Maglan, one of the IDF's Special Operations units specializing in covert operations deep behind enemy lines, used to be stigmatized as a unit of elitists who know no boundaries in their behavior, but over the past decade it has become much more diverse, and has boasted impressive covert operations, playing a decisive role in the Second Lebanon War. Next week it will mark the 25th anniversary of its founding; Nir Volf was embedded into one of the exercises the unit held this week, which began with a tragedy when Captain Tal Omri suddenly complained of headache, collapsed, and died. Maglan fighters spent the night entrenched and concealed in the positions they had created within the bushes. Raindrops cooled them down from the blistering heat of the day. Terrific weather, the fighters comment. Even the soil on which they were sitting or lying down was rather comfortable and cozy. Then at 4 am up on their feet in an unexpected drill mortar shells began targeting their positions in a pinpointed fashion. The fighters have been spotted. The phrase "in confident silence upon the fall of night the fire of the Ibis will eat up its pray," taken from the unit's anthem runs across the entrance gate of Maglan's home base Maglan takes its name from the Ibis bird). The night disappears with the morning twilight, and this time around the mission is to take up positions overlooking a hostile village. Lt. Col. 'A' (names concealed to protect identity) convenes the section commanders and relays the orders after which they finalize a joint action plan. From there the orders get passed down through the chain of command "this unit enters from here, one unit storms from there, and this one penetrates from here". The unit commanders scurry to divide work for the section teams which house each takes over, and what are the entrances to be used and who provides cover to the others. Formulation of battle procedure can take up to a month, but in this case circumstances force them to have it finalized in minutes. Not long thereafter, the training grounds become an intense battle scene - highly motivated soldiers raid the houses, clear the area with gunfire and grenades, also entering underground tunnels and simulating evacuation of an injured soldier with ropes. An hour had passed and by now the soldiers are taking a nap on the ground, sheltered from the blistering sun inside a concrete structure. The camouflage paint applied on their faces had been eroded due to dried sweat. They don a well-serviced helmet. And so they nap, accumulating sleep mileage piecemeal. Bolstering your strength is essential, and this is only part of the training exercises that Maglan holds. The unit marks its 25th anniversary of its founding next week, with 4,000 invited participants, among them veterans of the unit through the ages. Singer Mosh Ben Ari will perform, and even the Chief of Staff has promised to make an appearance. The program includes a great amount of unit pride. "A show of unity and solidarity," promises Itay Ben Horin, director of the Maglan association, which is hosting the event. Maglan has seen many transformations since its founding in 1986. During its first years it was considered a unit composed of 'crazies' that know no boundaries and to whom IDF restrictions do not apply. Maglan service members flouted military rules and walked in civilian attire or in sneakers. A spate of severe operational and disciplinary mishaps gave it a bad name. Maglan was perceived to be manned by elitists, Kibbutz members or upper-class urbanites - lefties, if you will. In the early 1990's Maglan troops signed a letter that called on Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir to withdraw from the Gaza Strip. Roughly ten years ago Maglan reserve duty officers were the main authors of a letter which expressed their refusal to serve in the territories, with 15 objectors coming from within the ranks of Maglan. Nowadays Maglan boasts many religious soldiers, as well as those of all political stripes. Maglan's rehabilitation is usually credited to current GOC Southern Command Maj. Gen. Tal Russo, whose terms as unit commander saw the assassination of dozens of Hezbollah terrorists. He went on to become a division commander, and had Maglan take part in targeted assassinations in the territories. Maglan has clocked-up countless hours of high-risk operations conducted well behind enemy lines - most of which have never been declassified. Maglan was awarded a unit citation by the GOC Central Command for its performance during the Second Lebanon War. Tal would have insisted we persist This week's exercise kicked-off on the most tragic note possible. The entire unit had convened at Tel Nof Airbase mess hall for lunch. Team commander Omri Tal (nicknamed Talcar) told his friends that he was not feeling well. "I have nausea, terrible pain," he said, before collapsing. Four physicians and one paramedic immediately lunged forward to help him. They poured water on him and began resuscitating. Upon realizing that his condition was severe, Tal was evacuated to Kaplan Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Friends say that Omri's level-headedness was unmatched in the unit. Just recently he was driving a AIL Storm (Sufa) jeep and attempted to cross a overflowing river. The vehicle was fully immersed, but he just dived right into the water with unbelievable nonchalance, retrieved the keys from the vehicle, swam out. "This is no big deal," he said, trying to calm everyone. After attending Tal's funeral, Lt.-Col. 'A' convened the shocked fighters and shared his dilemma: should the exercise proceed according to plan? Omri - who had gained experience while serving as a deputy platoon commander for a year - was supposed to lead a contingent for the first time in his life, and was unabashed about his excitement. "We will move on and do what he would have wanted to do, and by doing that we carry his mantle," Lt.-Col. 