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Following the shortage of fighters: the IDF lowers the professional standard in training armored fighters in reserve on new tanks, and shortens the duration of training by 50%
Doron Kadosh
Following the shortage of fighters: the IDF lowers the professional standard in training armored fighters in reserve on new tanks, and shortens the duration of training by 50%
In the coming weeks, the Armored Brigade in the 4th Reserve will take a line at one of the most sensitive borders in Israel with tanks different from those that the brigade has been operating in recent years - Merkava Mark 3, instead of Merkava Mark 4.
Officers in the brigade claim that the training of the conversion of the fighters to the new-old tanks was shortened to only 5 days, and that this is a fairly short period of time, compared to other conversions that are usually deployed over several weeks. According to the officers, such a short conversion will allow all the fighters of the brigade basic training on the Mark 3 tanks, and everyone will have knowledge of the operation of the tank - but it is not certain that the fighters will be trained to deal with more complex or unusual combat situations.
A senior IDF officer with whom we spoke admits that the duration of the training was indeed shortened by about 50%, but according to him - all fighters will reach a good level of proficiency on the tank, and those who do not meet the required professional standard - will not go up to the line and undergo additional training: We will not put them on a mission before we know that they are 100% closed on things. Proficiency is enough to fight - you don't need to reach the expert level.'. And yet, that senior officer also admitted that the IDF is compromising on a shorter training time, in order to deal with the challenges of the lack of fighters and the burden on the reservists.
