Yoram Yair

Yair was drafted into the IDF in 1963. He volunteered as a paratrooper in the Paratroopers Brigade. He served as a soldier and a squad leader. In 1964 he became an infantry officer after completing Officer Candidate School and returning to the Paratroopers Brigade as a platoon leader. In the Six-Day War he served as a company commander in the Brigade's 50 battalion and fought in The Gaza Strip. Afterwards he served as the battalion's executive officer. During the Yom Kippur War Yair took command of the 50th paratroop battalion whose commander was ill, and led it through the battles in the Golan Heights and in the Sinai Peninsula. Later he commanded a reserve Paratrooper Brigade and the IDF's Officer Candidate School (Bahad 1). In the 1982 Lebanon War he led the 35th Paratroopers Brigade during heavy fighting against PLO operatives and the Syrian army.[2] Afterwards he commanded the 91st Division in counter-guerrilla operations in South Lebanon. From 1992 to 1995 he was the head of the IDF's Manpower Directorate and later he served as Israel's military attaché in the United States.