'A' explained to his subordinates, standing in U-formation. "If he could tell us what his wishes were, Talcar would have insisted that we continue our training and prepare for the real thing," he said. Lt.-Col. 'A' began his service in the Paratroopers Brigade, and took over as Maglan commander last year. His billet, as head of the elite unit, is considered one of the most prized positions in the army, and has historically been a incubator for many of the army's top brass. These include Col. Dror Weinberg, Hebron Brigade Commander who was killed in a gunfight with terrorists; Col. Amir Bar'am, currently the commander of the Paratroopers Brigade; and Brig.-Gen. Moti Baruch, commander of the Idan division-size regional formation, and Brig.-Gen. Yossi Bachar, current commander of the Gaza Division. Face-to-face combat "Maglan is a special ops unit whose expertise is in certain field conditions. We simulate them throughout the year," explains Lt.-Col. 'A'. "Our exercise incorporates all of these conditions with ambiguity, enemy mock-up, lack of sleep and unexpected events. For all intents and purposes, I have to encounter surprises just like the rank-and-file." "Hezbollah and Hamas employ all that is at their disposal, and we have to engage in face-to-face combat with fighters who consider themselves skilled combatants. We do not look down on them, but we have already proven that in face-to-face combat the IDF is a formidable adversary, particularly when it comes to this unit," he adds. About a week into the Second Lebanon War, Maglan was the first unit to run into Hezbollah terrorists, fighting them across the border fence. Maglan fighters had taken-up positions on the Shaked Mountain Range area, overlooking Avivim. Within minute it turned out that their choice of coordinates was troublesome - they were in what was a Hezbollah 'Nature Reserve'. The soldiers discovered bunkers within the thicket, and while they operated to destroy them, a battle erupted with the hunkered-down terrorists. Staff Sergeant Yonatan Hadasi sustained a gunshot wound to his head; Staff Sergeant Yotam Gilboa, the medic, ran right into the line of fire, lay beside his friend and tried to administer aid, until he was struck by a bullet. They were both killed. When the situation got sticky, Major Amit Ze'evi, a reserve officer and son of former OC Military Intelligence Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Aharon Ze'evi Farkash, took matters into his own hands. Although he was not part of the chain of command, he began relaying orders - on where to fire and when to storm. After running into a close combat situation, Ze'evi summoned the heavy machine gun gunner, the company commander and the three stormed forward and won the battle. Five Hezbollah fighters were killed. The 'nature reserve' was completely destroyed with explosives. Hadasi, Gilboa and Ze'evi were awarded a citation. All in all, Maglan fighters destroyed 150 targets in the western area of operation, forty of which were rocket launchers. The operation, dubbed Operation Beach Boys, saw the destruction of command sites, trucks, caches of ammunition and infrastructure. The unit's activities reduced rocket fire on Israel's northern towns by about 40%. "The unit gained professional expertise in destroying Katyusha rockets and launchers targeting Israeli towns in the north," recounts Major 'A', the unit's deputy commander. "Our main focus was on areas that were out of reach for the Israel Air Force, or where it preferred stay out," he said. Maglan is one of the most elite units in the IDF, with prestige battles waged against other elite units - Sayeret Matkal (the general staff's special operations unit), Shayetet 13 (Naval Commando Unit) and Shaldag (Israel Air Force Special Operations Unit). About a third of the recruits in the unit's basic training eventually drop out. "You have to really-really have it in you, the desire to be a Maglan fighter, in order to make it through the intensive training program spanning about 18 months," explains Major 'A'. "You have to be in great shape, but this is taken care of as part of the training, through a stress-scale that builds your body up from scratch; what cannot be built is the mental physique of the soldiers. They go through terrain familiarity trials - navigation, camouflage and observation examinations. They are required to carry 70% of their body mass over several dozen kilometers. The effort involved is unimaginable. Thus, to become a Maglan fighter you must make the necessary mental switch. You have to tell yourself, I want to be a fighter in this unit, come what may." Choosing the worst-case scenario Omri's death forced the teams to introduce changes to the exercise. One team did not deploy to the field due to the circumstances, and it had to be replaced by a different team, which was given a new navigation route only half an hour prior to commencing the exercise. Once on-site, the soldiers began climbing by foot, on a route twice as long as the original route, with two hands resting on their weapon at all times, the helmet always mounted and each fighter's back carrying a load of at least 50% of their body mass. The climb turned out to be a complex endeavor through the dense thicket, fully exhausting the soldiers. They twice ran into mock ambushes. Smoke grenades and mock bullets were the sign for starting the attack part of the drill. A hail of bullets, two grenades, and charge! "We work hard all the time around here, and we always factor-in the worst-case scenario. There will always be casualties, and the whole thing will always go wrong," says one of the fighters. "This is a unit that knows how to arrive covertly at a certain venue, blend-in, collect intelligence, and eventually raid the target and destroy it. On the other hand, it can also carry out a high-skilled run-of-the-mill infantry exercise or to adjust mortars and artillery. Maglan (the Hebrew translation for Ibis) is a bird that knows how to adapt in every situation," wraps-up one of the officers. And it has been doing so for the past 25 years.
