Inside the Israeli Defense Forces, Part 1: History

Our very own David Fortier recently had a chance to speak with the man who wrote the book—literally—on how to shoot in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF).

Lt. Col. (Ret.) Mikey Hartman of the IDF created and taught the Israeli Marksmanship Program for over 20 years. During his tenure in the IDF, Hartman taught an estimated 500,000 soldiers how to operate small arms.

Interestingly enough, Hartman is not an Israeli native. He actually grew up in Memphis Tenn., where his Jewish heritage inspired him to join the Israeli Army. Upon finishing high school in the U.S., Hartman went to Israel and joined the IDF with aspirations of becoming a sniper.

When he first joined the IDF, Hartman reports the Israeli Army as a whole was not very good at shooting—their hit rates during battle were mediocre at best. By the time Hartman retired, the IDF was widely-recognized among the best shooters in the world.

Check out our exclusive video interview below, and stay tuned for Part 2 of Inside the Israeli Defense Forces with Lt. Col. (Ret.) Mikey Hartman.