IDF Restarts Arrowhead Competition With Combat-Focused Format

The IDF said its Arrowhead combat-fitness competition for reconnaissance and special-unit trainees returned at Wingate after a three-year pause, redesigned around battlefield conditions rather than sterile gym tests. Teams from the Paratroopers, Givati, Golani, Nahal and Kfir reconnaissance units, the Lotar school unit and the multidimensional Refaim unit ran a two-kilometer team course through forest and sand while each fighter carried 20 kilograms, then moved into shooting under strain and Krav Maga scenarios. The Paratroopers reconnaissance unit won overall, followed by Givati and Lotar. IDF training officers said the changes draw on lessons from prolonged combat and are meant to test physical resilience, mental resilience, commanders' leadership and unit cohesion before deployment.