Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Officer Ariel Salley is heading to Israel to serve with the Israeli Army.
In 2009, Salley, a Las Vegas native, relocated to Israel, where his mother and father were born, completing high school abroad in order to join the Israel Defense Force as soon as he could, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reports.
He eventually became a sniper, serving in Operation Protective Edge, the 2014 war in Gaza.
After the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack, Salley contacted the IDF the next day, asking them if he was needed to help defend the country.
The response was swift.
“Immediately, without hesitation, ‘Yes, you have emergency orders,’ ” Salley recalls. “ ‘Soldier, return.’ ”
He departed Saturday on a one-way ticket.
He’ll be leaving plenty behind: his girlfriend, his beloved pitbull, his fellow police officers who have given him their blessing, having thrown him a going-away party the previous night.