SARATOGA SPRINGS–LtC. Richard Goldenberg, an officer with the National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division in Troy, trained with the Israel Defense Force (IDF) in Tel Aviv from July 26 through 30.
Goldenberg was part of “Shared Future,” a bilateral homeland defense training exercise with the IDF’s Israeli Home Front Command. The training included exchanging practices, techniques and procedures for military response to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high explosive (CBRNE) attacks on civilian populations.
The training, held in Tel Aviv and Beersheba, included Israeli military responses to missile attacks on civilians, encompassing both traditional weapons and weapons of mass destruction.
“In Israel, much of the training for natural disasters or terror attacks occurs right in local communities,” Goldenberg said. “In Beersheba, the Home Front Command utilizes actual building demolition sites for search and rescue training.”
Goldenberg was accompanied by a dozen fellow Guardsmen and representatives from the Department of Homeland Security and the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Police. He met with Maj. Gen. Yair Golan, commander of Home Front.
“No matter the threat, troops from the National Guard here or Home Front Command soldiers of the IDF are learning from each other the best ways to save lives and protect their communities,” said Goldenberg.
Goldenberg, a congregant of Temple Sinai in Saratoga Springs, is a member of Jewish War Veterans Albany Post 105.
