Hey guys. The past three weeks have been pretty fun.
Three weeks ago was the summary week of how to function as a four man squad. The entire week was spent in the field with the squad. No commanders except for when they brought us food. We had missions and navigation to do every night. I had blisters on my foot so I was in agony all week long but my commander simply refused to let me stop. Needless to say, that sucked. I can honestly say that since the moment I lost a lot of respect for him because he knows that I am not the kind of soldier that looks to get out of as much training as he can like many other soldiers do. Though I may complain like everyone else, I have never in my army experience tried to get out of something hard just because it was hard. Anyways, though I was in great pain, it was still a very cool week where it was just us soldiers having fun without our commanders. All night long as we walked, we were joking and complaining; when it was cold, we would cuddle together for mutual warmth, and all in all managed to find the silver lining.
Two weeks ago we started doing solo navigation. Whereas before all our navigation we did in pairs, now all aspects of the navigation became solely each person's responsibility. Learning all the points, their descriptions, learning the path and memorizing it, etc. I am average when it comes to navigation, I usually bring the majority of my points and don't get lost too often. I really enjoyed the week because I got to set the pace of the navigation and so I went much faster than usual. There are many things in the army that I am sure I will forget once I am done with the service, but there are other things that I have learned that I will never forget; life lessons and skills that will help me in the future.
Two skills that pop up in my mind as significant are my gun and navigation. Before joining the army, I had never touched a gun and stood very firmly on the side of gun control laws. But after training and learning how to use the weapon, you realize just how important having trained and responsible people with weapons is. I still firmly believe that most citizens should not be carrying weapons but in Israel, we live in a very volatile neighborhood and the fact that the majority of the citizenry here know how to handle a weapon is comforting. The second skill is that of navigation. I can now usually find the directions of the compass at most hours of the day without too much trouble and can dissect terrain to know where rivers and wadis flow, where there are shoulders, ridges and peaks of mountains on topography maps. Simple survival skills that are now ingrained in my head.
This past week we spent up north learning how to fight in the underbrush of northern Israel. This basically consists of running up steep slopes filled with the thorniest bushes you can imagine- all of course while in full gear and with the machine gun. Of course, this past week was very rainy and so we were filled with mud and quite miserable. It was quite a scene to witness. Twenty soldiers covered in mud during an exercise in a torrential downpour! But we got through the week as best we could. The best part of the week was getting out early Thursday however because of Thanksgiving! I went to two dinners in Tel Aviv and then went out with my friend to a bar. It was so great to go out and enjoy myself.
Aside from that, things are going well. Two and a half months left until we finish training (who is counting?), guys are great, kibbutz is great, and feeling pretty healthy. I plan on coming back to the States for Pesach and I can't wait for that moment.
Final observations: There has been a lot of terror attacks recently in Israel and I can only hope that the families of those killed find comfort somehow in the wake of their terrible tragedies.
In regards to the proposed Jewish State bill: I am deeply opposed. As Jews, we know what it is to be forever the minority and forever being the stranger. So why then do we need to inflict that same feeling on the Christian, Druze, and yes, Arab communities of Israel? Are we not confident enough in the state that we have built to have to pass a law like this?
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Saturday, November 8, 2014
Dealing with army life: Shoulder on
When I last left off, my two American friends had left the tzevet and we were starting the hardest part of our training. The past few weeks have seen me do the second week of that crazy hard shooting week that I wrote about last time. It was brutal, tons of push-up position, sprints, short times and other small little rules that kept us miserable all week long though of course, at the end like always, give you great material for jokes and stories afterwards.
I also participated in a battalion-wide exercise in the Golan Heights the week before that as a machine gunner which was pretty sweet. A little more about that: I was supposed to be sent to snipers course, but they kicked out our previous machine gunner and so I returned to being the machine gunner, which meant that I couldnt go the snipers course. I am super bummed about that because the course is interesting and important.
In fact, the past month has seen a lot of factors come together to make my army experience much harder. Two friends leaving, losing snipers course, being the machine gunner again etc. You just have to shoulder on because though it is easy to fall into depression or self-pity, these emotions will only prey on you and make the army that much harder. A conscious decision to take it a day at a time and to remember that you made this decision and therefore you have to live with the consequences are what kept me from getting too upset about the whole situation.
