Grandma's army

  Six-and-a-haIf years ago I began to write a blog “Grandma’s Army”, as I had seven grandchildren serving in the army at the same time.   Little did I dream that today, that number would jump to seven + ten, Apart from two in the regular army, all the rest are in the Reserves. Both of my sons, who are over 60 years-old, are in army uniform again. They have volunteered to drive army trucks for transport purposes all over the country, after taking a special driving course. Since I began this blog, Azriel and his wife have returned to live in their home on the moshav. They had been evacuated since the beginning of the war, since their home is in the “Gaza envelope”. Azriel has four children and one son-in-law in the army since the beginning. His officer daughter, Adi was called up to the War room of the Gaza Brigade on the second day of the war: “When the first Givati ground forces of the regular army entered Gaza, I knew that my fiancé, Hillel, was amongst them serving a...

In Israel, the boundaries between the home-front and the army are very blurred. My son and family, who live in the south, are constantly being bombarded by   missiles from the Gaza Strip - by air and ground. Two weeks ago, 700 missiles were fired from Gaza to the south of Israel! in which several civilians were killed. One rocket even reached Tel-Aviv.  At the same time, their youngest daughter (Adi) is an army instructor. She belongs to a corps which teaches soldiers, taken from   all the army’s ground forces, how to use the different weapons used to locate and destroy enemies and armament - in order to clear the area.   It’s hard for me to picture Adi, who is an extremely feminine young woman of 20, instructing soldiers on how to use lethal weapons. These include a particular type of rocket called “Gil”, which was developed in Israel. With the means of a special device the “Gil” can follow any target, even a moving one. The shooter can manoeuvre the rocket ...

In blog no. 60 I wrote about my grandson who was inducted into the Armoured Corps a short while ago. Last Friday,   the immediate family (including myself) and friends participated in the second ceremony of the Armoured Corps. It is known as the “Beret March”. It begins at 3 a.m., when the   Armoured Corps’ four brigades, with their faces camouflaged with black mud, begin a grueling march in the desert carrying equipment weighing 17 kgs. reaching 32 kgs. when the stretchers are opened and filled with sacks of sand. We visitors joined the exhausted and sweaty boys for the last km. of the march to the places where the ceremony was held, in which they received the black berets particular to the Armoured corps. Every battalion in the IDF is distinguished by a different coloured beret. Prior to the ceremony, the new recruits just finished eight weeks of basic training, followed by six weeks in their particular speciality. After completing this training, the cadets a...

I can’t believe that two years have already passed since our lone soldier granddaughter was recruited into the IDF.   Because of her impressive credentials, Ophir was chosen to join the Operations Room of the Tel-Nof airforce base in the south of Israel. In its 70 years, the Tel-Nof airforce base - which is the air force’s place of origin - has acted as a main factor in both defense and offense. Fighter jets, transport aircraft, attack helicopters, transport helicopters and Remote Control Aerial vehicles have been situated in the airbase. No airforce base has ever been home to such a number of aircraft from various divisions, which together form Tel-Nof’s legacy in the IAF’s history. Every day, aircraft take off from Tel-Nof to perform training, attack, defense, reconnaissance and electronic warfare sorties, among others.  Its personnel have made the place what it is. Our granddaughter was part of a human chain sharing responsibility and transferring it from per...

The IDF is commonly seen as one of the most powerful armies in the world due to the fact that there is a compulsory obligation to serve. However, it is actually the Reserves – “ miluim”,   in Hebrew, that is the largest and main force in the army.  With yearly training and drills, the IDF’s miluim are prepared and ready for any emergency/war that might spring up around Israel’s borders.  All men, up to the age of 40, (excluding men who served as officers and served until the age of 45) who served in the regular service, regardless of time served, are obliged to turn up for miluim .   Quite a few volunteer to carry on serving until older. Women who were either combat soldiers, officers, or served in other specific jobs in their regular service also serve in  miluim .  All other women who served in the army can do  miluim  voluntarily. The average amount of time one spends in  miluim  each year is between 20-30 days....