Army Camp Luna :Southern Infantry Training Base

 military, infantry, Israel Defense Forces (IDF), training center

"The Israeli Army has a new training area, with assistance from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Israeli Ministry of Defense Director Gen. Amos Yaron, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Daniel Kurtzer, and Brig. Gen. Bo Temple, commander of North Atlantic Division, cut the ribbon 15 July 2003 for the Southern Infantry Training Base in Israel, completing the first of three installations built under the Wye River Memorandum program.

The base construction is one of the concrete steps lined out in the 1998 agreement between Israel and the Palestinian Authority signed at Wye River, MD. Funding for the bases ($266 million, with $42 million of that for the Southern Infantry Training Base) was included in the fiscal year 2000 Consolidated Appropriation Act as a Foreign Military Sales case authorized under the Arms Export Control Act.

Paratroopers of the 35th Brigade occupied the base just two years after ground was broken. Construction began mid-May 2001 on the Southern Infantry Training Base situated near Shomryyi, about 20 kilometers (12.4 miles) north of Beersheva in the Negev desert region. Although delayed by two of the worst winters on record for the region, and the precautionary withdrawal of U.S. personnel during Operation Iraqi Freedom, key facilities and infrastructure were all ready a month-and-a-half ahead of the contract completion date.

The 10 company quarters areas, company headquarters, staff housing, and all the support facilities of the Southern Infantry Training Base are located in one of the isolated military reserve areas that the Israelis use for training. The Southern Infantry Training Base is a new concept in facilities for the Israelis in terms of design and quality. Unlike other Israeli bases that have been built piecemeal over time, this base is a first-class facility designed to fit into the overall training concept for fighting companies. The facility houses infantry trainees together for both basic and advanced training to benefit unit cohesion."

www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/israel/shomryyi.h...
www.qa-israel.com/default.asp?pid=81&1=1&id=36