Finally, this past weekend was our second Shabbat Garin, a year since our first one. Its truly incredible to see how much we have grown together as a Garin and as Israelis since we started the army about an year ago. We have people going into commanders and officers courses.
And socially, our Garin is super tight-knit, and everyone is pretty comfortable around each other. Its a wonderful framework though I need to get off the kibbutz more on my free time.
I know this update was a little bare in terms of details and dates but that fact is that this past month has been so busy with so many stories that it is hard to write all of them down. If anyone wants to hear more about what I have been up to they should feel free to email me at nsjaphet@yahoo.com and I would be happy to respond to their questions.
I also participated in a battalion-wide exercise in the Golan Heights the week before that as a machine gunner which was pretty sweet. A little more about that: I was supposed to be sent to snipers course, but they kicked out our previous machine gunner and so I returned to being the machine gunner, which meant that I couldnt go the snipers course. I am super bummed about that because the course is interesting and important.
In fact, the past month has seen a lot of factors come together to make my army experience much harder. Two friends leaving, losing snipers course, being the machine gunner again etc. You just have to shoulder on because though it is easy to fall into depression or self-pity, these emotions will only prey on you and make the army that much harder. A conscious decision to take it a day at a time and to remember that you made this decision and therefore you have to live with the consequences are what kept me from getting too upset about the whole situation.
Finally, this past weekend was our second Shabbat Garin, a year since our first one. Its truly incredible to see how much we have grown together as a Garin and as Israelis since we started the army about an year ago. We have people going into commanders and officers courses.
And socially, our Garin is super tight-knit, and everyone is pretty comfortable around each other. Its a wonderful framework though I need to get off the kibbutz more on my free time.
I know this update was a little bare in terms of details and dates but that fact is that this past month has been so busy with so many stories that it is hard to write all of them down. If anyone wants to hear more about what I have been up to they should feel free to email me at nsjaphet@yahoo.com and I would be happy to respond to their questions.
Thursday, October 9, 2014
Post Course
Hey everyone,
Last time I wrote off I was just starting my 7 week long combat engineering course which is the most important part of my training in terms of what my unit is all about. Well now it is over and here is my post about it.
The course itself was awesome. We learnt all kinds of interesting things. An average day consisted of waking up, spending most of the day in the classroom and doing little exercises. When night fell we would do workouts (we got into incredible shape, this is one picture taken after we finished a morning run by running up an incredibly steep incline that led to the summit of a mountain)
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Last time I wrote off I was just starting my 7 week long combat engineering course which is the most important part of my training in terms of what my unit is all about. Well now it is over and here is my post about it.
The course itself was awesome. We learnt all kinds of interesting things. An average day consisted of waking up, spending most of the day in the classroom and doing little exercises. When night fell we would do workouts (we got into incredible shape, this is one picture taken after we finished a morning run by running up an incredibly steep incline that led to the summit of a mountain)
and then all have coffee together, the guys together with the commanders.
Sometimes we would have big exercises involving explosives and other really cool components. I loved the course but my fellow soldiers had a terribly hard time focusing during the classes and were constantly interrupting the instructors which was annoying to say the least especially to a university graduate. Perhaps the greatest part of the course was the atmosphere however.
The course was on a base in a remote part of the Negev towards Eilat. Far away from the unit's base, with little oversight, our commanders really relaxed and opened up with us. There was practically no distance and we simply just enjoyed every minute, learning, joking around and getting into awesome shape.
Another incredible part of this course, was an surprise that lifted my spirits and morale immensely. As a lone soldier, I am entitled to 30 days of time to fly home to visit family. I took two weeks in March but had two weeks left. I went to my commanders to request the remaining two weeks.Their response was that due to the operation, every week of our training was now super important and couldn't be missed no matter what but perhaps that they could find one week in November to let me fly out for. Halfway through the course, the commander of the pluga decided that he couldn't let me take that week. Needless to say I was really devastated because it meant another five months at the least before I would be able to see my parents. As it turned out however, the FIDF had raised money during the operation and was offering free flights to the parents of lone soldiers to see their children in Israel. At quite literally the last minute, I applied for the program and my parents were flown out to Israel for an incredible weekend.
