The Unit

The battalion—a few hundred men (there are no women in this battalion)—belongs to one of the army's elite infantry brigades, yet it is an organization that is made up exclu­sively of reservists, or miluim-nicks (literally, people who fill in the gap).

Like many reserve units in the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), the general atmosphere in the battalion tends towards the informal and the familiar. While there is a clear divide between officers (or senior non-commissioned officers, NCOs, fulfilling officer roles) and the enlisted men, rank is de-emphasized, and everyone (including the unit's com­mander) is called by his name or nickname. All of us serve under similar general condi­tions: the same beds and barracks, the same food and canteen services, similar clothes and equipment, and approximately the same kind of furloughs.

The battalion is an “organic” unit (yechida organit). Organizationally this implies (1) a framework characterized by a permanent membership and role structure, and, (2) that upon mobilization, the entire battalion will be recruited. Socially this term implies a mili­tary force characterized by relatively high cohesion, overlapping primary groups, and a certain sense of a shared past. The unit trains at least once a year and its senior com­manders are proud of the high level of competence shown during these maneuvers. While the battalion carries out a variety of military tasks, recently it had been deployed at Mount Hermon where Israel, Lebanon, and Syria meet.