The IDF’s Unit 9900: ‘Seeing’ their service come to fruition | JNS.org
▻https://www.jns.org/the-idfs-unit-9900-seeing-their-service-come-to-fruition
BY YAAKOV LAPPIN
11.05.2018
Cpl. O (face hidden for security purposes).
Credit: IDF Spokesman Unit.
The secretive and sensitive Unit 9900, which specializes in visual intelligence and plays an essential role in the activities of the Israel Defense Forces, has received some 100 autistic volunteer soldiers so far.
(May 4, 2018 / JNS) A program designed to integrate young people on the autistic spectrum into the military—in fields where they have a relative advantage—is proving to be a “win-win” for all involved.
The program, dubbed “Seeing Afar,” which is jointly run by the IDF and the Ono Academic College, is now in its fifth year. It includes a training course that teaches autistic youths to decipher aerial and satellite visual-intelligence images, based on their enhanced visual ability and their tendency towards patience, which allow them to explore the minutest details—an essential attribute for this role, an officer from an intelligence unit that received the volunteers has told JNS.
The secretive and sensitive Unit 9900, which specializes in visual intelligence and plays an essential role in the activities of the Israel Defense Forces, has received some 100 autistic volunteer soldiers so far.
Cpl. O (full name withheld) is one of them. He spent 10 months deciphering visual-intelligence images, helping the IDF track down suspicious enemy movements, before working to train others like him to do the same.
“When I first arrived here, I still felt like a civilian,” Cpl. O told JNS in an interview. Gradually, however, he began to feel like an organic part of the military.
He described what it was like to sift through intelligence images, searching for that needle in the haystack.
“You search and search, and don’t find it at first. Sometimes, it feels like forever until you find it. But when you do, it certainly brings satisfaction,” said Cpl. O. “There were whole days that I couldn’t find what I was looking for. On other days, I’d locate it in every picture—six pictures in a row. On those days, I wanted to look for more! Sometimes, it feels empty; other times, full. Everything I found has given me satisfaction. It was a step forward that brought us all toward the goal.”
Asked what it takes to get good at this unusual work, which is critical to national security, Cpl. O said: “Deciphering aerial images is like everything else. You need experience and endurance. No one was born knowing how to decipher aerial images. [Guitar legend] Jimmy Hendrix got good with practice. We also trained, and then we started working, getting to know this work. It takes time until you become professional—a lot of time.”