In May, just weeks before she turned 21 and before being discharged from the Israeli army, Chana Shear, daughter of Rob Shear of Overland Park and Miriam Ben Shoshan of the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim, was the only person in the Home Front Command of the Israel Defense Forces to be awarded the Outstanding Soldier Award.
The Home Front Command operates in various emergency situations, specializing in the field of civilian protection. Its main purpose is to thwart all forms of terrorist attacks and to root out terrorism wherever it may exist in the region.
Sitting at an outdoor café, she was relaxed and casual as she related what she had been doing in the Israeli army and how she happened to receive this special award.
Shear joined the army in January of 2014, initially spending five months in the air force.
“At first I wanted to be in high tech or intelligence, and my family really got me into the TV show NCIS and it made me want to do something cool.”
She drafted into high tech and then switched to search and rescue, which is a combat unit.
“I really enjoyed having a gun and being out in the field and realized in high tech, I would not have these things so I asked to switch to combat.”
For three months, she received basic combat training, then for four months she went through search and rescue and chemical warfare training.
After training she spent two months stationed on the Jordan border. Then she was transferred for the rest of her service to the West Bank (Judea/Samaria) where she initially was on guard duty for four months.
A promotion put her on a three-person team where they were “always on standby for anything such as rock throwing, shooting and knives,” she said. Her unit was in charge of three different areas where almost every night they arrested terrorists in Arab villages.
“In the middle of the night, we would go into Palestinian villages, either by foot or car, and surround a terrorist’s house. A small group goes in the house, while the rest guard outside watching for any rock throwings, etc. or anyone escaping the house. Then we handcuff him and take him in.”
This is very dangerous work because the villagers hear the Israeli soldiers coming and they block off the exits with huge boulders and trash cans. Then they wait for the army on top of buildings to throw rocks, bombs, Molotov cocktails, etc. as the Israeli soldiers get out of the cars and move the road blocks. Shear did this for five to six months.
It goes without saying that her father, Rob Shear, who often attends the Shul of Leawood, thinks his daughter is awesome and is proud of her accomplishments.
“I never would have envisioned my little Chanale going into Arab villages with a stun gun and arresting terrorists,” he said. “It was about 8 p.m. here in the States when she would go on one of these missions and I never wanted to know about it. If I did, I would never be able to sleep.”
Rob Shear sees his “daughter as someone who risked her life to protect the Jewish people.”
“I can’t describe how much nachas that brings to her parents and family,” he continued. “She worked hard for this recognition and I think it will serve her well as she enters Israeli society.”
The former soldier said she become very Zionist during her army service.
“My reason for continuing on, and what helped me through, was knowing that I was fighting to defend my home,” said Shear, who was discharged on May 16 with a rank of first sergeant.
She learned about the possibility of the award on Israel Independence Day.
“Every Yom HaAtzmaut (Israel Independence Day), the army gives awards,” explained Shear, “and my commander picked me to go for an interview. Commanders pick who they think is the best soldier, who works the hardest and doesn’t complain, etcetera.”
She met with the head of all the Home Front and subsequently learned she had been chosen for the award from among approximately 1,000 soldiers in her division.
Although the honor doesn’t come with any special gifts, she says, “it is just an honor to be picked outstanding soldier by the commander of all the Home Front Command.”
Shear was born in Detroit where she lived until she was 3. Then over the next 10 years her family lived in Florida, Israel, Kentucky, Tennessee, Detroit and Toronto before making aliyah in 2008.
When she was 16, Shear received an army exemption. She graduated high school in Israel at the age of 17, then spent six months in Canada and half a year at Bar Ilan University before she joined the army.
“When I was in university, I kind of woke up one day and said, I’m joining the army. I’m a Gemini! I’m very impulsive!”
The young woman now lives in Tel Aviv. She just accepted a job in customer service with the Menorah Insurance Company.
