Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: (JINSA)
I participated in the JINSA internship to Israel from May 27th-June 13th. Participants consisted of eight students from each of the three major service academies. The purpose of the trip was to show the group the historical sites, both ancient and modern, as well as to introduce us to the Israeli military.
One aspect of the trip which I greatly appreciated was that it involved all three service academies. It was a great experience to learn about the other two academies and meet their cadets while we all learned about Israel. My favorite part of Israel was visiting the religious and historical sites. I really enjoyed the old city. It was amazing to see places like the Temple Mount or the Mount of Olives which I have heard and read about my entire life. One location that came as a surprise to me was Tel Dan in the north. It is a site mentioned in the Old Testament during the period right after Solomon. Before, the time of the Kingdom of Israel had seemed very distant. It was amazing to see a place from that period.
Seeing the political climate in Israel was also very interesting. There were a few specific location that coincide with this aspect of the trip, but I learned most through talking with our tour guide or the Israeli soldiers. The lectures we had were also very good at clarifying the situation.
I was very impressed with the Israeli military. Each military installation we visited was well worth the time. It was a very different experience being in such a small country that is quite literally fighting for its survival. It was a far cry from the ceremonies and dress uniforms of the US military and our power projection throughout the world. For Israel the fight is not on some far away continent; it is at home. Visiting the Golani Regiment was probably the most interesting of the military visits.
I cannot think of many recommendations. Everything we excellent: the hotels, transportation, and food. We all especially liked the tour guide. I would recommend using him again if that is possible. This was the trip and experience of a lifetime and I am so thankful that I had the opportunity to be a part of it.
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: JINSA internship in Israel
The JINSA internship took place from May 27 to June 13. A group of eight midshipmen joined a group from West Point and from the Air Force Academy. We toured the whole of Israel and met with professors and military members during our journey.
This internship afforded me the incredible opportunity to see the Holy Land. I was able to study the Israeli-Palestinian conflict first-hand and it gave me an entirely new perspective. Visiting the sites of Biblical fame and understanding how the affect the politics of today was very enlightening. Meeting people who serve in the Israeli Defense Force was a tremendous opportunity.
3. Projects
We met with Israeli Defense Force officers and enlisted from every branch of their military. We also received a tour of Israel and insight into its cultural heritage. We had meetings with professors and experts about the political and military issues in Israel from their perspective.
4. Highlights
The trip itself was a highlight. We were privileged to watch the Golani infantry during a training session, and even participated by firing a machine gun. We climbed to the top of Masada and watch the sunrise over the Dead Sea. I enjoyed trying all the types of traditional food served in Israel. Swimming in the Sea of Galilee and canoeing down the Jordan River was an exciting experience.
5. Recommendations
This internship was an amazing experience and I highly recommend midshipmen to apply for it in years to come. Future participants should make sure they bring lots of film or extra memory cards for their cameras.
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: JINSA
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs
1. General Information
Our internship was an 18-day study program in which we toured throughout Israel. Our group consisted of 8 midshipmen from the Naval Academy joined by 8 cadets each from West Point and the Air Force Academy, as well as a faculty sponsor from each school. We functioned as a single group throughout the trip, which was organized and led via an Israeli guide agency. Our general purpose was to foster a greater understanding of the Israeli people, including their military, government, history, and modern strategic situation.
From 27 May – 13 June 2006, we visited many regions of the country, including Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, the Negev, Haifa, Nazareth, and upper Galilee. Our itinerary was rich, varied, and always full. We made stops at many historical sites, such as battlefields, ruins, and memorials. Yet, we also experienced contemporary Israeli society and culture, with visits to modern schools, museums, and markets.
We explored different cultures and religions that shape the region, visiting ethnic groups such as the Druze and Bedouins and holy sites for Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Scholarship was an important facet of the internship, and it was fostered not only by background discussions at nearly every site, but also with lectures by professors, authors, diplomats, and military officers.
Interaction with the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) was also a focus of our trip. We made stops at the Israeli Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, Army Officers School, Tactical Command Academy, Artillery School, and a basic training barracks. At each stop, we not only met with senior officers to discuss missions and curriculums, but with young soldiers, cadets, and officers our own age, with whom we could compare training, motivations, and experiences.
