Love of the Land: Reserves and Rhodes

Reserves and Rhodes

Doug Greener
Opinion/JPost
20 January '10

This year, my wife Trudy and I went on a five-day vacation to the Isle of Rhodes right after I finished my 12 days of volunteer reserve duty in the IDF. I preferred that order, having a restful vacation after sleeping on a cot with four other snoring men in the room. But Trudy says that she would have preferred a vacation from me after being on a vacation with me!

My stint in the army reserves brought me to the center of Samaria, to a little base manned and womanned by soldiers from the Home Front Command. These young soldiers are primarily trained for search and rescue operations in case of emergencies. But in the meantime, they perform vital security tasks along the Green Line.

I was sent with four other volunteer reservists to help them. Mostly, the pleasure was all ours. These were the best of Israeli youth, doing an incredibly responsible job.

A few brief observations:

• While not fully an "equal opportunity employer," the army is still taking progressive steps. The young man giving out equipment at the reception center was a uniformed soldier with Down's syndrome. He was no less responsive to our complaints than any other soldier in the Quartermaster Corps.

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Love of the Land: Reserves and Rhodes