Flotilla 13: Israeli Naval Commandos in the Red Sea, 1967- 1973
Rear Adm. Ze'ev Almog, born in Tel Aviv, Israel, to parents who had emigrated from Poland in 1933, served in the Israeli Navy for 33 years, participating in five wars and hundreds of combat operations and rising through the ranks to become Commander in Chief of the Israeli Navy in 1979. After being certified a Naval Commando Warrior in 1955, he trained to become a naval officer and then earned degrees at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, RI. In 1968 he was appointed Commander of the Naval Commando Unit and carried out eighty operations. After his service as head of the Israeli Navy, he retired, and in 1992 was named the first USO President in Israel. Among his many awards is the Legion of Merit, presented in 1981 by United States Secretary of Defense. Currently, he is involved with voluntary public activities.