Posted on 07/22/2006 2:54:51 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
JERUSALEM - Roy Bass emerged from the Mediterranean waves at noon Friday for a Popsicle break when, surfboard in hand, he heard his cell phone ringing on the beach. It was a recorded message: "An emergency draft has been activated."
Four hours later, the 27-year-old computer programmer was at an army base, in full uniform, preparing to head to Israel's northern border, where troops were massing to take on Hezbollah guerrillas in Lebanon.
Israel's mighty military is comprised of thousands like Bass — ordinary civilians who, at a moment's notice, respond to the call to arms.
On Friday, several thousand reservists were drafted for immediate, emergency duty. By Friday night, the army chief of staff announced the response was full, plus thousands who volunteered on their own initiative.
"The reserves have proven themselves once again," said Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, the army chief of staff.
The enthusiastic response highlights the intimate relationship Israel has with its army. Nearly every Jewish Israeli has served in the army, and opinion polls consistently show the army to be the country's most trusted institution.
Since Israel became independent in 1948, reserves have been the backbone of its military, conditioned to drop everything and be mobilized within a day or two to back up the far smaller core of active duty soldiers. Men from all walks of life — and increasingly women with special skills — instantly become soldiers again.
Israel's standing army of about 186,500 troops can jump to 631,500 with rapid mobilization, according to figures from the Jaffee Center for Strategic Studies.
The system has proven effective in all of Israel's wars. In 1973, when Egypt and Syria attacked en masse on the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur, thousands of reservists were summoned from their homes and synagogues and rushed to the front lines to push back the offensive.
Despite Israel's increasing reliance on technological superiority, military service remains a rite of passage. All 18-year-old men are drafted for three years and will continue to do reserves for about a month a year into their 40s, by which time many will have sons in the army or reserves. Women are drafted for two years.
As Israel's military dominance has grown, it has become less reliant on its reserves. The retirement age has been gradually lowered from 51 to 40 in some cases, and the number of reserves called up has steadily dropped, with the army focusing more on those with specialized skills, such as air force pilots and intelligence officers.
Some view the task the way Americans view jury duty — boring and disruptive, especially for college students and the self-employed. Most, however, welcome it as a break from the rigors of daily life, a chance to bond with old comrades in a setting where a backgammon board is often a more important accessory than a rifle.
In peacetime, a reserve stint is something to be haggled over with a commanding officer with all sorts of excuses — a college exam, an overseas vacation, a spell of dental surgery.
But when the call-up is an "Order 8," military parlance for an emergency summons, the response is visceral.
"All of a sudden it becomes a real war, it changes everything," Bass said by cell phone from his base in northern Israel.
Bass serves annually in his armored battalion, but this is his first Order 8.
Where once Israelis were drafted to war by air raid sirens, passwords over the radio and recruiters going door to door, today they are summoned by computerized calls to their cell phones.
When Bass got his call-up, he sped home and swapped his bathing suit for an army uniform.
"There was no dilemma, no doubt in my mind because it is something you grow up with, that this is the most important thing there is," he said. "It's ingrained deep inside you — if they call you, you go."
Even without a war, reservists are as much at risk as regular soldiers. The two soldiers who were kidnapped by Hezbollah on the Lebanon border, triggering the current round of fighting, were reservists.
Ephraim Sneh, a lawmaker and former general, said his three parliamentary assistants were drafted for emergency duty. He said those who are called are genuinely needed and, therefore, "whoever serves, serves with joy."
"The destiny of Israel is the hands of the few, and we owe our lives to the few," he said. "Those who are on the front lines were always the few, but thanks to these devoted people we are still here."
Israeli troops drive north in a convoy, near Kabri, northern Israel, Saturday, July 22, 2006. Israeli tanks and hundreds of troops took control a village, entering a U.N. observation post and engaged Hezbollah militants in their ground campaign.(AP Photo/Jacob Silberberg)
A militant from the Palestinian Front for Liberation of Palestine carries a homemade rocket in the Mughazi refugee camp, in central Gaza, Saturday, July 22, 2006. Israeli forces pulled out of the camp Friday after a two-day sweep, aimed to target militants and weapons, that left 15 Palestinians killed. (AP Photo/Pier Paolo Cito)
Can you imagine if we had more widespread compulsory service to our country?
All the liberal coward leftists would flee to Mexico and Canada as soon as they received their notification to report.
God Bless Israel and her brave people. We stand together through thick and thin. We are bound with our UK and Aussie allies and we will defend Western civilization from the Islamic fascists.
Gaza's going to get theirs soon enough. The biggest risk that Israel faces right now is Syria jumping in, with Iran wratcheting up it's support. IMO, that's when we should start bombing the crap out of Iran. We're going to have t do it eventually. Might as well get it done now.
That would be nice, but what makes our military today so good is that it is volunteer. Everybody who serves does so because they want to. That's how you build a good military.
It's not "mentally challenged" but "mentally defecative". Check the dictionary.
Funny how eloquent an extra vowel here and there can be...
Would that Americans have the same sense of loyalty and dedication to their country. Fortunately, not since our grandparents has anyone here had to fear for their freedoms or lives or want for anything. That is the legacy that our grandparents gave to us which far too many have tossed aside and taken their luxuries in life for granted...........
I could never, ever stand in criticism of Israel for whatever shorcomings anyone could ever offer.
My only wish in life is that if ever push comes to shove, we Americans could come together as a nation as Israel has done for the past 50 + years.............
