The Commander in Chief of the Congolese Armed Forces, Gen.Joseph Mobutu, stood in formation this weekend with 219 of his officers and men at an Israel Army base somewhere in Israel to receive paratroop wings. The silver wings were pinned on the Congolese general’s uniform by Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. At a ceremony marking the end of a rigorous training program conducted for the Congolese by seasoned Israeli army paratroop instructors, Gen. Mobutu requested that Israel help in organizing three airborne battalions of from 2,000 to 3,000 men for his army.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.