I can't describe how happy this visit made me because precisely at this moment I had been in a low due to the rejection of my visit to the US and some other army stuff. It really lifted my spirits. To make things better, I also spent an awesome Rosh HaShana in Jerusalem with close family friends and friends around the city.
All good things must come to an end, however, and so we returned to our maslul (training) and jumped straight back into the thick of things. We have five months or so left and our commanders are determined to squeeze everything in. One of our first weeks back was an incredibly hard week basically meant to remind us of the very first days of basic training. We had to do everything with super short times, pushup positions, sprints you name it. On top of it all, we probably spent 9 hours each day of the week in the shooting range. But honestly, at the end of these kind of weeks you feel like you conquered the world. If you can survive this, you can survive anything. I don't regret the army for a second and honestly am happy that I am doing this now when I have the opportunity instead of settling into the all too familiar study and then find a job routine. I have all my life to do that stuff- now is the time to do the crazy and tough and inspiring experience that is the army.
Finally, in the most recent development in the army (two nights ago), my super close friend and fellow garinmate Ezra who has been with me since day one of our getting to Israel, through our draft, until now has decided to call it quits with our unit. He has been dealing with some health problems and morale and decided that combat is not for him. Its going to be really tough without the kid. Compounding all this is the fact that the final American in the unit, Shaul, is also dealing with an health issue and might have to leave us for some time, thus leaving me as the truly lonely lone soldier. I haven't really processed this yet and I will leave that to another post.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed the long overdue post and pictures.
Nate
Saturday, August 30, 2014
Operation Protective Edge, Part II
Hey guys. I know, I know. I should have updated this blog a long time ago but I was just too busy/lazy.
There is so much to write about I don't quite know where to begin. I will begin with the operation.
In the end, my unit was called up to be a reinforcement group on the border. In general my unit didn't much of anything expect sit and play cards all day long during the operation. Due to the fact that I took a drivers course on a certain APC, however, I was used a lot for the last two weeks of the operation. Any time my commander or the commander a few ranks above him had to go into Gaza, I was the one who drove them in. I would drive in and out of Gaza with personnel, food, supplies etc.
One one hand it was a very interesting experience. I felt that I was doing a very small but important task in the overall mission. The supplies I brought to the fighters were crucial and I took commanders to important briefings. I witnessed some of the tunnel discovery/destruction first hand.
One the other hand it was very harrowing. I hate being stationary so being the driver of a slow moving target was terrifying. I know that rationally being behind the armor of an APC is safer, but as an infantry soldier you feel more safe being on the ground on your own two feet. While driving, all I did was try to focus on the mission and say Psalms; that way I didn't focus on my emotions at all. But it was hard to pretend that I wasn't scared or angry or tired or anxious. That is just the way it was. I was in the army for 35 straight days and that takes it toll on any human being but especially when there are nonstop sounds of bombs, missiles, tanks etc, heat, sand and tensions flaring. I am thankful that I didn't participate in any of the battles; that would have made life even more difficult so I am grateful to count my lucky blessing.
I also saw the destruction the air force, tanks and artillery visited on Gaza. Burnt out buildings, shells where homes used to stand. It was like being in a movie, except in real life. I don't feel guilty about what we did, we had no choice, but I absolutely empathize with the average citizens of Gaza, they are the ones that will have to pick up the fragments of their life.
The operation was tough also in terms of my relationship back home with my parents and sister. Every time I managed to get in touch with them, they were extremely worried about me and I had to be the one who comforted them about how I was safe and not to worry. I was very homesick. All the loving e-mails that friends and family sent and the food and toiletries that were donated by the people of Israel every day of the operation really helped lift my spirits and being with my guys was also helpful.
I don't really want to get into the politics of the operation. I want to focus on another aspect of the operation that I am just beginning to understand and internalize-the indisputable fact that Israel lives by the sword. We are encircled by enemies who pray for our destruction every day. G-d I wish it wasn't so, but Israelis grow up and realize that there will always be conflict here. It is a depressing fact but it explains so much. Why Israelis live in the moment- because every moment that you can sit on the beach, watch the beautiful sunset (and girls :) is a moment to be savored. Why we are so self-critical- because if we allow ourselves to become lax or unprepared, we pay dearly for our mistakes. It is a hard place to live, Israel, and it hardens you in return.
