The dirt road runs up a hill, and then through several small trees. Eventually, it comes to an opening, surrounded by trees which are all slightly taller than a car. There are a few containers and portable bathrooms strewn about. Hidden among the brush and trees are a number of large armored vehicles. These are some of Israel’s M109 howitzers, which look like a kind of tank on treads, except with a large gun mounted on them.
The M109 is Israel’s main artillery weapon. It’s also a very common type of artillery used by Western countries such as the United States. An artillery battery can rain down shells on enemies at ranges more than a dozen miles away. I went up to northern Israel to meet with some of the men manning Israel’s artillery guns who have been facing Hezbollah. The 405th battalion of the Artillery Corps, nicknamed the “Tiger,” has several companies; each deployed a battery of artillery in a field in northern Israel. I met with some of the men from the Betzelet company of the 405th.
The guys are young men; they are in their regular mandatory service. They’ve been sent to northern Israel over the last half year after having spent the first months of the war fighting Hamas in Gaza. The 405th battalion is part of Israel’s 282nd artillery brigade, which is known as the Golan Formation historically. It was established before the Yom Kippur war. This history matters because members of this same battalion fell in 1973.
“We have done everything to continue our heritage. The lines of history we are writing now will be remembered by future generations,” said Lt.-Col. Eitan Gillis, the head of the 405th.
When the war began on Oct. 7 with the massive Hamas attack, this unit was in northern Israel, where it is usually located. The commander remembers thinking about all the officers who came before him and how they were standing with him now as he went out to fight his war. It was time to write a new chapter after Oct. 7. Gillis felt it was another Yom Kippur War, a sentiment I’ve heard from many soldiers I’ve met covering this war.
The battalion of artillery went south quickly after Oct. 7. They supported the operations of the 36th division, especially its Golani infantry, as the IDF began ground operations in Gaza on October 27. Overall, the brigade has fired more than 50,000 shells, and the battalion has fired an estimated 20,000. I spoke to Gillis in his office, which is decorated with memorabilia from his unit, including an Israeli flag signed by the men. Outside his office’s door, there is a photo of an IDF flare falling over Shejaia during the war. There is a quote on the image and the name of Lt.-Col. Tomer Greenberg, the commander of the Golani’s 13th battalion.
Greenberg and Gillis knew each other well. The artilleryman supporting the infantrymen, these units of Golani and the 405th had worked closely together and trained together. Greenberg fell in the battle of Shejaia in mid-December, one of the hundreds of soldiers who have fallen in this war.
Earlier in the day, before this somber moment in front of the image of the battle for Shejaia, Gillis showed me around one of the batteries of artillery he commands. There are around a half dozen M109s in this position. They are used to protect northern Israel. It was relatively quiet when I was there, but Hezbollah is attacking every day. Hezbollah has launched more than 5,000 rockets, drones, and missiles at Israel. The IDF artillery and warplanes respond with precision strikes on the enemy. This isn’t a huge volume of fire, but every day it’s a trickle of shells.
Each M109, with its hulking treads and large gun facing forward, has a crew of four or five men around it. The men each have a job, such as loading the cannon. The 155 mm. shells are heavy, and they come up to your waist. The shells have to be packed into the cannon with a charge, such that the charge is ignited and forces the shell out of the barrel.
The basic concept of artillery hasn’t changed for hundreds of years; however, the technology today is able to bring more digitization to this process. The enemy’s threats against these types of IDF positions are increasing because Hezbollah is now using drones, and Hezbollah has improved its rockets and anti-tank missiles.
For the men, this has been their life now for eight months, first near Gaza in the South and now up here in the North. They suffered through the cold winter months. Now the weather is such they can even sleep out in the open. Some men have brought out thin mats to sleep on. One soldier has even constructed a kind of small tent.
The IDF is proud of the work that units like this are doing. This is not an intense war yet, but artillery is useful in eliminating enemy terrorist infrastructure across the border.
The IDF is also going to roll out a new type of artillery soon, called the Roem. Units like the 405th will receive it in the coming year or years. It’s completely different than the current M109, which dates from the Vietnam era. The Roem is on wheels, which makes it faster to deploy and more flexible. It requires fewer soldiers per vehicle; and the loading and firing are automated, meaning you don’t need men in the cabin of the back of the vehicle lifting shells and placing them in the breach of the gun. It’s going to be a brave new world.
I asked the men about it. These young guys like the old system they were trained on. It’s more intimate, feeling the shells and the ammunition and delivering the fire physically.
'No other option than to win'
BACK AT Gillis’s office, he spoke about the changes he has seen since he joined in 2008.
Processes have become faster to be able to bring artillery fire to support troops in the field. The ability of an M109 to bring more precise fire, and more effectively in a short period of time, is important. It’s also important that they have good communication with the fighters they support, so that the shells can be placed close to troops in the field but not injure fellow soldiers. In this war, the IDF has been accomplishing much closer fire missions, bringing down shells close to tanks, combat engineers, and infantry at the front.
Gillis spoke animatedly about his soldiers and the passion he sees in their eyes, as well as the just cause the IDF has today in defending the homeland. “Despite the challenges, we have worked with the spirit of victory, and we have no other choice. We have no other option than to win,” he said.
The importance of this war is clear to him. On one wall of his office is a small drawing that depicts the Holocaust. It shows his grandfather seeing his great-grandmother for the last time. Israelis understand the task ahead.
From the men in the field, getting ready to bed down for the night, to their commanders, like Gillis, this is a transformational war that is not yet complete. It will go on, and units like the 405th will play a key part.