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No Hi-Tech Replacement for a Good Army Tracker
Jerusalem Post) Arieh O'Sullivan - "With all of our advanced technology, we haven't come up with a replacement for the tracker," said Chief Infantry and Paratrooper Officer Brig.-Gen. Yossi Hyman, who attended the ceremony of the 21st graduating class of the army's Trackers Course, most of whom are Bedouin. Among the 29 who began the course four months ago was an Ashkenazi Jewish recruit who grew up herding sheep in Kiryat Arba. "I personally tested him," said Lt.-Col. Kassem el-Hib, commander of the Tracker's School. "He was a great guy and blended in with everyone here," but he was dropped from the class. "The guy couldn't detect footprints right next to him," one of the instructors said. Lt.-Col. el-Hib insists that only Bedouin can do the job well, but that their urbanization has taken its toll. "Actually, the more educated they are, they worse they are as trackers," he said. He said the army once had a few Yemenite trackers. Today there are three Ethiopian trackers and Wednesday's class had one Druze graduate.