The operation also, quite naturally, aroused fiery sentiments in most Jewish people. When I would peruse Facebook I would see endless statuses from my Jewish friends. Some would post things like, Israel needs to go in deeper and conquer the strip or that Israel needs to act more restrained in regards to civilian casualties, etc.
Now I believe that every Jew should feel at home in Israel and that every Jew should feel entitled to his or her opinion on Israel. At the same time, however, when I would read these statuses they really angered me. Because with all due respect, the person calling for us to go deeper into the strip isn't the one who has to go and follow the order. I am. Israelis know that their cousins, fathers, sons, brothers, and friends are the ones who serve and fall in battle if that is the order. They know and experience what being under rocket fire is like. I think that people should truly try to stand in our shoes before telling us what we should or should not do.
Anyways, after the operation we returned to our course. I am enjoying the air conditioned classrooms and refreshing desert breeze during the night. The material is interesting and the guys are enjoying themselves. I am starting to think about my plans for the holidays which are upcoming.
Nate
There is so much to write about I don't quite know where to begin. I will begin with the operation.
In the end, my unit was called up to be a reinforcement group on the border. In general my unit didn't much of anything expect sit and play cards all day long during the operation. Due to the fact that I took a drivers course on a certain APC, however, I was used a lot for the last two weeks of the operation. Any time my commander or the commander a few ranks above him had to go into Gaza, I was the one who drove them in. I would drive in and out of Gaza with personnel, food, supplies etc.
One one hand it was a very interesting experience. I felt that I was doing a very small but important task in the overall mission. The supplies I brought to the fighters were crucial and I took commanders to important briefings. I witnessed some of the tunnel discovery/destruction first hand.
One the other hand it was very harrowing. I hate being stationary so being the driver of a slow moving target was terrifying. I know that rationally being behind the armor of an APC is safer, but as an infantry soldier you feel more safe being on the ground on your own two feet. While driving, all I did was try to focus on the mission and say Psalms; that way I didn't focus on my emotions at all. But it was hard to pretend that I wasn't scared or angry or tired or anxious. That is just the way it was. I was in the army for 35 straight days and that takes it toll on any human being but especially when there are nonstop sounds of bombs, missiles, tanks etc, heat, sand and tensions flaring. I am thankful that I didn't participate in any of the battles; that would have made life even more difficult so I am grateful to count my lucky blessing.
I also saw the destruction the air force, tanks and artillery visited on Gaza. Burnt out buildings, shells where homes used to stand. It was like being in a movie, except in real life. I don't feel guilty about what we did, we had no choice, but I absolutely empathize with the average citizens of Gaza, they are the ones that will have to pick up the fragments of their life.
The operation was tough also in terms of my relationship back home with my parents and sister. Every time I managed to get in touch with them, they were extremely worried about me and I had to be the one who comforted them about how I was safe and not to worry. I was very homesick. All the loving e-mails that friends and family sent and the food and toiletries that were donated by the people of Israel every day of the operation really helped lift my spirits and being with my guys was also helpful.
I don't really want to get into the politics of the operation. I want to focus on another aspect of the operation that I am just beginning to understand and internalize-the indisputable fact that Israel lives by the sword. We are encircled by enemies who pray for our destruction every day. G-d I wish it wasn't so, but Israelis grow up and realize that there will always be conflict here. It is a depressing fact but it explains so much. Why Israelis live in the moment- because every moment that you can sit on the beach, watch the beautiful sunset (and girls :) is a moment to be savored. Why we are so self-critical- because if we allow ourselves to become lax or unprepared, we pay dearly for our mistakes. It is a hard place to live, Israel, and it hardens you in return.
The operation also, quite naturally, aroused fiery sentiments in most Jewish people. When I would peruse Facebook I would see endless statuses from my Jewish friends. Some would post things like, Israel needs to go in deeper and conquer the strip or that Israel needs to act more restrained in regards to civilian casualties, etc.
Now I believe that every Jew should feel at home in Israel and that every Jew should feel entitled to his or her opinion on Israel. At the same time, however, when I would read these statuses they really angered me. Because with all due respect, the person calling for us to go deeper into the strip isn't the one who has to go and follow the order. I am. Israelis know that their cousins, fathers, sons, brothers, and friends are the ones who serve and fall in battle if that is the order. They know and experience what being under rocket fire is like. I think that people should truly try to stand in our shoes before telling us what we should or should not do.
