"Fire to rescue, fire to rescue," Golani's 13th Battalion commander, the late Lt. Col. Tomer Greenberg, called out on the radio. "Fire for rescue", heard him by female fighters from the "Sky Rider" unit, who were watching his sector from above, and immediately went into action. For more than two hours, they escorted the battalion that began to enter the Gaza Strip, guarding it from enemy fire. They saw from above how the terrorists were trying to approach the IDF APCs and, thanks to the orders and direction of the forces, withdrew. They are four young women, reserve fighters, who were the eyes and shields of the fighting battalions in the field.
Voices of communication between the commander of Battalion 13, Lieutenant Colonel Tomer Greenberg z"l, and the commander of the Golani Brigade, during the incident in Sejaiya \\ IDF Spokesperson
The four soldiers, members of the Gaon team, went to sleep after the battle with the heavy feeling that the fire aimed there had caused many losses to our forces. Only in the morning did they discover that thanks to the forces they employed, the soldiers of Golani's 13th Battalion ended the fierce battle that took place there almost unscathed. Team members who at the moment of truth proved once again that there is nothing like the female soldiers.
"Even though it was clear to me that we would be called, the whole attitude towards the female soldiers in this war surprised me," says Staff Sergeant R., a member of the team. On 7 October, she started picking up phone calls and asked to be drafted into reserve duty. Two days later, she was already in the south. Still, "it surprised me that they took us south and some of the female fighters entered the Gaza Strip. We thought that first they would only bring in teams of boys, but the girls are here throughout this war. And the fact that we were able to do our job in the best possible way just goes to show that we can do anything."
S. in action with the UAV,
Apart from the commander, who is still serving, the three crew members came to that battle in reserve service. A. and R. are 23 years old. S. is 24 years old. The ROK unit in which they serve is an elite unit belonging to the 215th Artillery Brigade. Their role is critical. Using a remotely manned aerial vehicle (UAV), the team members are responsible for providing an up-to-date picture of the situation and visual intelligence to the battalion force maneuvering in the open. Depending on the situation, they are responsible for dispatching combat helicopters or escorting additional forces to protect them.
"We are still eyes on the ground"
"In practice, we are still eyes on the ground, which help identify the enemy from afar," says the commander, Lieutenant S.T.
On 1 November, they embarked on what appeared to be a routine intelligence-gathering mission with Golani's 13th Battalion. They positioned themselves on a high hill overlooking the open area, not expecting to spot such a large enemy force. "We knew the battalion from the preparation for the maneuver," continues S.T., "I personally spoke quite a few times with the late battalion commander Tomer in preparations for entering Gaza. Tomer was different from other battalion commanders. You can see it in his fighting spirit and in the way he saw the fighters on the ground. In that battle he was saved. It really hurt me to hear that about a month later he was killed."
When Tomer announced on the radio that fire was directed at our forces, they went into peak activity. "With the help of the plane, we saw a lot of fire directed at our forces' vehicles at the operating position," S.T. recounts the incident. "It was a complicated situation. At first, the battalion was ordered not to leave the vessels to guard our forces. They were traveling with shelves and turrets closed, and they had no way of knowing what was going on outside the APC. So the fact that we were there with the battalion was critical for them."
Golani fighters in Gaza (second from right: Battalion Commander 13, Tomer Greenberg), photo: Oren Cohen
The Genius crew did not take their eyes off the ground, as seen from the tiny plane. Minute by minute, they managed to direct combat helicopters to the site of the encounter, combined with gunfire and mortars.
Sergeant S. did not expect such an encounter on the ground. She has long fair hair and bright eyes. She understood the importance of the role, and the soldiers' call for artillery support still echoes in her head. "Suddenly, we saw an insane amount of fire being fired at our soldiers. These are soldiers we were with in preparation for battle, people we know. And we're directing the troops and the helicopter, and hoping that the fire orders that were given really helped our forces, but we have no idea how the incident will end."
Sergeant Major A recalls how she suddenly saw an explosion next to the tank. She gathers her dark hair into a high ponytail and straightens up. She knew they were coming to fight, but she didn't realize how dangerous the situation could be. "I think it was only then that I realized the magnitude of the event. Because we don't know if the explosion is from the helicopter they targeted, and then it helps the soldiers, or if it's an enemy force. Then you hear over the radio that it's probably anti-tank, and you have to act to direct a response.
"You see, the terrorists got so close that it looked like they wanted to plant IEDs on the tools. But the fire aimed at them managed to drive them away. And as soon as S.T. got in touch, everyone was quiet, because they understood that her report could save their lives. It's an amazing feeling to see a tank moving in the right direction according to our reports, firing a shell that manages to keep the terrorists away. And that's why I came to this position. Just for this moment."
R.: "At one point, so much fire was fired from the battalion and from the battalion that it was crazy. We are a force watching from above, we can't really say whether our forces have been hit. Until we heard on the radio 'cease fire,' and we realized that the incident was probably over."
The battalion commander who fell, Lt. Col. Tomer Greenberg, z"l, photo: Oren Cohen
After about two hours of intense fighting, during which the soldiers employed external fire elements such as mortars from the battalion defending from the outside or artillery from the helicopter, the area fell silent. Reports from the battalion of gunfire and attacks stopped. The enemy is no longer visible on the ground. The soldiers of the Gaon team ended with a difficult feeling. For better or worse, they are not responsible for evacuating the wounded, nor for the post-battle state of power. But the heart found it difficult to separate the large amount of fire they saw in the field, and the soldiers of the battalion with whom they began preparations for the maneuver.
"I left this event with a very difficult feeling," S. says. "I was sure that the battalion had quite a few dead and wounded, because of the large amount of fire. I was sure that only in a few days would we hear about the magnitude of the loss."
The morning after: a great relief
R.: "In war, communication is cumbersome and problematic. The battalion and the fighters in the field are also divided into tools, and the battalion commander cannot go through vessels to see that everyone is okay. Only when they are completely out of danger can they check for injuries. And in this case, it took several hours before they reached a safe place.
"It was hard for us to contain everything we saw in this battle, because we saw mostly terrorists shooting at our forces with a lot of fire. We saw squads of terrorists who wanted to harm our soldiers at close range. There was also concern that they would try to kidnap soldiers. As a team, we were very upset because we didn't know what news we were going to wake up with in the morning. We were sure we had just seen the 13th Battalion disband."
But on the morning of the day after the battle, the genius crew was told that the 13th Battalion had only left the field with seven lightly wounded from smoke inhalation. They managed to protect the soldiers from enemy fire. "I found out that the division leaders heard me talking to the battalion commander and battalion sergeant, and pointing the helicopter in their direction," the commander was embarrassed. "This incident even reached the level of the General Staff. When they realized that there were no wounded there, I understood that we had done something big. I was interested in whether other CPA teams had experienced such encounters, and it turned out that they hadn't. That it was all about us."
S.: "Someone from the unit came to me and was so excited to see me. He said, 'Wow, you don't understand what you did. The whole division watched you yesterday, and listened to your reports over the radio.' Only then did I realize that it was a crazy event in which we managed to prevent major harm to our soldiers."
E.: "The battalion commander, Tomer, constantly gave the soldiers forces in contact. We heard him say that they would come out of it strong, and that they had powers guarding them. It was chilling, to be the eyes in the sky and search the enemy, and not stop scanning so that they wouldn't get hurt.
"It's a great pride that we had good findings, and we even managed to help eliminate the enemy in the end. This is a difficult situation, the result of which is amazing and shows the importance of our work."
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