2. Experiences Gained
My experiences gained from this trip were irreplaceable and beneficial on countless levels. Within a month of our departure, Israel was mired in another conflict leading world news, and I now feel as if I have a greater understanding of many of the underlying tensions. Yet, more than anything, this trip taught me how little I truly grasp in the region and how much remains for me, and many others, to learn.
For one, our close work with the IDF allowed me to see how they view their mission and role in protecting Israel. While we share many attributes with the IDF and their soldiers, we were also exposed to many differences in training and overarching doctrine between our two militaries. The IDF’s sense of urgency in protecting their actual home soil was evident throughout our travels, and I can now link it with the headlines I see emerging from the region.
Religion is a hallmark of much dispute and conflict throughout the world. Because Israel represents sacred ground to three major world religions, our visit their greatly enhanced our understanding of religious history and overlap. Due to the intelligence and professionalism of our tour guide, speakers, and hosts, we were able to look closely at these religions, including their doctrines, sites, and followers, in what I thought was an extremely impartial and revealing manner. Even though religion may have played a personal role for many on the trip, it never seemed to interfere with our ultimate goal of professional and scholarly development. If anything, this trip taught us how to better balance these different aspects of our life.
Any preconceptions I had about the nation of Israel were utterly destroyed. I had been told time and again how modern and developed Israel has become; yet, I could not shake the stereotype of a sandy desert steeped in Biblical history with remnants of recent conflicts and violence in the streets. Instead, I found a modern, rich, diverse, and gorgeous country. Israelis are a truly a people of global origin, and they have an appreciation for their situation, no matter where they stand on their region’s ongoing tensions. Along these lines, this internship also did a sound job of presenting all the sides of ongoing modernization and development, including how it affects the region’s varying cultures that were in place long before the modern nation of Israel.
Finally, we gained valuable experience working jointly within our group. Future officers of all the major services were in our internship group, and although we had never met before boarding a plane at JFK Airport, we immediately bonded and interacted closely to make for a more meaningful trip. Army cadets had revealing insights at the artillery school, to go along with those of the Air Force and Navy students at the equivalent Israeli academies. Learning to work not only with foreign militaries and officials, but also within the services of our own military, will certainly be invaluable experience for our careers.
3. Projects
In a sense, our entire trip was one ongoing project, to both develop our understanding of Israel and the surrounding region and serve as sound ambassadors of our schools, services, and nation. There were no specific projects that we “produced” during our internship; we had no deadlines to meet or material work that had to be submitted. We prepared as a group with relevant readings and discussions. Throughout the trip, we participated in numerous, often intimate, discussions with people ranging from the U.S. Ambassador to Israel to enlisted soldiers in the IDF. Each of these instances was, in essence, a project as we had to come with relevant questions and also sound answers because the discussions were in no way one-sided.
Personally, I kept a journal throughout the trip, recording everything from what we ate for breakfast to personal feelings after we visited the Wailing Wall. I combined this journal with photographs and other “souvenirs” from the trip to produce a more thorough journal once I got home. This was purely personal to help me get the most from the experience, but I put a great deal of work into it and found it to be a very worthwhile project.
4. Highlights
The highlights are too many to list, and the following are by no means exclusive.
One highlight for me was visiting a site on Mount Gilo next to the security fence that Israel is currently constructing. The site overlooked the town of Bethlehem, a place I had previously only mentioned in Christmas carols but that was actually a breeding ground of violence during the First and Second Intifadas in Israel. Jerusalem has expanded to the point that it has nearly merged with Bethlehem, and Israel is constructing the fence to presumably prevent violence between Palestinian-controlled Bethlehem and Jerusalem. We stood right in a place where the fence cut off a house from the rest of its owners’ property, preventing them from making a living. For all the political rhetoric we hear on this situation, this stop allowed us to examine its personal side, which gave it a whole new light for me.
Another highlight occurred throughout the two days we spent touring Jerusalem’s Old City, which may be seen as a microcosm of the region’s populace, cultures, and disputes. By seeing how different groups such as Christians, Jews, Armenians, and Muslim are packed within a tiny, ancient, and walled city, I was able to better understand underlying tensions in the Middle East. The proximity of the people, along with sites and ruins that hold holiness and significance for each group, was incredible. At the same time, however, I personally found that their coexistence also offered an ongoing sense of hope for the region.
