Eight Variables In The Military

In order for the United States Army to successfully prepare, plan and execute their mission in varies countries the basic understanding and knowledge of the Contemporary Operating Environment (COE) must be understood. The COE is comprised of eight variables: Political, Military, Economic, Social, Information, Infrastructure, Physical Environment and Time (PMESII-PT). (REF) With Air Defense Artillery (ADA) being a branch that constantly deploys it is vital to instill these variables which allows for realistic and challenging training conditions to happen. However, in order for this to even occur the culture consideration of the country must be evaluated in order for those variables to be implanted which ultimately affect the outcome of
the mission. ADA units have good relations with several countries throughout the Middle East and have an ongoing rotation that deploys to those countries.
Due to this it is equally important for all soldiers to be culturally aware of those countries that they are actively engaged with. By doing this it will allow for the conditions to be set forth and reduce any miscommunication that will hinder the mission. Israel, which the word comes from Biblical literature meaning “He who struggles with God” is a Middle Eastern country that borders the Mediterranean Sea and has a Jewish population of 74.8% and most common language to be Hebrew. (CIA) This paper will cover how the Israel culture significantly intertwines with three variables: Political, Military and Economic. The United States and Israel have been in good international relation standing for several decades. This is largely due to the political structure in Israel, a parliamentary democracy with three strands of government. (JMCC) The executive branch which consist of the prime minister and cabinet of ministers whom overall create an outline of government guidelines. Next is the legislative branch which is
called the Knesset, 120 fixed members that review bills and pass them into laws. Finally, there is the judicial branch that has levels of judicial system which also includes a supreme court. (mfa.gov.il) Currently Israel does not have a written constitution however, they emphasize the concepts of checks and balances so that they remain fair and stable. (JMCC) As a result of having a similar political structure as the U.S it affords military leaders to have a common understanding of laws, police enforcement, and political party stance. Taking into consideration Israel has deep roots with their culture which includes their religion, it is natural to see their political foundation to be built around religion especially while forming laws. “ Many provisions of Israeli statutory law are devoted to the protection of holy places and sites that serve for prayers and, other religious purposes.” (jewish) Their government holds steadfast to what they view to be holy places and value them more then other countries might. Respect for religion is deeply embedded into their daily lives, it is imperative that soldiers are mindful of this while conducting any type of operation. “It is an offense under penal law to cause damage to any place of worship or to any object scared to any religion with the intention of affronting the religion of any class of person.” (jewish) Understanding Israel’s government structure allows for guidelines to be set in place as well as how to tailor a mission accordingly so no laws are broken. The military in Israel is made up of three branches, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), Israel Naval Force and Israel Air Force (IAF) which both men and woman are obligated to serve their country.
(CIA) The focus will be on the Israeli Air Force which houses their Air Defense units and after the Iraqi scud missile attacks on Israel in 1991 it was evident the importance of an air defense system. (iaf.org.il) Gradually the the bond between the Americans and the Israelis intensified and the interest over the Patriot missile system increased as well as other ADA systems. According to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) there was great gratitude expressed over a bill that supports Israeli defense system. This support includes Iron Dome, anti-tunnel operations and a great deal of financial support “AIPAC commends Congress for strongly bolstering US-Israel defence cooperation by authorizing a total of $600.7 million for US-Israel missile defence cooperation.” (middleeastern) Taking into consideration how invested the U.S is in Israel all branches need to understand how their culture is a frame work for their military. For example, because their beliefs in women to be equally involved in military service work environments need to be professional. Whereas most of Middles Eastern countries don’t have women serving that might cause for extra precautions taken by the U.S. The understanding of a culture can create similar goals to be reached and cohesiveness
operations to be conducted. The final variable is economics, the culture of Israel has a significant impact the economic growth because the beliefs, values and priorities which is apart of any culture and steers how much money is spent on government funding, education, health care and affects employment rates. They have a technically advanced free market economy which includes cut diamonds, high tech equipment and pharmaceuticals which are the leading exports. (CIA) However, they have a significant amount of imports which include crude oil, grains, raw materials and military equipment; in order for them to make up the difference of the outflow of money they rely heavily on tourism. (CIA) With having a majority Jewish population that holds onto their devout Jewish faith that guides the values of what they seem to find important, it impacts them finically. Due to the fact that their faith is believing in God and with that material items are no earthly possessions should be placed before God then there is not a strong emphasized on trade. They unemployment rate is considered high amongst other countries which can lead to long term issues of instabilities. (CIA) This will impact how heavily Israel is reliant on other countries to supply them with raw materials, if more money is going out then coming in then it may be difficult for them to keep a strong military force. The U.S has supported and will continue to support Israel, no matter if their economic stance shifts to the right or left. In Conclusion, it is imperative to see how all variables overlap each other and it becomes a rippling effect on how one might shift the stance of another variable. These variables are a vital tool to be used so the right information can be taught to those soldiers. It will allow for realistic situational training to occur that can improve the success of the mission. But in order for that to even occur the culture awareness needs to be understood for that particular country so they can build up to each variable. Israel maintains a very rich culture and it intertwines greatly with COE variables.