Forty graduates of the Israeli Air Force’s Flight Course 192 will receive their wings Thursday at Hatzerim Airbase. Among them are four childhood friends who studied together at the same high school in Modi’in and reunited in the final stage of the flight track. They will graduate alongside two women, whose success rate in the course, 16.6%, is nearly identical to that of the men, 17.6%.
The course began with 215 men, of whom 38 are graduating, giving the male cadets a 17.6% completion rate. Twelve women began the course, and two will receive their wings at the ceremony.
Combat navigator Lt. G.
(Photo: IDF)
Lt. G. from Herzliya, who has been assigned as a combat navigator, said she sees no difference between completing the flight course as a woman and completing it as a man.
“I believe there is no difference between being a woman in flight course and going through it as a man,” she said. “In my view, anything that breaks homogeneity and brings more color into the group is important.”
Lt. O. from Tel Aviv, who also completed Flight Course 192 and will serve as a flight engineer, said the cadets were united by the same mission.
“In the end, everyone comes to serve, to contribute, and to be the best and most suitable officers and combat soldiers we can be,” she said. “We also go through a very intensive three-year course together, with no difference.” The newly minted combat navigator added that she did not feel her gender shaped her motivation to succeed.
“I don’t feel that being a woman gave me more or less motivation to succeed,” she said. “I think the desire to succeed came from my aspiration to do my best and contribute in the most meaningful way, like everyone else in my course. It wasn’t some childhood dream or anything like that. When I thought about the army, I knew I wanted to enlist in a meaningful role and take part in the mission.”
She said the years-long training period was especially complex while friends were already fighting in the war.
“There is no doubt that being in training for three years, while my friends are fighting and taking part in operational activity, is a complicated situation,” she said. “Especially around Operation Roaring Lion, when we got to see and experience operational activity, the role, its meaning and its contribution at the edge. There is also the understanding that we are here for the long term. I’m waiting for the moment when I can make an impact.” She also described entering her squadron at a time of heightened tension on multiple fronts.
“Today more than ever, you can see the impact this has at the operational end and how important it is,” she said. “It is very motivating. It is natural to have concerns, but I believe I received training that will help me deal with these situations, and that we will get through it. I am very excited, happy to complete this three-year journey and really looking forward to the start of the new path, which is going to be a long one.”
From the classroom to the parade ground
Lt. A., Lt. G., Lt. O. and Lt. D. will also receive their wings Thursday and join different Air Force squadrons as combat navigators and a transport navigator. But the four did not meet only in the course. They also studied together in high school.
“Quite a few people from our grade were summoned for flight course tryouts, but only a few passed,” Lt. O. said. “There was a conversation among those who passed ahead of the screenings, about difficulties we experienced during the selection process. Lt. D. and I enlisted half a year after Lt. A. and Lt. G. They accompanied us from the beginning and gave us tips.”
The four childhood friends. They enlisted separately and reunited in flight course
(Photo: IDF)
Lt. A. said he realized during the selection process that the Air Force was where he wanted to be.
“From the moment I began the tryouts, I understood this was the place I wanted to be,” he said. “I saw my friends fighting in Gaza and Lebanon while I was dealing with bachelor’s degree studies, but if you zoom out, we are signing on for seven years of continued service. That is the bigger picture, which is harder to see at the beginning. I saw what air crews do in combat, and that encouraged me to stay where I was.”
He said being in the same course strengthened the group’s bond. “I feel that the fact that we were in the same course connected us the most,” he said. “It is always good to have someone from home with you, a safe place that cannot be shaken.”
Lt. G. agreed, saying the friendship gave them strength, especially early in the course. “It gives a lot of strength, mainly in the first years, when you don’t go home much and spend many weekends on base,” he said. “You don’t see family, there are no phones, and even when you go home, there is a friend there who is going through exactly what I am going through and understands me.”
He said he invited his and Lt. A.’s homeroom teacher to the ceremony. “She was very moved,” he said. “She accompanied us throughout all three years of high school, and we developed a special connection with her. She influenced us, and we wanted to thank her and show her that she was part of the journey.”
Lt. D. said even the smallest encounters with childhood friends during the course made a difference. “Even in the small meetings that seem ordinary, like saying hello when you meet in the hallway, you feel the difference,” he said. “The feeling is that someone you grew up with is here beside you. Someone you know every detail about from childhood, a good friend from home. It gives you more self-confidence in the course, more belonging and closeness. We chose to enlist in this course for a certain reason, to contribute as much as possible to the country.”
Lt. O. said he felt the same. “This is not the first framework where I’ve been with people from home,” he said. “It doesn’t always manage to remain strong and close. Specifically with us, it worked. This is a friendship that goes beyond. We came close from home, we finished the course as good, loving friends, and we will continue together.”
Like the others, he also invited his homeroom teacher to the ceremony. “She was meaningful for me in high school,” he said. “She embraced and supported me in everything I needed, was a listening ear, an amazing person. She deserves this recognition. She did a lot and continues to give all the time, and she should also receive something back.”