5. Recommendations
First and foremost, I recommend absolutely taking this internship if it’s available. Beyond this, there is little. Our trip went very smoothly, with few hitches which, when they did occur, were usually beyond our control. It is extremely important to be well prepared for this trip – you get out of it what you put in. It can no doubt be beneficial without personal preparation, but the more you study the region and keep current on its affairs, the more enriching the experience will be. I wish that I had devoted more energy to this before taking the trip.
I did find that some of the warnings about overpacking may have been unnecessary. My group was told we would be moving constantly and not to overpack because we would have the chance to do laundry if we needed. While we did move often from city to city, there was little hassle with luggage as we just simply crossed a parking lot or walked a few yards from our hotel to the bus. Furthermore, I found that opportunities to do laundry were limited, so I would recommend that future groups err on the side of caution when it comes to packing.
Finally, I strongly recommend keeping a journal. The trip is a very full one, and there is no way that you will remember all the experiences without writing at least something down along the way. Also, I found that re-reading my journal once I arrived home allowed me to consider our trip in ways I never did while it was happening.
6. Additional Remarks
The agency which prepared our tour, Da’at, put together a program for us that is beyond description. The guide they provided, Yuval Reisman, was likewise incredible. His energy, knowledge, and passion for his country seemed boundless. To whatever extent possible, I think the internship should continue to be conducted with them in the future.
I would like to make a plea to keep this trip in place. I know with violence erupting in some parts of Israel, there will be calls to cancel this internship. On the contrary, I believe ongoing issues in Israel make this internship as relevant as ever and give it the potential to be even more beneficial for future participants.
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: JINSA
I was selected to participate in the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs (JINSA) trip to Israel with 23 other Cadets/Midshipman and 3 supervisors. This trip was the single greatest experience of my life. Having never been to Israel or across the Atlantic, I learned more information about the Middle East and Israel than 3 years in class could have taught me. The experiences that we had as a group could not be traded for anything.
While in Israel, I was very impressed with the accommodations we were offered. We stayed in hotels, had all of our meals paid for, and were transported in an air conditioned bus for two and one half weeks. Our guide was an amazing individual that combined a unique blend of experience, knowledge, impartiality, and attitude that made everyday exciting and beneficial to our intellectual development. Being able to experience the culture and interact with the people taught all of our group aspects of Israel and the Middle East that could not be learned from a book.
While in Israel, we journeyed through the entire country with the exception of El At, the port city on the Red Sea in the south. We stayed in a Bedouin camp and learned about the Bedouin culture and belief system. We ate at a Druze household in a Druze village in northern Israel and learned about the Druze culture and belief system. We went to the Holocaust museum in Jerusalem in addition to the Diaspora Museum, Independence Hall, the IDF Cemetery, Masada, Caesarea and other important landmarks to gain knowledge on the history of Israel. We journeyed through the Old City of Jerusalem, the Church of the Sepulcher, the Sea of Galilee, and other significant religious sights in order to gain an appreciation of the religious significance of the land. We met with a holocaust survivor, a renowned professor, IDF officers and enlisted personnel, IDF cadets (officers in training), the United States Ambassador to Israel, and other distinguished guests while in the country.
Simply listing what we accomplished does not do justice to the trip; however, a detailed explanation of our activities day to day would be able to fill an entire book. Our trip was well orchestrated and exhausted the opportunities to learn and experience within the country given our limited period of time. Our guide was very knowledgeable making every sightseeing experience complete with an extensive knowledge of the story and events surrounding the story.
To find a highlight in such an amazing trip is a very difficult task. If I am required to pick a highlight, it would be our guide Yuvan Reisman. He probably made a greater impact on me during the trip than any of the sights or sounds. His personal experiences while in the IDF, his friendship with IDF officers that afforded us opportunities to visit the Golany Regiment’s Basic Training, and his phenomenal understanding of the diverse cultures and their unique perspectives within the region afforded me a once in a lifetime opportunity to absorb such a distinct and interesting region and culture.
In closing, I could not recommend anything to such a phenomenal trip. This was the best experience of my entire lifetime and I hope that future midshipmen have the opportunity to follow in my footsteps. I would like to thank the Naval Academy and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs for offering and then selecting me for this trip.
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: JINSA
From 27 May to 13 June I traveled to Israel on a sponsored internship with other service academy students. We saw many of the major historical and religious sites and tourist attractions in the country and visited several of the Israel Defense Forces military academies.
