fredzio54
27.05.03, 18:02
Jakie cudowne Wojsko mamy !!!!
Reorganizing the IDF
By Moshe Arens
Spurred by the swift allied military victory in
Iraq and the massive and effective use of modern
technology weapons systems there, the need for
reorganizing military forces is being widely
discussed. Is the Israeli army in need of
reorganization?
Nothing really new was revealed
to the Israel Defense Forces
during the military operation
in Iraq. For many years now the
IDF has kept up with
technological advances and
their application to weapons
systems. The increasingly
dominant role of the air force
in modern warfare has long been
appreciated in Israel, and found its expression
in the size and quality of the Israel Air Force
and the funds allocated to it in the defense
budget.
Israel's ability to integrate operational
experience with the development of new weapons
systems is probably unrivaled. The IDF is
equipped with many of the types of weapons used
by the U.S. armed forces during the operation in
Iraq and has shown its ability to use these
systems when needed. Yet, nevertheless,
consideration should be given to an
organizational change in the IDF.
For 35 years, until 1983, the IDF's organization
remained more or less as it had been during the
War of Independence, structured around the
concept that the air force (and for that matter,
the navy) were no more than auxiliary services to
the ground forces, and that coordination between
the various branches of the ground forces -
infantry, armor, artillery, engineers, ordnance,
communications, intelligence and the logistic
services - should be handled at the General Staff
level.
This organization tended to neglect the need for
close integration of the field forces - infantry,
armor, artillery, and engineers - in training and
acquisition of equipment. Such integration had
become a dominant need with the adoption of
modern technology by these services, a need that
was clearly demonstrated during the Yom Kippur
War.
Although this was recognized for years, internal
bureaucratic rivalries in the IDF prevented any
organizational change from being carried out,
until such time as the defense minister in 1983
directed that the Ground Services Command be set
up. This reorganization assured close integration
in training and acquisition of equipment between
the infantry, armor, artillery, and engineering
branches of the ground forces. It still left the
operational integration at the General Staff
level, through the regional commands - North,
Central and South.
Under the stewardship of the former chief of
staff, Shaul Mofaz, additional functions were
more recently added to the Ground Services
Command, now renamed the Command of the Ground
Branches. But operational integration remains at
the level of the General Staff, through the
regional commands. Is this organizational
structure adequate to meet the needs of a modern
armed force, considering the latest technology
and Israel's changed strategic environment?
Most of the world's armed forces are organized on
the basis of a triad - army, air force and navy -
with each branch responsible for its training,
equipment, and operation. Israel's air force and
navy are also so structured. The Israeli ground
forces have, however, remained an exception to
this day. Because of the importance of the air
force in the IDF's force structure and the need
for integrating the ground force's operations
with its training and equipment acquisition
functions, consideration should be given to
unifying all of the functions of the ground
forces under one ground forces command, including
supervision of the regional commands, and putting
the ground forces on a parallel organizational
level with the air force. It is a subject that
should be put on the agenda of the Knesset's
Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.
No doubt such a reorganization of the IDF will
meet numerous objections, as was the case when
the Ground Services Command was set up 20 years
ago. Some of the objections will probably be
based on objective criteria, while others may
come from senior officers who feel that their
status would be affected or that they might be
downgraded by the reorganization.
As was the case 20 years ago, it will probably
take a directive from the defense minister to
carry out such an organizational change. But if
it is found to be in the best interests of the
IDF, such a directive should be issued without
much hesitation.
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