For the first time, the Israeli army is establishing a Red Unit as part of the ground forces. The unit will operate in a similar manner as the Red Squadron in the air force – as an expanded crew that simulates enemy forces in military exercises. The unit will be headed by a lieutenant colonel and be comprised of female soldiers overseen by both male and female commanders.

Until now, the army has not made systematic use of a permanent team to portray the enemy in exercises by ground forces. For the most part, the army had used female soldiers who serve as Hummer drivers, or makeshift teams of fighters from other units that were attached to the unit going through the exercise.

This will be the first time the army will be using a detailed and organized system to simulate the enemy, as the air force has been doing for many years with the Red Squadron. To establish the unit, which is also known as the Red Sayeret, preparatory work was done with the air force, and the experience of U.S. Army, which established a similar brigade 15 years ago, was also studied.

The army has already begun to staff the unit, which will be under the command of Brig. Gen. Nadav Lotan, commander of the Ground Training Center at the Tze’elim base. At the initial stage, 200 female soldiers will serve in the unit. They soldiers are not combat soldiers, but will spend most of the time in the field and undergo basic training and supplemental training at the basic level for combat troops. The unit will be commanded by an officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel who serves as a department head at the base.

Read more: haaretz