soldiers during a routine training exercise in the desert. Archives: IDF Spokesperson

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Three years ago, the Education Department of the Southern Command started the Southern Experience project. The objective of the project is to get IDF soldiers serving in bases in the southern area of Israel and those under the Southern Command acquainted with the area. "The project began with the GOC of the Southern Command, Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant, emphasizing that one of his goals is to strengthen the bond with the South," explains the Command Educational Officer, Maj. Moriya Sade. "The project has been running for over three years and hundreds of officers serving in the south of the country have already participated in it."

The so-called Acquaintance Journey is four days long and includes one day of preparation and three days in which groups of fifty officers hike through the South, discovering attractions, hearing lectures and asking questions. "The intention of the project is to create a significant experience with an emphasis on active learning," adds Maj. Sade. "The Southern Command is a regional command, therefore it is important to have a connection with the people living in the southern area. This will consequently create an ongoing dialogue with the various populations of the region. Our goal is not to market the Negev, but to get to know and understand it. Many question marks are brought up over time."

One of the officers who recently took place in the Acquaintance Journey is Cpt. Shai Maimon, Technician Officer in the 533 Communications Brigade of the Israeli Air Force. Cpt. Maimon has been serving on the Lod Airbase for two years. The base is going to be the first base to move to the new military town of officers schools in the south of Israel as part of the IDF's general move to the South. The Southern Experience project gave Cpt. Maimon the opportunity to get a closer look at the landscape outside his future office window. "I had asked myself before whether the Negev was only sand. During the three days of the trip I answered my own question – the Negev is not just sand," he explains. "One of the sites we visited was the community of Kadesh-Barnea, which is located on the Egyptian border. The village grows cherry tomatoes, the unruly desert climate gives farmers there a significant advantage. The Negev has huge economic potential, you only need to know how. Even so, there are disadvantages to the Negev, the communities are isolated from each other and it's very restrictive. At least there are no traffic jams."
 
"One of the things I was exposed to in the Negev were isolated farms," recalls Cpt. Maimon. "There are approximately 25 isolated farms, whit single family supporting themselves. During our visit there we ate breakfast, including cheese that they make themselves. The first question that came to mind was: What brings a family to drop everything and move to the middle of nowhere where conditions will be so difficult? It seems pretty strange that this happens in 2009. I was very impressed by the wisdom of the Jewish people, when thinking about isolated farms. This ability to cultivate the desert!”

Following the move of his base to the South, Cpt. Maimon checked whether his wife and their little daughter could move to the South, an attempt that has failed. "I'm not sure that there are many people who live in the Negev for reasons of ideology, however in terms of interest and attractions - the Negev has much to offer," adds Captain Maymon.