Anyways, after the operation we returned to our course. I am enjoying the air conditioned classrooms and refreshing desert breeze during the night. The material is interesting and the guys are enjoying themselves. I am starting to think about my plans for the holidays which are upcoming.
Nate
Monday, July 21, 2014
Operation Protective Edge
Hey everyone,
Since I wrote you last, an incredible amount of events have happened, both personally and nationally. Army-wise: After doing a week of navigation, we got to our final week of advanced training. After handing in our gear, we got ready for our masa kumta, the final march to get our distinctive green Nachal beret.
I wont go into too much detail about the 60 km march. It was long and sweaty and sandy and hot. Your body isn't meant to walk that long in one night. Not pleasant but eventually we made it to Masada by the morning. Birthright girls blew us kisses and took pictures with us; we just wanted to go to sleep and I was so dehydrated I almost passed out. Two days later after sleep and hydration, however, we had our tekes cumta, the ceremony with our division commander on our dress uniforms where our berets were switched from the dull green of the induction center to the bright green of Nachal combat soldiers.
The day had incredible significance for me. For one, my sister arrived from the States to spend a week with me. Second, unbeknownst to me, the commanders of my battalion had decided to bestow a huge honor upon me. They gave me the "mofet plugati", which is an award for the soldier who shows the best example to the plugah. I didn't know about this until the day of the ceremony so it came as quite a surprise. In front of the entire division, I ran to the front and the commander of the entire division of Nachal gave me the green beret.
The great significance of the day, however, came with the knowledge that I had finished combat training and was now considered trained and ready to be used in the defense of the country. That if, and most likely when, the country needed soldiers to protect it, I too was ready to join in the effort. After two thousand years of exile, to officially be part of the first Jewish army protecting our freedom was a wonderful feeling. Celebrating with my fellow soldiers, friends, and family who came in the sweltering heat was the icing on the cake afterwards.
Well, after the ceremony, I had a week off to spend with my sister which was awesome. We toured, saw my kibbutz, friends in the Golan, Tel Aviv beach, Jerusalem. Unfortunately, her trip was overshadowed by the sequence of events that overtook Israel recently. I am sure you know of the deaths of the three yeshiva students by a Hamas terror cell in Hebron, the revenge killing of an east Jerusalem Arab teenager (disgusting), and then the massive rocketing of Israel by the terror group. As I write this, I can hear artillery forces shelling Gaza from my kibbutz and the army is inside the strip, eliminating terrorists, finding and demolishing tunnels, and other efforts.
Going back to my personal experience. After my sister left, I returned to the army as a soldier in the Gadsar (Special Brigade) (we did yet another, very difficult, hike to the Gadsar base to start our training in the Gadsar school). The new base is great as we have air conditioned rooms, but it is a huge and confusing place, with forests, empty buildings and in general I dont really like it. I was only on this base for a short period of time however. We were supposed to go to a week of navigations in the North, but the entire situation erupted.
I can't go into details for obvious reasons, but I was sent down to the border as part of a drivers' group that was responsible for transporting supplies and evacuating wounded in the case of a ground operation. Mainly we were sitting in the hot sun, loading and unloading heavy machinery and gear from vehicle to vehicle, pausing to take cover from the rockets and mortars that Hamas was firing on us. Every night our commanders would come and tell us, that this was it, tonight we are going in, be ready. This went on for about a week until we were taken out. It turns out that our company has a course to go to that can't be pushed off. Here are my thoughts about I went through:
1. The unity of Israel: It has been incredible to see the support given to the soldiers by the citizens here. Whether its the incredible amounts of free food given to us, prayer booklets, Chabad coming to the fields with cold popiscles and tefillin, and more, its truly special to be a soldier in this country.
2. Uncertainty and fear- I won't lie. I was terrified and the uncertainty really affected me. My fellow soldiers seemed impervious to it, but though I was, and still am, ready to fulfill whatever mission is given to me, there is no escaping the fact that underneath our tough guy exteriors, soldiers are still people with emotions. The fact that so many people around the world are praying for the safety of our soldiers helped me a lot as well as the acceptance that when things are out of your control, trust to G-d and your own efforts, and hopefully everything will work out for the best.
