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Israel
Training
Upon induction at
the age of eighteen, conscripts were assigned to one of three
types of basic training: generalized, for women and for men with
some physical limitation; corps, for conscripts assigned to noninfantry
units, such as armor or artillery; and brigade, for all infantry
recruits. Generalized basic training, which was an orientation
program including the use of basic military weapons, lasted one
month. Corps training lasted from three to four months, encompassing
infantry-type training and indoctrination into the recruits' assigned
corps. It was followed by advanced training of a more specialized
nature, after which trainees were assigned to their permanent
corps units. Brigade basic training, the most arduous, lasted
from four to five months. It was conducted at training bases of
the individual infantry and airborne brigades and, upon completion,
the company created at the beginning of basic training remained
together as a company in the brigade.
Basic training was an extremely strenuous indoctrination into
the IDF, involving forced marches, bivouacs, night exercises,
and obstacle courses, focused on operations at the squad and platoon
level. It also stressed strengthening the recruits' knowledge
of the country's origins and traditions, and identification with
national ideals and goals. Visits were made to kibbutzim, moshavim
(sing., moshav--see Glossary), and places venerated in Jewish
or IDF history. Basic training also served as a melting pot, bringing
together different ethnic groups and individuals from a variety
of socioeconomic backgrounds. The IDF played an especially important
role in the education and assimilation of new immigrants.
After about five months of service with their field units, all
soldiers were evaluated for their leadership potential. About
half qualified for further training as squad leaders, tank commanders,
and other types of noncommissioned officers (NCOs). Those selected
were assigned to a junior command course of three to four months.
Considered exceptionally demanding, the course was conducted mostly
in the field, where the students acted in rotating command roles
in daytime and nighttime exercises. Those successfully completing
the course either returned to their original units as junior NCOs
for a further six to ten months or were assigned as basic training
instructors. During this phase, they were further evaluated for
their potential as officers. This evaluation included ratings
by their fellow soldiers, recommendations by commanders, and screenings
by military psychologists. Those who were not selected or who
rejected officer training (often because they were reluctant to
serve the necessary additional year), remained as NCOs until they
had completed their three-year tour of active service.
All officer candidates were selected from among conscripts who
had distinguished themselves in their initial period of service;
Israel had no military academy as a source of officers. Three
secondary schools stressed military training, however, and assigned
students to military camps during summer vacations. Graduates
of these high schools were given the rank of corporal on enlistment
and most went on to become officers. After junior officers completed
their obligatory service, they either shifted to reserve officer
status or signed contracts (renewable every three to five years)
as career soldiers within the standing ranks of the IDF. A wide
variety of Jewish social and economic backgrounds were represented
in the officer corps, although sabras (see Glossary), Ashkenazim
(see Glossary), and members of kibbutzim and moshavim were represented
well beyond their respective percentages in the society as a whole.
The IDF course for officer candidates was conducted at a single
base but was divided into three types: the six-month infantry
course for infantry and paratroop units; the two-month combat
arms course for officers in armor, artillery, engineering, and
air defense; and the two-month basic officer course for all candidates
for the support services. The latter two courses were each followed
by specialized three-month courses given by the corps to which
the officer was assigned. Those who completed the course (the
failure rate was as high as 50 percent) returned to their units
commissioned as second lieutenants to be assigned as platoon commanders.
Such officers generally served for two further years of active
duty, followed by many years of reserve officer status.
About 10 percent of junior officers joined the permanent service
corps after their national service, signing up for an initial
period of two to three years. They usually were assigned as company
commanders, sometimes after filling a staff or training position.
Some of the young officers attended the company commanders' course
run by their corps, although the bulk of those officers in the
course tended to be reservists. Those men opting for longer careers
in the military were later assigned to the Command and Staff School,
a year-long course designed primarily for majors as a prerequisite
to promotion to lieutenant colonel. A small number of brigadier
generals and promotable colonels, along with senior civilian officials,
attended a one-year course at the National Defense College dealing
with military, strategic, and management subjects. A few senior
IDF officers attended staff colleges abroad, mainly in Britain,
France, and the United States.
Promotions for regular officers were rapid. Company commanders
were generally about twenty-five years of age, battalion commanders
thirty, and brigade commanders thirty-five to forty. Retirement
was obligatory at age fifty-five, although most officers left
the service between forty and forty-five years of age, in accordance
with a "two career" policy that encouraged and assisted officers
to move into responsible civilian jobs.
Data as of December 1988
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