FORT BENNING, Ga., (Dec. 10, 2014) -- A contingent from the Israel Defense Forces visited Fort Benning Dec. 1-3 to share lessons learned from the IDF's recent Operation Protective Edge in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip.

The visit was part of an ongoing exchange between the IDF and the U.S. Army, said Col. Paul Reese, director of the Center for Army Lessons Learned at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

"Both the Maneuver Center of Excellence and CALL have a habitual relationship with the IDF," Reese said. "We were over there earlier this year in the springtime to exchange ideas and lessons learned. ... It's a reoccurring event. It wasn't just because of OPE, but it just so happened that OPE happened to have occurred.

We'll see what we can take away from their most recent experiences to apply to our Army. What did they do well? What are some of the lessons that they learned so that we don't have to repeat the same mistakes that they made during the conflict. Or, is there an organizational or materiel or doctrinal change that would benefit us that we can take away from their experiences?"

During the three-day event, multiple discussions took place on a variety of topics, including tunnel and subterranean operations, urban operations, the role of armor in urban operations, unmanned aerial system support for ground plans, counter-UAS operations, countermortar and counterrocket operations, fires, mission command, future combat vehicle development, intelligence and combat collection, logistics and sustainment.

Of particular interest, Reese said, were the discussions on subterranean operations.

"We were able to see what they learned in terms of some of the tactics, techniques and procedures that they used to fight in the tunnels that we can push down to our troops and incorporate into our training so that if we're in an environment where we have to deal with a subterranean threat, we can know what to look for and how to counter that," Reese said. "Ultimately, we can save Soldiers' lives because we'll be prepared for that kind of warfare."

Todd Ratliff, division chief for MCoE G3 Plans, said Fort Benning leaders paid close attention to those lessons learned.

"The subterranean operations discussion really opened up the eyes of our Infantry, doctrine and concepts guys to what is potentially out there, how creative the enemy can be and how we're going to have to adapt to be able to deal with them," Ratliff said.

While both armies will undoubtedly benefit from the exchange, Ratliff said there is added value for the MCoE in having hosted the discussion.

"Some of the true beneficiaries will be the Infantry and Armor schools, our Doctrine and Training Development and our Capabilities Development and Integration Directorate," he said. "That was our main intent - if they were going to have this here at Fort Benning, we wanted to get something out of it. We wanted to make sure we could grow from this experience."

One of the major takeaways for MCoE leaders was the continued importance of adaptability and flexibility.

"We knew coming in that no enemy that the U.S. military fights is ever going to be the same, but this discussion opened up our eyes to just how differently these enemies fight," Ratliff said. "We have to be more diverse and ensure that our leaders are ready to be adaptive and can deal with any situation."