Posted on 11/25/2003 11:04:25 AM PST by yonif
No more flapping-in-the-wind, mildew-smelling canvas tents for soldiers in the army. The IDF's Logistics Branch has decided to replace the ubiquitous khaki tents with small, cream-colored, eight-person trailers – complete with air conditioning.
Senior officers say the aim in phasing out the traditional military abode is to give soldiers the best equipment and conditions possible. "The army is advancing in every field," said one senior officer. "We can't let them sleep as they did in 1948."
Many a veteran can recount months of field conditions of living in tents that were muggy and fly infested in the summers, and often had running water – on the ground – in the rainy winters. Officers in the Logistics Branch said the tents were dangerous in the heat and time consuming to set up. The senior officer said that reservists are also not used to the Spartan conditions once accepted in the past.
"Some will boast that whoever did not sleep in a tent didn't have a proper military experience, but if you ask those who have slept in both a tent and a trailer, you will find they prefer the trailer," the senior officer said.
The trailers are made in Israel for the IDF. They are insulated and have a door and window. They don't have wheels, but are instead easily loaded onto trucks for transport.
All one has to do is plug them in to a power source, as one would a mobile home, unlike tents which needed to be set up and wired.
In reality, most tents have already been replaced during the past three years of conflict with the Palestinians, and can be found today only at boot camps and training bases. Units deployed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip no longer sleep in tents, the senior officer said.
He also said that trailers have been modified to be combined as kitchens, clinics, and showers. Some are purchased with donations from abroad. The tents will not totally disappear, as they will be stored for emergencies. Mobile hospitals, like those sent to Rwanda and Kosovo, will also remain in a tent form since they are more easily transported on aircraft.
Still, the general tent has now joined the ranks of other retired equipment like the mess tin and the duffel bag. The army is also replacing the mythical "Shimshonit" sleeping bags – the ones rolled up and passed from recruit to recruit (and hopefully laundered, but too often not). Now the army is getting sleeping bags from US surplus supplies which are said to be warmer.
At this pace, perhaps the drab uniform colors of fatigue and khaki will be supplemented with pastels to brighten up the camp.
Sleep on the ground? We slept in the trees as often as not. It kept you out of collected rain puddles, cut down on the leech activity, and was one answer to the possibility of dogpacks or wild boars that might come visiting while we were asleep.
And it appears the Israelis are abandoning tents alltogether. They seem to have their stuff together so far as warfighting in that part of the world, so maybe they're on to something here.
-archy-/-
As to sleeping in trees, it can be comfortable (especially with a nice jungle hammock and a mosquito net), but it DOES put you right in the path of stray bullets and pieces of metal that may be flying around.
And...
He also said that trailers have been modified to be combined as kitchens, clinics, and showers.
FANTASTIC! Instant settlements! Good work IDF.
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