Israel Defense Forces reserve soldiers from the Alexandroni Brigade and the 8th Armored Brigade trained in the Golan Heights this week alongside engineering forces. The training took place in an open area between several hills and included a battalion-level exercise of hundreds of soldiers.
The reservists of the Alexandroni and the 8th Armored were called up in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel. Many of them have been operating along the northern border facing Hezbollah threats. Hezbollah has carried out daily attacks targeting Israeli communities in the north. These include rocket, mortar, and drone attacks. Israel evacuated more than 40 communities along the border. However, these units are required to secure the border and face off against any Hezbollah threats.
Israel Defense Forces reserve soldiers train in the Golan Heights, December 2023 (Credit: Seth Frantzman)
Training is an important way to keep forces ready for any type of operation they may need to engage in. The training this week included infantry advancing through fields and along a road to conquer several objectives. The final objective was a kind of mock village, complete with numerous positions that had to be assaulted and cleared. Mock terrorists, symbolized by cardboard cut-outs and other types of targets, were hidden in the landscape.
The troops coordinated before the attack, with infantry in the center and tanks on the flanks. Several explosions represented the beginning of the drill. Tanks advanced, sometimes releasing smoke screens, while an engineering bulldozer cleared rubble that represented an obstacle for the advancing infantry. The infantry then moved amid muddy roads and berms, taking cover in high grass and behind stone walls. Marksmen, machine gunners, and soldiers with M-4 rifles used live fire to take out the mock enemies in the village. Tanks fired shells and then raced into the village, as infantry moved down a hill.
Israel’s determined northern enemy
This kind of drill represents the sort of combined operations that the IDF has drilled for years. Combining infantry and tanks in operations, along with air force, engineers, and other types of technology and units, is how the IDF brings together firepower to concentrate against the enemy and move with efficiency and speed. These kinds of operations have been effective in Gaza. In the north Israel faces a complex and determined enemy in the form of Hezbollah. Preparing for threats in the north is important. For these units, which spent two months on the line and are made up of reservists called away from their families, these kinds of drills have added importance.
Officers from the brigade, including the deputy commander of the Alexandroni Brigade, praised the drill in the Golan. Each said that the units performed well.The full story of the training in the Golan will appear in next week’s Jerusalem Post Magazine.