Many conscripts of the Israeli Army would like to join Iron Dome Air Defence System Team 2911121

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Defense News - Israel
 
 
Thursday, November 29, 2012, 06:43 AM
 
Many conscripts of the Israeli Army would like to join Iron Dome Air Defence System Team.
Since Iron Dome became a star during the latest Gaza-Israel conflict, more and more Israeli conscripts are willing to join the Iron Dome team. Israel's Air Defense Corps used to struggle to spark enthusiasm among high school seniors to embark on their mandatory military service. The massive rocket attacks from the Gaza Strip is changing that reality. Growing numbers of potential recruits are seeking training as operators of Iron Dome, a radar and GPS- synched air defense system that has shot down hundreds of Grad and Kassam rockets targeting Israel.
     

Israeli Air Force Commander, Maj. Gen. Ido Nechushtan, met with the soldiers operating the Iron Dome anti-missile defense system today. The Iron Dome system is an active defense system against short-range rockets.
     

About 9 percent of conscripts in November's draft, which began Wednesday, asked to be assigned to air defense units, while demand for service with Iron Dome skyrocketed 150 percent in the past year, according to the military.

"Life in the south, particularly the last round of fighting ( between Israel and Gaza militants) inspired me to protect my home, " said Shahar Kabuli, 18, who hails from Beersheba, a southern Israeli city targeted by more than 100 rockets last week.

"When we sat in the bomb shelter and I heard Iron Dome firing, I told my mother, 'You hear that noise? In a few months I'll be operating that,'" She told the Yedioth Ahronot newspaper.

Israel's leadership has lauded Iron Dome's success in saving dozens of lives and preventing innumerable damage to infrastructure during a week-long confrontation, dubbed Operation Pillar of Defense, which ended last Wednesday in the wake of a U.S. -Egyptian-brokered ceasefire with Hamas.

The mobile batteries are often moved throughout the country on training and operational deployment, with crews living in tents and eating combat rations. The need to be on-call 24/7 makes weekend leaves a rarity.