The experiences I have gained from traveling to Israel are priceless. I learned so much about the history behind the Israel’s conflict with the Palestinians and the rest of the Arab world from speakers and was able to observe current issues in Jerusalem in particular. I also enjoyed learning about both the Jewish and Arab cultures and their interaction with each other. I believe I learned the most by interacting with the people. We bartered in the Jerusalem marketplace, stayed a night in a Bedouin camp and spent the day with a company in the Golani regiment in the north. Experiences such as these taught me more than I ever thought I would learn about the Israeli culture and world view.
One of the highlights of the trip to Israel was standing outside the walls of Bethlehem looking into the city as our tour guide explained in detail the history and current issues of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I was able to grasp the seriousness and complexity of the situation like I never have before.
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: JINSA
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, JINSA
This three week tour of Israel with JINSA was an amazing eye opening experience. We toured the entirety of Israel from the Negev Desert and Egyptian border in the South to the Golan Heights, Haifa, and the northern border. We toured all of the political, historical, and otherwise important sights throughout the country including Tel Aviv and Jerusalem working to gain an understanding of the political, military, and cultural aspects of the country. We walked around the Old City of Jerusalem, met with Ambassadors, and were exposed to many amazing people of all walks of life. This was a once in a lifetime experience of a foreign country and culture steeped in history and tradition.
In addition to visiting many amazing sights I would be remised not to mention the amazing people we met. Each person we met had their own story, beginning with our tour guide Yuval who was prior IDF Special Forces. We met Majors who tackled terrorists at checkpoints, former Generals who led tank battalions across the Suez Canal, Holocaust survivors, and average people on the street who were as patriotic as any group of people I have ever met. Some of the people we met were professors who were brought in to teach us about certain aspects of the country. We had seminars where we learned about the countries demographics, water supplies, election and parliamentary procedures, and more.
Throughout the internship we were tasked with learning as much as we could about the country of Israel, its challenges and opportunities. A large part of this was our interaction with the Israeli Defense Forces we were privileged to meet. We spent a good amount of time learning about and training with IDF Infantry, we visited Tank Units, and we visited all of the officer training courses for the Navy and Air Force. At each one of these locations we dialoged with IDF Soldiers and Sailors and learned a great deal from them. The biggest thing I learned was the fundamental difference in our militaries. Theirs is a self-defense force constantly busy protecting its own borders, people, and way of life in a difficult neighborhood, and ours is a force more often then not forward deployed all around the world protecting our interests by spreading certain core values and working to protect people who can not protect themselves.
The tour was fast paced, everyday we visited interesting sights, met important people, and did many other things we only dreamed of. Some of these things for me included kayaking the Jordan River, visiting the Western Wall and the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, climbing the Mt of Olives, and so much more. From swimming in the Dead Sea, climbing Masada, spending a night in the Negev Desert with the Bedouins, talking with a Holocaust survivor who was friends with Anne Frank, to spending a few hours with the US Ambassador to Israel there were way to many highlights to mention. Just walking around the country learning about its challenges and diversity was eye opening, thus every day was a highlight in its own respect.
There are really no recommendations I could offer to make the trip better. It was well organized, well led, and a great mix of history, culture, politics, military activity, and speakers. My only recommendation would be to make sure the tour guides remain as professional, knowledgeable, and experienced as ours was. Our tour guide set the tone for the trip, which was amazing. I would recommend continuing this program for quite a long time as it was the highlight of my time as a midshipman to date and I suspect it will be the same in the future for those fortunate enough to get the opportunity to make the trip.
This trip was fast paced; we were busy every single minute doing amazing things. The culture and the people we met were amazing and the staff made sure we were well taken care of. I loved the fact that a certain number of cadets and midshipman from each US Service Academy made the trip together, as it was a good time of interaction between US services. I believe this program has great value through the simple interaction we had with the young IDF service-members. I returned to the US with a great respect for the country of Israel and the way the IDF does business; and I suspect the people we met enjoyed meeting us also and getting a small taste of the US. As a result of the dialogues with the officers, officials, soldiers, and general people on the street, listening to the speakers, and seeing things such as borders and security fences firsthand I returned to the US feeling like a mini-regional expert on almost all things pertaining to Israel. Even though this is probably not the case I will say that the trip was very thorough and made very good use of our time; and I loved it.
Subj: INTERNSHIP AFTER ACTION REPORT: JINSA