Jun 13, 2013
Haredi tech soldiers surprised by Reserve Duty
I don't know what they were thinking, but when Haredi soldiers of the Shachar unit found out that they will need to do Reserve Duty, and in what capacity, they kind of lost it.
Somehow, it seems, that when they signed up for service they did not expect it would also obligate them for Reserve Duty, miluim. The more serious issue though is that they have been told they will be sent for a course in identifying corpses and how to deal with the burial issues.
The IDF has decided to direct the soldiers of Shachar to this sensitive field for their reserve duty. This has upset many of the soldiers - firstly because they did not realize they would have to do reserve duty at all (they thought they would do their service and be done with it), and secondly because they signed up with Shachar, where they would learn and be involved in technology, which is something they could then take with them into civilian life. They never expressed desire to identify corpses. Even if it is necessary to do reserve duty, which was also unexpected, they say it should also be in the field of technology in which they were trained.
Sodiers complained that they would be fine doing reserve duty in the fields they received training in, but dealing with dead bodies is completely different, and the simulations and images they have already been shown are shocking.
The response from the IDF was that nobody in the IDF ever promised the sodiers that there would be no reserve duty. They are soldiers like any other and after service is completed the soldiers continue to do reserve duty. The first priority for reserve duty placement is in the units in which they first served, but when there is no space or available task for them in that unit, they get moved to the pool of soldiers and the IDF places them in tasks and units as needed. Right now there is a shortage of soldiers in the units that deal with the identification of corpses, so these soldiers have been directed to those units. The IDF points out that it has nothing to do with Shachar - other soldiers are also being directed from other units to this one as well.
(source: Ynet)
The army is not just something you can take advantage of just so that you can get training for civilian life, and complain about anything they do that does not help you toward that goal. The army is the army, and they have soldiers do whatever is needed. There are programs within that can benefit a soldier and help them in civilian life, but that cannot be the entire approach to the army.
Regardless of that, I hope the army is evaluating the soldiers it sends to such units. With gruesome sights and horrifying experiences waiting for these soldiers, the IDF must realize not everyone is cut out for such a task, and just because they are Haredi soldiers does not mean they are more cut out for it than others. Some might be, and they can be sent for such a task, while others might not be and should not just be sent there automatically.
Somehow, it seems, that when they signed up for service they did not expect it would also obligate them for Reserve Duty, miluim. The more serious issue though is that they have been told they will be sent for a course in identifying corpses and how to deal with the burial issues.
The IDF has decided to direct the soldiers of Shachar to this sensitive field for their reserve duty. This has upset many of the soldiers - firstly because they did not realize they would have to do reserve duty at all (they thought they would do their service and be done with it), and secondly because they signed up with Shachar, where they would learn and be involved in technology, which is something they could then take with them into civilian life. They never expressed desire to identify corpses. Even if it is necessary to do reserve duty, which was also unexpected, they say it should also be in the field of technology in which they were trained.
Sodiers complained that they would be fine doing reserve duty in the fields they received training in, but dealing with dead bodies is completely different, and the simulations and images they have already been shown are shocking.
The response from the IDF was that nobody in the IDF ever promised the sodiers that there would be no reserve duty. They are soldiers like any other and after service is completed the soldiers continue to do reserve duty. The first priority for reserve duty placement is in the units in which they first served, but when there is no space or available task for them in that unit, they get moved to the pool of soldiers and the IDF places them in tasks and units as needed. Right now there is a shortage of soldiers in the units that deal with the identification of corpses, so these soldiers have been directed to those units. The IDF points out that it has nothing to do with Shachar - other soldiers are also being directed from other units to this one as well.
(source: Ynet)
The army is not just something you can take advantage of just so that you can get training for civilian life, and complain about anything they do that does not help you toward that goal. The army is the army, and they have soldiers do whatever is needed. There are programs within that can benefit a soldier and help them in civilian life, but that cannot be the entire approach to the army.
Regardless of that, I hope the army is evaluating the soldiers it sends to such units. With gruesome sights and horrifying experiences waiting for these soldiers, the IDF must realize not everyone is cut out for such a task, and just because they are Haredi soldiers does not mean they are more cut out for it than others. Some might be, and they can be sent for such a task, while others might not be and should not just be sent there automatically.
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Good post. Indeed, in general, the only soldiers who get to do in miluim what they did in regular army are those who were trained in fighting units, training that usually lasted over six months, and those who supported those units. Jobniks, who I am not ridiculing, if they do miluim, are definitely, in general, not assured to do the same thing in miluim as they did in regular service.
ReplyDeleteInstead of complaining, these soldiers should be *grateful* that they are being sent to this course.
ReplyDeletePutting aside the fact that chessed shel emet is a huge mitzvah, I suspect that the reason the army sent them there specifically is that identifying corpses falls under the auspices of the IDF Rabbinate, where there are no female soldiers.
In contrast, many other non-combat units have chayalim and chayalot, and thus, IMHO, by sending these chareidi soldiers davka to the Rabbanut, the army was - as usual - going out of its way to accommodate the needs of religious soldiers.