188th Armored Brigade (Israel)
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188th Barak Armor Brigade | |
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Active | 1967–present |
Country | Israel |
Allegiance | Israel Defense Forces |
Branch | Armored Corps |
Type | Armor |
Part of | Northern Command |
Motto(s) | ברק בעיניים (Lightning in the eyes) |
Engagements |
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The 188th "Barak" (Lightning) Armored Brigade is an Israeli armoured brigade, subordinate to Israel's Northern Regional Command. The emblem of the Barak Armored Brigade is a red-bordered rhombus bearing a sword against a blue and white background depicting the Haifa coastline. The brigade has a long history beginning before the foundation of the State of Israel.
In 1990 the brigade was the first to adopt the
History
The brigade was formed as the 2nd Brigade during the
During the
During the Yom Kippur War, it played an important role in defending Israel's border against the Syrian attack in the southern Golan Heights. 112 soldiers were killed in action, including the brigade commander. The brigade was almost destroyed. The main Syrian attack at 2:30–2:50 PM, confronted by the newly positioned 74th Tank Battalion, under the command of Lt.Col. Yair Nafshi. Nafshi moved his battalion position 1.5 km forward from its previous defensive position, a maneuver that saved his men and machines from the Syrian artillery barrage.
His was the only remaining tank force, equipped with 36 Israeli modified
During the battle, Lieutenant Zvika Greengold, who had arrived unattached to any unit, fought off attacks with his single tank until help arrived. "For the next 20 hours, Zvika Force, as he came to be known on the radio net, fought running battles with Syrian tanks—sometimes alone, sometimes as part of a larger unit, changing tanks half a dozen times as they were knocked out. He was wounded and burned but stayed in action and repeatedly showed up at critical moments from an unexpected direction to change the course of a skirmish."[1]
After the war, the task of rebuilding the brigade was assigned in part to Yonatan Netanyahu who took command of Battalion 71. In the 1982 Lebanon War, it fought in Beirut and participated in the capture of the local airport. Today, the brigade is part of the 36th Armored Division, the largest regular-service armoured division in the IDF.
Brigade organization 2023
- 188th Armored Brigade "Barak"
- 53rd Armored Battalion "Sufa/Tempest" (Merkava Mk.4M)
- 71st Armored Battalion "Reshef/Flash" (Merkava Mk.4M)
- 74th Armored Battalion "Saar/Storm" (Merkava Mk.4M)
- 275th Armored Battalion (Reserve) (Merkava Mk.4) (from the 847th Armored Brigade "Chariots of Steel", which was disbanded on 19 August 2020)
- 605th Armored Engineer Battalion "Ha-Mahatz"
- Logistics Battalion "Barak"
- 358th Signals Company "Lightning Arrow"
List of Carmeli Brigade operations in the 1948 Arab–Israeli war
- Operation Ben-Ami
- Operation Dekel (one battalion)
- Operation Hiram
- Operation Misparayim
List of villages and town battles the Carmeli Brigade fought
- Al-Nahr
- Al-Ghabisiyya
- Al-Sumayriyya
- Al-Tall
- Al-Kabri
- Al-Mansura
- Haifa (the Arab quarters)
- Umm al-Faraj
Memorial
The memorial is situated in the Golan Heights at Road 91 near the entrance to Nahal Gilbon and the former Syrian village Aleiqa. It is inscribed with a verse from a Hebrew song, citing Jeremiah 17:8: "A person is like a tree planted by water, seeking roots."
References
- ^ "Shattered Heights: Part 1 Archived 2005-03-11 at the Wayback Machine," Jerusalem Post, September 25, 1998 (accessed June 9, 2005).