: their commanders leave special officer schools without passing through the field first, without absorbing the requirement of an officer to be the leading leader in the field, and therefore such officers cannot become leaders of their combat unit. They simply don't have the tools that allow an officer to be a military leader.
IDF fighters deep inside the Gaza Strip, photo: IDF Spokesperson
Beyond the leadership of walking at the head of the force, this dimension also allows the officer to make faster and more accurate decisions on the battlefield. They simply see what is happening on the ground not through reports, but firsthand.
In this way, a combat leader can unite all the elements on the ground into one force and make the best decisions. In this way, our commanders become a right-wing marker for their forces and for Israeli society as a whole. In fact, our country is built on this kind of leadership.
Iron Sword Warfare is also different from the IDF's regular activity, the activity of the security forces. In this respect, the officers and fighters now receive a great deal of experience in complex combat activity, and those of them who remain in the army for permanent service will form the army's high command backbone in 20 years.
IDF forces in the Gaza Strip, photo: Reuters
To the graduates of HED 1, the officers on the way, I can say that those who will come to command fighters have a very rare privilege. This right is also to go out at the head of the force to fight, but also to protect the fighters and bring them home safely.
Such an officer, when he becomes the leader and heads the charge, will actually lead after him all his subordinates who will charge along with him. People in battle look up to the leader, and when he is at the head of the force, it has a huge impact on all his subordinates.
Brought to print: Assaf Golan
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us