3. Guilt- Now that we are not helping out with the efforts in the operation, my company and I feel guilty that we are not helping out. Of course rationally this is ludicrous as the army decided that it did not need us and that our course is more important but on an emotional level that is the response.
I have been feeling better about it by thinking about it in this way. As more trained soldiers, in the next round or mission we will be better equipped to help the country. Of course, if the situation demands it they could always call us back.
Finally, as I write this 18 soldiers are dead and hundreds wounded. Lets hope for the speedy fulfillment of our mission and only good news from here on out.
Since I wrote you last, an incredible amount of events have happened, both personally and nationally. Army-wise: After doing a week of navigation, we got to our final week of advanced training. After handing in our gear, we got ready for our masa kumta, the final march to get our distinctive green Nachal beret.
I wont go into too much detail about the 60 km march. It was long and sweaty and sandy and hot. Your body isn't meant to walk that long in one night. Not pleasant but eventually we made it to Masada by the morning. Birthright girls blew us kisses and took pictures with us; we just wanted to go to sleep and I was so dehydrated I almost passed out. Two days later after sleep and hydration, however, we had our tekes cumta, the ceremony with our division commander on our dress uniforms where our berets were switched from the dull green of the induction center to the bright green of Nachal combat soldiers.
The day had incredible significance for me. For one, my sister arrived from the States to spend a week with me. Second, unbeknownst to me, the commanders of my battalion had decided to bestow a huge honor upon me. They gave me the "mofet plugati", which is an award for the soldier who shows the best example to the plugah. I didn't know about this until the day of the ceremony so it came as quite a surprise. In front of the entire division, I ran to the front and the commander of the entire division of Nachal gave me the green beret.
The great significance of the day, however, came with the knowledge that I had finished combat training and was now considered trained and ready to be used in the defense of the country. That if, and most likely when, the country needed soldiers to protect it, I too was ready to join in the effort. After two thousand years of exile, to officially be part of the first Jewish army protecting our freedom was a wonderful feeling. Celebrating with my fellow soldiers, friends, and family who came in the sweltering heat was the icing on the cake afterwards.
Well, after the ceremony, I had a week off to spend with my sister which was awesome. We toured, saw my kibbutz, friends in the Golan, Tel Aviv beach, Jerusalem. Unfortunately, her trip was overshadowed by the sequence of events that overtook Israel recently. I am sure you know of the deaths of the three yeshiva students by a Hamas terror cell in Hebron, the revenge killing of an east Jerusalem Arab teenager (disgusting), and then the massive rocketing of Israel by the terror group. As I write this, I can hear artillery forces shelling Gaza from my kibbutz and the army is inside the strip, eliminating terrorists, finding and demolishing tunnels, and other efforts.
Going back to my personal experience. After my sister left, I returned to the army as a soldier in the Gadsar (Special Brigade) (we did yet another, very difficult, hike to the Gadsar base to start our training in the Gadsar school). The new base is great as we have air conditioned rooms, but it is a huge and confusing place, with forests, empty buildings and in general I dont really like it. I was only on this base for a short period of time however. We were supposed to go to a week of navigations in the North, but the entire situation erupted.
I can't go into details for obvious reasons, but I was sent down to the border as part of a drivers' group that was responsible for transporting supplies and evacuating wounded in the case of a ground operation. Mainly we were sitting in the hot sun, loading and unloading heavy machinery and gear from vehicle to vehicle, pausing to take cover from the rockets and mortars that Hamas was firing on us. Every night our commanders would come and tell us, that this was it, tonight we are going in, be ready. This went on for about a week until we were taken out. It turns out that our company has a course to go to that can't be pushed off. Here are my thoughts about I went through:
1. The unity of Israel: It has been incredible to see the support given to the soldiers by the citizens here. Whether its the incredible amounts of free food given to us, prayer booklets, Chabad coming to the fields with cold popiscles and tefillin, and more, its truly special to be a soldier in this country.
2. Uncertainty and fear- I won't lie. I was terrified and the uncertainty really affected me. My fellow soldiers seemed impervious to it, but though I was, and still am, ready to fulfill whatever mission is given to me, there is no escaping the fact that underneath our tough guy exteriors, soldiers are still people with emotions. The fact that so many people around the world are praying for the safety of our soldiers helped me a lot as well as the acceptance that when things are out of your control, trust to G-d and your own efforts, and hopefully everything will work out for the best.