We are fortunate to be a large nation with so many great Americans who embrace the volunteer military we field. But we are pushing it with several tours of these brave people to Iraq/Afghanistan and many "foreigners" who are actually fighting for a future in this country.
If a global war breaks out with Iran, it won't be enough. We will have to field more than volunteers and the National Guard.
Israel's destiny lies in the Hand of God Almighty, El Shaddai.
Ezekiel 36
Restoration for Israel
1"Son of man, prophesy to Israel's mountains. Give them this message: O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the LORD! 2This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Your enemies have taunted you, saying, `Aha! Now the ancient heights belong to us!' 3Therefore, son of man, give the mountains of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: Your enemies have attacked you from all directions, and now you are possessed by many nations. You are the object of much mocking and slander. 4Therefore, O mountains of Israel, hear the word of the Sovereign LORD. He speaks to the hills and mountains, ravines and valleys, and to ruined wastes and long-deserted cities that have been destroyed and mocked by foreign nations everywhere. 5This is what the Sovereign LORD says: My jealous anger is on fire against these nations, especially Edom, because they have shown utter contempt for me by gleefully taking my land for themselves as plunder.
6"Therefore, prophesy to the hills and mountains, the ravines and valleys of Israel. Give them this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am full of fury because you have suffered shame before the surrounding nations. 7Therefore, says the Sovereign LORD, I have raised my hand and sworn an oath that those nations will soon have their turn at suffering shame. 8But the mountains of Israel will produce heavy crops of fruit to prepare for my people's return--and they will be coming home again soon! 9See, I am concerned for you, and I will come to help you. Your ground will be tilled and your crops planted. 10I will greatly increase the population of Israel, and the ruined cities will be rebuilt and filled with people. 11Not only the people, but your flocks and herds will also greatly multiply. O mountains of Israel, I will bring people to live on you once again. I will make you even more prosperous than you were before. Then you will know that I am the LORD. 12I will cause my people to walk on you once again, and you will be their inheritance. You will never again devour their children.
13"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Now the other nations taunt you, saying, `Israel is a land that devours her own people!' 14But you will never again devour your people or bereave your nation, says the Sovereign LORD. 15I will not allow those foreign nations to sneer at you, and you will no longer be shamed by them or cause your nation to fall, says the Sovereign LORD."
16Then this further message came to me from the LORD: 17"Son of man, when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their evil deeds. To me their conduct was as filthy as a bloody rag. 18They polluted the land with murder and by worshiping idols, so I poured out my fury on them. 19I scattered them to many lands to punish them for the evil way they had lived. 20But when they were scattered among the nations, they brought dishonor to my holy name. For the nations said, `These are the people of the LORD, and he couldn't keep them safe in his own land!' 21Then I was concerned for my holy name, which had been dishonored by my people throughout the world.
22"Therefore, give the people of Israel this message from the Sovereign LORD: I am bringing you back again but not because you deserve it. I am doing it to protect my holy name, which you dishonored while you were scattered among the nations. 23I will show how holy my great name is--the name you dishonored among the nations. And when I reveal my holiness through you before their very eyes, says the Sovereign LORD, then the nations will know that I am the LORD. 24For I will gather you up from all the nations and bring you home again to your land.
25"Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. 26And I will give you a new heart with new and right desires, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony heart of sin and give you a new, obedient heart.[a] 27And I will put my Spirit in you so you will obey my laws and do whatever I command.
28"And you will live in Israel, the land I gave your ancestors long ago. You will be my people, and I will be your God. 29I will cleanse you of your filthy behavior. I will give you good crops, and I will abolish famine in the land. 30I will give you great harvests from your fruit trees and fields, and never again will the surrounding nations be able to scoff at your land for its famines. 31Then you will remember your past sins and hate yourselves for all the evil things you did. 32But remember, says the Sovereign LORD, I am not doing this because you deserve it. O my people of Israel, you should be utterly ashamed of all you have done!
33"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: When I cleanse you from your sins, I will bring people to live in your cities, and the ruins will be rebuilt. 34The fields that used to lie empty and desolate--a shock to all who passed by--will again be farmed. 35And when I bring you back, people will say, `This godforsaken land is now like Eden's garden! The ruined cities now have strong walls, and they are filled with people!' 36Then the nations all around--all those still left--will know that I, the LORD, rebuilt the ruins and planted lush crops in the wilderness. For I, the LORD, have promised this, and I will do it.
37"This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am ready to hear Israel's prayers for these blessings, and I am ready to grant them their requests. 38I will multiply them like the sacred flocks that fill Jerusalem's streets at the time of her festivals. The ruined cities will be crowded with people once more, and everyone will know that I am the LORD."
There is the inactive reserve, which is larger than you think.
(Go Israel Go! Slap 'Em Down Hezbullies.)
I don't know the numbers of the inactive reserve but the load is being borne heavily by the active duty and National Guard. To me, it seems too much.
One tour of Afghanistan or Iraq should be enough. Three tours shows we have a built in limitation taken too far.
IMHO, that's one view.
Bttt
Bump what you said.
Doesn't the fact that their 'warriors' always hide their faces say a lot about the legitimacy of their actions?
I'm saying that in an emergency there a lots in the inactive reserve who owe time to Uncle. Better than trying to train people off the street.
John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Harry Reid, Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Dianne Feinstein, Queen Hillary and Bubba, Dickie Durbin, Chuckie Schumer, and the rest of the un-American debris in our Congress would be wiping the feces out of their pants if they were asked to physically defend this country. Our ancestors must be turning in their graves at the thought of such worthless cowards representing our country.
"whoever serves, serves with joy."
God's speed soldiers.
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