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The IDF's Mixed-Sex Combat Battalion

(Ha'aretz) Judy Maltz - In a military exercise, several dozen soldiers charge up the hilltops. Amid the deafening explosions and with the help of a grenade-generated smokescreen, other soldiers evacuate fake casualties from the battlefield. Most of the combat soldiers taking part in this drill are women. The Caracal Battalion of the Israel Defense Forces, the first mixed-gender combat battalion in the Israeli army, began as a pilot project 15 years ago. It attracts women who say they want their army service to be "meaningful and challenging." In Caracal, women undergo the exact same training as their male counterparts. Women in Caracal undergo four months of basic training, followed by another three months of advanced training. Women serving in noncombat positions usually do just three weeks of basic training. Ultimately, their job is to patrol Israel's borders. Three years ago, a female Caracal soldier killed a terrorist that was trying to cross the border from Sinai.
2015-09-04 00:00:00
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