3. Guilt- Now that we are not helping out with the efforts in the operation, my company and I feel guilty that we are not helping out. Of course rationally this is ludicrous as the army decided that it did not need us and that our course is more important but on an emotional level that is the response.
I have been feeling better about it by thinking about it in this way. As more trained soldiers, in the next round or mission we will be better equipped to help the country. Of course, if the situation demands it they could always call us back.
Finally, as I write this 18 soldiers are dead and hundreds wounded. Lets hope for the speedy fulfillment of our mission and only good news from here on out.
Saturday, June 14, 2014
The latest
As I wrote, three weeks ago I was in another driver's course. It was wonderful. I got to have my phone on me at all times, the base had great conditions, and best of all my commanders weren't with me, so I had so much freedom I didn't know what to do with myself! The course was fun and the machine I learnt how to drive is quite fun. I graduated with "excellence" which meant that I got to leave on Thursday which was an unexpected treat.
The past two weeks I spent a lot of time cleaning a Nachal memorial in the North in preparation for a tekes (ceremony) commemorating fallen soldiers. It was menial labor- sweeping fallen leaves, hanging flags, moving chairs etc. Though this was not fun, it meant two easy weeks though not much to write home about. The cool thing about these weeks was the fact that I got off for every Shabbat and the chag (holiday) of Shavuot. I made a point of not going home to my kibbutz as I wanted to get out more, see people, and not just spend every free weekend with my garin, though I do love them. I got to visit friends in Jerusalem, Alon Shvut, and Kibbutz Lavi which was just wonderful.
This past week we visited Yad Vashem and had our mechin kumta (preparatory march, the penultimate march before the beret march). The visit to Yad Vashem in my mind was quite underwhelming. It seemed to me that our commanders rushed us through the museum and simply did the entire day because they had to, not because they wanted us to learn about the Holocaust which was unfortunate.
The march (45 km) was tough, but thank G-d, due to my preparations and my family's advice, I didn't get any blisters, so though I suffered from pain in the soles of my feet, I finished the march relatively well. When we made it back to base, our commander told us to take off our gear and start stretching. Then he yelled at us that the march hadn't finished, and that we had four minutes to get back on gear and place sandbags on the stretchers.
It turned out that we were doing what is called a masa tzevet- a march that one takes in order to become a tzevet-team. In the battalion that I am in, the team has great significance. The team is a independent unit capable of doing everything required of it. It is an organic whole and requires personal responsibility from all of the members in it. Up until this point, we had been an company but after doing a 3 km march with 3 stretchers with all the sandbags at basically a sprint we became a team.
The commanders gave us hats with our team name in an informal ceremony where we were all grinning from ear to ear though we had just spent the past ten hours on a march and the last half hour sprinting with weighting stretchers.
It was a wonderful moment for many reasons. One reason is that now practically all the discipline has disappeared. We now can say whatever we want, call ourselves what we want etc. But the real reason it was such a wonderful moment was because it marked a big step forward in our training, a moment that officially marked what has already been fact for quite some time: that a group of very different individuals from different backgrounds, beliefs, age and every other factor have molded together to become an elite group.
Aside from that, because we marched so far, we got a pin in our berets that says we are infantry soldiers. I know, we have been infantry soldiers for about 7/8 months, but now the whole world can see this on our berets.
Next week we are working on navigation, closing that weekend on the base, and then the next week is one big preparation for our final march to get our berets which should be extremely hard but fulfilling! Furthermore, my sister is planning on coming so can't wait to see her there!
Finally, by now I am sure you have all heard the horrible news about the kidnapping of 3 teenage Israeli yeshiva students by terrorists. Here is to praying and hoping for their safety and quick return.
N
The past two weeks I spent a lot of time cleaning a Nachal memorial in the North in preparation for a tekes (ceremony) commemorating fallen soldiers. It was menial labor- sweeping fallen leaves, hanging flags, moving chairs etc. Though this was not fun, it meant two easy weeks though not much to write home about. The cool thing about these weeks was the fact that I got off for every Shabbat and the chag (holiday) of Shavuot. I made a point of not going home to my kibbutz as I wanted to get out more, see people, and not just spend every free weekend with my garin, though I do love them. I got to visit friends in Jerusalem, Alon Shvut, and Kibbutz Lavi which was just wonderful.
