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The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion (Hebrew: “Gadsar”) is unique in many regards. It’s comprised almost entirely of Bedouin soldiers and stationed near the Gaza Strip, where its soldiers use their unique skills to track terrorists and thwart infiltration attempts into Israel. How? They use their special tracking skills – abilities that would take years to learn for a soldier who didn’t grow up in the Bedouin lifestyle.
Desert Reconnaissance Battalion soldier at special training
Years of living in sparsely populated desert areas and spending lots of time outdoors taught the soldiers of the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion how to be an Israeli Sherlock Holmes. They can spot a single footprint in the sand and learn volumes from it – who, what, where and whether it’s a security threat or not. In Hebrew they’re unofficially called ‘gashashim’, – ‘trackers’, or literally, ‘feelers’.
IDF soldiers takes position
The battalion was founded in 1987 especially to accommodate the needs of the Bedouin soldier in order to encourage more Bedouins to join the IDF. Most of the commanders are Bedouins, in the interest of helping the soldiers, most of who come from families not familiar with the army, get used to their military surroundings. Bedouins are not obligated to serve in the IDF – all the soldiers of the Desert Reconnaissance Battalion volunteered for service. They risk their lives daily while guarding around the Gaza Strip, often patrolling areas adjacent to their home towns.
Desert Reconnaissance Battalion Soldier in Action
In its 25 years of existence, the battalion was granted two medals for its outstanding performance during operational activities, and suffered a major loss when five of its members were killed in aterror activity near Rafah in 2004.
