“Hostile terrorists activities, shoot to kill,” screamed the commander of a Devorah attack ship, Captain Tomer Katzir, during the combined training session of naval commandos that took place recently at the Ashdod naval base.
Four Devorah class attack ships of the Ksif commando unit took part in the training exercise, which created multiple simultaneous attack scenarios for the soldiers. Some of the scenarios included the kidnapping of a soldier and the Hannibal directive, attack divers penetrating into Israeli territory from the southern Mediterranean, and towing damaged boats.
“Continuity is a strength that exists in the Navy,” said company commander Lieutenant Colonel Liv Zilberman. “We train with different units in order to maintain a high level of performance from the soldiers, both ours and theirs. We therefore train using complex multi-level scenarios. The primary goal of this exercise is to maintain the level of readiness and alertness for emergency situations that can and do arise.”
The exercise carried on as planned until the commanders themselves were surprised by how many simultaneous scenarios they were able to accomplish at one time. While one ship was dealing with a lost vessel that was approaching strategic targets, a second ship dealt with the penetration of attack divers, while the third had a soldier kidnapped from on board the vessel itself.
“This exercise was created in an effort to portray the first day of an actual war, and brought us to extreme situations. We know that if something like this were to occur it would happen as a complete surprise. But we need to be ready for even these situations and know how to handle them quickly and professionally. The exercise was a success and each soldier fulfilled his duties as was expected of him or her,” said the commander of Devorah 831.
“We know that in an emergency situation we will be forced to deal with simultaneous attacks on all fronts, by land, sea and air. That is why integrated training utilizing all three branches of the military is so important. We need to strengthen and prepare all fronts for the next engagement,” said the deputy assistant chief of staff of the Northern Division.
Lieutenant Colonel Zilberman concluded by saying, "all of the scenarios presented during the drill were a surprise for all of the soldiers and officers involved. We wanted to create a situation that was as real as possible. we created scenarios in which no one knew what was to be expected, and even so they would be expected to succeed."
"At the end of the day, the soldiers and officers involved did succeed and neutralized all of the threats presented to them. This is just another validation that the soldiers of company 916 are ready for any threat that comes their way.”