DAMTOYS 1/6 IDF Combat Intelligence Collection Corps "Nachshol" Reconnaissance Coy

The Field Intelligence Corps includes a unique company of soldiers. Experts at camouflage, tasked with monitoring the Israel-Egypt border for suspicious activity, and capable of interdicting if necessary, these fighters belong to the Nachshol Reconnaissance Company; a combat formation made up solely of young women soldiers.

The company belongs to the Southern Field Intelligence Battalion. It started as an experiment in 2006, and in 2009, began operating as a company that combines observation and intelligence gathering expertise with combat capabilities. The young women that serve are combat soldiers, each one volunteering for a three-year military commitment (as opposed to the two-year mandatory service).

The fighters in field intelligence operate special equipment for locating and thwarting hostile terrorist activity, and identifying the target and directing interdiction forces towards it.

“Recently, this area has been characterized by infiltration attempts from terrorists, work immigrants, and African refugees,” says the company commander, Captain Dana Ben-Ezra.

“We can sense the tense situation. Workload is on the rise. The fighters look farther into the distance to collect information and complete the picture for commanders who make decisions. In the end, we need to remember what we are here for.”

According to Second Lieutenant Mor Daphna, a team commander responsible for ten soldiers, no one knows the territory better than the company’s fighters. The extended time spent in the area of operation creates an intimate knowledge of every bush and hill. “Our mission is to protect Eilat and other communities in the vicinity of the Egyptian border. We are required to conduct our activities in secrecy and with a low profile. We take up positions in the most essential spots, but our real advantage lies in our high level of professionalism. There are many units that come and go in this territory, but because we know and understand the terrain, none are as professional as we are. Only someone who spends extended time in the field knows how to identify unusual events based on nearly invisible signs.”

These field intelligence soldiers were the first to identify and call for reinforcements in a cross-border terrorist attack in August. Terrorists infiltrated from Sinai and opened fire on an Egged bus, and later fired an anti-tank missile on another bus and passing vehicles. In this attack, terrorists killed six Israeli civilians, an IDF soldier, and the chief officer of a police special forces unit.

Only in rare cases are the fighters required to respond themselves and not call up other forces. “We rather they not be exposed, but if there is an incident that requires a rapid response, then that is part of the mission,” points out Mor Daphna.

The main reason the company is comprised solely of women is that sometimes they are required to spend endless hours together in very tight and concealed observation posts. They leave for their mission with camouflage paint concealing their faces just as any other infantryman would. Under these conditions, men and women are separated so as not to distract one another from the mission at hand.

“We go out on several missions a week, some longer than others, and usually we’re in the field for 24 to 48 consecutive hours,” says Hana Larson, a lone soldier from the US who heard of the company when she volunteered on a base up north. “We are all together, in not-so-simple conditions, and it’s physically and mentally challenging, but this is a special experience. We understand the importance of what we do—serving as the southern eyes for the entire country.”

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