GOC Army Headquarters

The GOC Army Headquarters (Hebrew: מפקדת זרוע היבשה‎, Mifkedet Zro'a HaYabasha, abbreviated Mazi), is a multi-corps command headquarters created in 1998, which amalgamates the ground forces of the Israel Defense Forces. The current size of the Israeli Ground Forces is estimated at roughly 133,000 active soldiers and 380,000 soldiers in reserve.

General Officer Commanding Army Headquarters
MAZI emblem (Mifkedet Zro'a ha-Yabasha)
Founded1998
Country Israel
Allegiance Israel Defense Forces
Size133,000 active
380,000 reserve
Nickname(s)Mazi
EngagementsSouth Lebanon conflict (1985–2000)
First Intifada (1987–1993)
Second Intifada (2000–2005)
Second Lebanon War (2006)
Operation Cast Lead (2008–2009)
Pillar of Defense (2012)
Protective Edge (2014)
Commanders
Major GeneralYaacov Barak[1]

Name

The GOC Army Headquarters is known unofficially as Mazi, the Hebrew pronunciation for an acronym for "Ground Arm Command" (מז"י, (מפקדת זרוע היבשה, Mifkedet Zro'a ha-Yabasha), which was the GOC Army Headquarters' previous name before being renamed to the current "Ground Arm" (זרוע היבשה). After this renaming, the acronym MAZI officially refers nowadays to "Commander of the Ground Arm" (מפקד זרוע היבשה, Mefaked Zro'a Ha-Yabasha). However the old acronym MAZI still remains the popular name for the GOC Army Headquarters.

Units and structure
The structure of the ground forces

The Headquarters of the Ground Forces commands the following five corps:

In addition, the Headquarters includes four "staff divisions":

  • Planning Division (Budget and Organization Planning) (חטיבת התכנון)
  • "Ground" Division (Training and Doctrine) (חטיבת יבשה)
  • Personnel Division (חטיבת כוח-אדם)
  • Technological Division (Materiel R&D and Acquisition) (חטיבת הטכנולוגיה)

The IDF's third arm

Under the IDF 2000 reforms, MAZI was set to become the IDF's third Arm, alongside the Air and Space Arm and the Sea Arm. Until the creation of MAZI, IDF ground forces were directly subordinated to the Chief of Staff through the Regional Commands (North, South, and Central). The intention of the reform was to subordinate the ground forces to one ground commander, who is a part of the Joint Staff, by the example of the Israeli Air Force and Navy; and unlike most of the other armed forces, where operational Army, Air Force, and Navy plus other auxiliary support units, are all subordinated to unified commands.

The proposed reform for the Ground Arm was rejected and the ground forces remain subordinated to the three regional commands. Likewise with combat support and rear-line corps, which are partly subordinated to the respective Directorates. In times of war, the Ground Arm Commander acts as an advisor to the IDF Chief of Staff on ground warfare.

As an IDF arm, the Ground Arm is meant to build of the ground forces' strength and working toward balance, combination, and coordination between the ground corps. It does so by instruction and training of individual units, planning and publishing the relevant doctrine, organizing the forces respectively for their missions, and R&D and acquisition of materiel. Its authority ranges up to the corps level. Above it, meaning the regional commands themselves, the authority is of the IDF Joint Staff.

Commanders

Future

The IDF is currently planning major structural reform. Due to the poor training and equipment among army reservists, large numbers will be dismissed.[3]

See also

References
  1. "General Staff". Israel Defense Forces.
  3. Winer, Stuart. "IDF to discharge 100,000 reservists, slash officer corps". www.timesofisrael.com.
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