Commanders of Experience & the Soldiers of Tomorrow

Approaching the last week of training in combat units is an intense but exciting time for soldiers. After 8 months of rigorous drills, exercises, and extreme conditions, they finally reach the finish line, and complete their training with the renowned beret march and ceremony. But before this final stage, the soldiers must complete their last week of training - War Week.

During this week, the trainees are met with possibly the hardest part of their entire training. The moment that requires them to draw on every skill and tactic they've acquired over the last few months, and practice operating in a simulated war zone. Something that seemed distant and foreign once, but is more important than ever for soldiers today. 

Since October 7th 2023, War Week has been altered to fit a criteria more adapted to war. Commanders now arrive with firsthand experience from the frontlines in Gaza, teaching their soldiers exactly what it takes to survive on the battlefield. And today, they're here to tell us too. 

Joined today by Lieutenant S., a company commander in the Golani Brigade, we got an inside look at what a simulated war zone looks like, and what it means to train the next generation of soldiers in war. 

“A lot of things have changed - the commanders nowadays are people who were fighting on October 7th and have been in Gaza and Lebanon for the past two years,” he begins, standing by a mock terrorist infrastructure. 

“Everything we’re teaching is stuff we’ve witnessed and experienced firsthand on the frontlines, during a real, active war. You can see it day-to-day - how much the training has become tougher and more real.”

But how can a person truly prepare for war? There is no defining moment in training, where a soldier understands his capabilities to the fullest extent, and knows he is ready to walk onto a battlefield. 

“Only once you see that first bullet being shot at you, will you know if you’re ready or not. And even if you don't feel it, you have to be ready. You try to make your soldiers see or feel, but until that second, they won't know.”

Lieutenant S. recalls his time as a soldier in training. “When I was a soldier in training, it was always ‘When there will be a war…’ the stories they would tell us to inspire us or scare us, were old and dated.” Today, the stories the soldiers are hearing are from last month, last week, yesterday. 

“October 7th underscored how I want to train my soldiers.” The fighting in Gaza taught Lieutenant S. what is truly useful, what works and what doesn’t, and every sector there has imparted a new skill or method of fighting. 

“Now I'm telling my soldiers, you're gonna finish your training, you're gonna sign on your equipment, and you're gonna go into war. There's no time in between anymore, no time to waste. You're coming to fight, not for the ego, not for the friends, not for the experience. You're coming to possibly give your life for your country.” Today it truly means something to the army. It's real.

When asked what key lessons he tries to pass onto his soldiers in training, Lieutenant S. answered without hesitation - “brotherhood.” Among every soldier in the IDF’s required equipment, is a small book, which lists the 10 values of the IDF and what they entail. It's a constant reminder for our army to remember why we are fighting, and in which manner we conduct ourselves as soldiers of Israel. 

One of these values is brotherhood. “In my platoon, we put a huge emphasis on brotherhood, and the war has made it so. We can't fight without each other. With that comes a lot of professionalism.” 

“How exactly do I achieve this? It comes out in their training, surprise drills in the middle of the night, hard physical training with little sleep at night, pushing them to their limits so they learn how to rely on one another. They need each other. This is what's gonna make them ready.”

Brotherhood isn’t created through words, it’s built through action. For Lieutenant S., that means shaping it every single day in training.