Army official: Soldiers over-motivated
Former Naval Commando official tells Ynet unit must continue depth dives despite death of soldier
A former Israeli Naval Commando official told Ynet Monday that despite the death of a soldier during a training accident, he believed the Shayetet 13 unit would soon return to performing training dives as usual.
The Navy ordered all dives halted after 19-year old Sergeant Gal Azulai died Sunday night in a diving accident. Nevertheless, the official said, "there is no choice, we must continue (training)".
The official said there were a number of causes for diving accidents. "Diving is a dangerous activity and any mishap, when it happens underwater, becomes more dangerous," he said.
He added that training at night made the dives even more perilous. "At night you can't see your comrades' symptoms as clearly as you would during the day, and if you see that something is wrong the treatment is more complicated because medical assistance is limited," the official said.
He added that the type of equipment used by combat soldiers, which prevents bubbles from reaching the surface and allowing for their detection, was also a factor in the dangers of training.
Another element mentioned by the official was the depth of the dive. "Sometimes at a great depth clean oxygen becomes a lethal gas," he said. "There have been such accidents in the past."
But the official said there was no choice but to continue depth training. "The diver must know how to pass underneath a ship without being sucked into its compressors, so he must go down to such depths," he said.
However he did not rule out soldiers' over-motivation as a factor in many such accidents. "Maybe the soldier felt ill but tried to fight this feeling, which characterizes many Shayetet troops. As a result of previous incidents instructors attempt to fight this, but this ambition exists… You can't fight Shayetet soldiers' motivation," he said.
Daniel Edelson contributed to this report
