IDF Naval Officers Course
Yesterday (Wednesday), 34 naval officers graduated from the 142nd IDF Naval Officers Course, one of the most elite courses in the IDF. Over the last 28 months, the cadets have trained, studied, swum, dived, and sailed the vessels of the Israeli Navy in order to accomplish the task of defending Israel’s maritime borders. Here is all you need to know about the intensive process that they went through:
04.03.21
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The first phase of being a naval officer is a four-week-long basic training course. Soldiers go through basic infantry training at the Navy Instructional Base and learn the fundamental values of the IDF, the basic use of weapons, and the military history of the Israel Defense Forces.
In addition to the basic training that every IDF soldier goes through, naval cadets go through an additional training course specific to the Israeli Navy. In the first part of this phase, called the 'seamanship and command’ phase, the cadets face the challenges at sea for the first time. They undergo multiple fitness tests, experience long voyages at sea, and learn about Israel's maritime borders. In the second part of this phase, the future naval officers learn how to operate and command large vessels in the Israeli Navy.
At this point in the process, all cadets take a two-star diving course. In addition, the cadets are divided into one of two different types of training based on the position that is relevant to them:
Deck Training – Cadets advance their technical performance by training in maritime weaponry and operating naval vessels.
Electronics / Engineering – Cadets gain a deeper understanding of Israeli Naval technology and train to specialize in marine mechanics and systems.
In this phase, all of the cadets begin a customized political science degree at Haifa University combined with lessons about naval and military strategy.
This is the last phase in the naval officers training in which the cadets specialize in the role they are going to be assigned. In this stage, there are two different internships––the naval internship and the field internship––in which the cadets experience being commanders in the Israeli Navy for the first time.
Cadets who successfully complete all five phases begin their military service as naval officers in the Israel Defense Forces. The skillful Israeli naval officers protect the country’s maritime borders, guard Israel's coastal cities, and prepare for any maritime challenge that the State of Israel may face.
