After confronting terrorists under heavy fire, three officers completed company commanders’ training and are now preparing new combat units, arguing that women should be judged by professional and operational standards, not prejudiceAt the forefront of the IDF, they are determined, courageous and unafraid to break barriers. Now, after recently completing a company commanders’ course, they are training the next generation of male and female combat soldiers.Lt. S., 23, from Kfar Giladi, enlisted as a combat soldier in the Artillery Corps and fought on the front while her family was evacuated from their home. Lt. A., 23, from Beersheba, has come full circle after returning to command the Caracal Battalion’s “Pereh” tank company. Capt. V., 24, from Modi’in, fought under A.’s command on Oct. 7 after being rushed to communities near Gaza during the final stage of officers’ training, and is now preparing to open a new training cycle in the Lions of the Jordan Valley Battalion next month.GalleryThe three female commanders at the graduation ceremony of the Commanders Course (Photo: IDF)Capt. V. enlisted in November 2021 in a dedicated officer training track as a combat soldier in the Lions of the Jordan Valley Battalion. During officers’ training, she was sent to communities near Gaza and spent a month carrying out security missions in the area.After completing her role as a platoon commander in the battalion’s training program, she is now serving as commander of a training company and is due to open a new cycle next month.“We were nearing the end of the corps completion stage in officers’ training when we were sent to Sde Nitzan in the Eshkol Regional Council,” V. recalled. “We began going from house to house to see whether residents were still in their safe rooms. We searched the surrounding area, the orchards and the greenhouses to make sure there were no additional terrorists nearby.“We stayed there and continued securing the communities for nearly a month. Without a doubt, it was one of the most meaningful months I have experienced. As part of the mission, we also had to evacuate everyone who remained in the communities that had been attacked, and the roads in the south filled with secured convoys.”After the force completed its mission in the south, V. returned to her post and opened a new training cycle in November 2023. “They understood that despite the war, people still had to be recruited and combat soldiers still had to be trained,” she said.“It was one of the most intense things imaginable. These were soldiers who had only just enlisted. On the one hand, they had extremely high motivation and wanted to contribute and defend the country. On the other hand, they arrived with mixed feelings because it was a period of uncertainty and there were fears.”How did you deal with that dissonance?