IDF appoints its first-ever female brigade commander

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By Emanuel Fabian

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16 June 2022, 7:04 pm Edit

Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Aviv Kohavi, left, awards Reut Rettig-Weiss the rank of colonel, July 16, 2022. (Israel Defense Forces)

For the first time in Israel’s history, a woman is nominated to serve as a brigade commander in the Israel Defense Forces.

Reut Rettig-Weiss was promoted to the rank of colonel today, and she will serve as commander of the IDF’s 99th division’s artillery brigade as well as head of an artillery unit at the military’s Tze’elim urban warfare training center.

According to the IDF, she is the first woman at this rank to serve as a combat officer in the Artillery Corps.

Rettig-Weiss previously commanded the Artillery Corps’ elite Sky Riders Unit, which gathers intelligence before and during missions using small, relatively low-cost drones.