Location:

                                                                                                                        North of the Eilat mountains, next to Kibutz Naot Smadar.

Directions:

Line 392 from the central station in Beer Sheva or the central station in Eilat. Pay attention - you need to order a seat in advance!

Origin of the Name:

The base’s name 'Shizafon' was given because of its geographic location, Shizafon Valley. The origin of the name is from the 'shizaf' (ziziphus) trees that are surrounding the area.

A Little Bit of History:

The base was established after the peace treaty between Israel and Egypt and the IDF withdrawing from Sinai in the end of the 80’s, with the american engineering corps’s cooperation.

Nature of service:

                                                                                                                  The training is in a closed base format.

What Does Camp 'Shizafon' Include?

Just like in any base, you can find logistics, an armory, 4 lunch rooms, personal affairs ('Tash'), education ('Chinuch') and human resources ('Mashan') offices, a synagogue, a 'Shekem', a deli and a medical clinic. Likewise, you can find a shooting range, a tank space (for parking and treatment), a gym, a sports venue, and a training facility.

The Unique Qualities of the Base:

The school for armored corps is the only base where all the most advanced simulators on land are concentrated at: A team trainer, a driving trainer and a shooting trainer. This base is the only base in which you can enlist as a recruit and finish your service as a platoon commander. You can do all of the courses one after the other and in the same place: Basic training, advanced training, commander course, and an officer course.

Every three months, 'Shizafon' hosts a performance called 'Sakam' (A combined combat training session): A month where 'Shizafon' hosts all of the corps completions (after the officers course) of the combat units. In the 'Sakam', operation abilities in the war field are exhibited: The air force’s air displays, the armored corps abilities, artillery, combat engineering, infantry corps and more.

The Commander’s Message:

The training of the armored corps is the entrance into the army for those who are recruiting to be a tank crewman or an armor-aiding combat soldier and trains them to be a certified combat soldier. The soldiers who stand out and are suitable for commanding are trained in a brigade in the commander courses, the tank commanders course, the squad commanders course and the armored corps officers course. We believe that in order to win in war, even the best tanks in the world are not enough, but the people and the crew that activate them. The brigade enables the best terms in order to let the recruit become a combat soldier, he will receive everything it takes to do this mission when the concern for the individual, his personal affairs and the learning and training environment are all directed for it.

- Colonel Moran Omer, commander of Brigade 460, School for Armored Corps