Operation Protective Edge had an unexpected impact on the IDF, Channel 2 reports Tuesday – a wave of women requesting to be drafted as observers at security outposts and war rooms.

Headlines were made and lives were saved at the Gaza-Israel border due to the alertness and professionalism of these observers, who watch sensitive sites through security cameras at strategic lookouts.

45% more draftees requested to be placed as observers in March 2015 than in March 2014, the IDF’s Manpower Division revealed, and dropout rates have decreased by 35%. Desertion from lookout posts has dropped even further, by some 80%.

Ground forces recruiting offices reported that many incoming draftees – mostly women – are outright requesting the job, which was once thought of as grunt work.

Manpower Division Department Head Maj. Ofira Elbaz attributes the leap to several improvements in the fiels. She said that in recent years the army has made a quantum leap in improving observers’ conditions of service, as well as efficiency overall.

“We are careful to assign six women per day for shifts, and it’s cause a great improvement in the physical conditions and in logistics.”