The US Marines come to Israel... for training
The United States Marine Corps is in Israel... for training. As part of the cooperation between IDF ground forces and the U.S. Marine Corps force stationed in Europe, a company of U.S. Marines came to Israel for a month of intensive training alongside IDF soldiers at IDF facilities. Dividing their time between the Adam Base in central Israel and the Tze’elim Base in the south, the soldiers trained in urban warfare, reconnaissance and target shooting.Read the whole thing.
As they embarked on a training exercise at the UWTC, Platoon Sgt. Robert Hattenbach explained, “We’ve never been to a mock town like that of the IDF.” He noted the facility’s size and unique structure. “It’s important for our soldiers to train in different sites, preparing them for anything,” he said. The Marines were thrilled to train at the city, raving about its realistic feel.
A smoke grenade hit the floor, rapidly secreting thick smoke of a vibrant color used for camouflage against the lurking enemy. Yelling out commands, M4s ready, Marines snuck from building to building, clearing out every room and securing their objective. The success of the operation is determined by the captain, and the “enemy” is a squad of the Marines platoon, hiding inside each multiple story building, waiting for the other squads to find them. “By training here, we can better combat terrorism in any area and field,” Hospital Corpsman HM1 Raymond Price elaborated. “Coming to Israel has been an inspirational trip. It’s beautiful to see how Israel has managed to preserve so many years of history, culture and tradition.”
“This trip was a serious wake up call,” said Sgt. Hattenbach. “The instructors at the Adam Base took the time to explain to us what’s been going on in Israel and we realized that Israeli people are just like us. We now better understand what Israel really is and when we go back to the U.S. we can tell people that.”
The more visitors we have like these, the more support we will have in the US. It's a sort of Birthright for the non-Jews.
Labels: IDF urban warfare training center, United States marines
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 2:33 PM
2 Comments:
"The more visitors we have like these, the more support we will have in the US. It's a sort of Birthright for the non-Jews. "
EXACTLY! Bingo, Carl. Now you guys need to make sure that, as part of their birthright tour, they take that drive down the highway from Beit She'an (take them swimming there! Beautiful!) down the Jordan Valley, then turn right past Jericho into Jerusalem from the east. That drive (not flying up over) will give them a better perspective of the set up and the lies being told by the press year after year about that area than anything else you can do.
This is a great example of the mutually beneficial military cooperation between Israel and the US. (Carl, maybe a thread on the regular participation of the IAF in the annual "Red Flag" air combat exercises in Nevada would also be informative to many regular Israel Matzav surfers.)
However, I'm sure Sgt. Hattenbach was misquoted when saying “It’s important for our soldiers ..." Speaking as a US military veteran (USAF) who knows many former and present Marines, I can tell you any US Marine would take great offense at being called a "US Marine Corps soldier". US Marine, grunt, jarhead but NOT a soldier! :-)
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