This past week we visited Yad Vashem and had our mechin kumta (preparatory march, the penultimate march before the beret march). The visit to Yad Vashem in my mind was quite underwhelming. It seemed to me that our commanders rushed us through the museum and simply did the entire day because they had to, not because they wanted us to learn about the Holocaust which was unfortunate.
The march (45 km) was tough, but thank G-d, due to my preparations and my family's advice, I didn't get any blisters, so though I suffered from pain in the soles of my feet, I finished the march relatively well. When we made it back to base, our commander told us to take off our gear and start stretching. Then he yelled at us that the march hadn't finished, and that we had four minutes to get back on gear and place sandbags on the stretchers.
It turned out that we were doing what is called a masa tzevet- a march that one takes in order to become a tzevet-team. In the battalion that I am in, the team has great significance. The team is a independent unit capable of doing everything required of it. It is an organic whole and requires personal responsibility from all of the members in it. Up until this point, we had been an company but after doing a 3 km march with 3 stretchers with all the sandbags at basically a sprint we became a team.
The commanders gave us hats with our team name in an informal ceremony where we were all grinning from ear to ear though we had just spent the past ten hours on a march and the last half hour sprinting with weighting stretchers.
It was a wonderful moment for many reasons. One reason is that now practically all the discipline has disappeared. We now can say whatever we want, call ourselves what we want etc. But the real reason it was such a wonderful moment was because it marked a big step forward in our training, a moment that officially marked what has already been fact for quite some time: that a group of very different individuals from different backgrounds, beliefs, age and every other factor have molded together to become an elite group.
Aside from that, because we marched so far, we got a pin in our berets that says we are infantry soldiers. I know, we have been infantry soldiers for about 7/8 months, but now the whole world can see this on our berets.
Next week we are working on navigation, closing that weekend on the base, and then the next week is one big preparation for our final march to get our berets which should be extremely hard but fulfilling! Furthermore, my sister is planning on coming so can't wait to see her there!
Finally, by now I am sure you have all heard the horrible news about the kidnapping of 3 teenage Israeli yeshiva students by terrorists. Here is to praying and hoping for their safety and quick return.
N
Friday, May 23, 2014
Army Graffiti
I just came back from war week. I honestly don't want to write too much about it. It was pure hell, lack of sleep, a lot of heat, dust, exercises, and not enough food. That being said, without going into too many details, doing war exercises conquering mountains with tanks are extremely awesome and very powerful.
We are closing in on getting our beret and just have three to four weeks left. The army has decided to send me to another driver's course so next week should be awesome. I will be sure to take pictures and post them, don't worry. Basically it is another armored personnel carrier, just bigger and better and safer so I am very excited to be able to learn how to drive this vehicle.
I actually decided to write on another topic today that shows you the daily grind of a soldier. Without further ado, here is my very limited introduction to army graffiti. Just as "the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls" (Simon and Garfunkel's song Sound of Silence), so too is life in the IDF as seen from the bathroom walls of my base.
(I am writing in English so much of the rhyming is missing unfortunately).
"Whores screw for money, we do it for free"
"Nov '13 (referring to the draft class) is tired", "Nov '13 are rookies", etc
"1 life, 2 short, 3 years, 4 what?"
"What you don't do well once, do twice!"
"Be happy, man"
"My last poop before advanced training!"
"How much more (can we take)?
"Base K- the world knew, and was silent".
And of course, the most prominent of them all. עד מתי
"Until when??!!"
We are closing in on getting our beret and just have three to four weeks left. The army has decided to send me to another driver's course so next week should be awesome. I will be sure to take pictures and post them, don't worry. Basically it is another armored personnel carrier, just bigger and better and safer so I am very excited to be able to learn how to drive this vehicle.
I actually decided to write on another topic today that shows you the daily grind of a soldier. Without further ado, here is my very limited introduction to army graffiti. Just as "the words of the prophets are written on the subway walls" (Simon and Garfunkel's song Sound of Silence), so too is life in the IDF as seen from the bathroom walls of my base.
(I am writing in English so much of the rhyming is missing unfortunately).
"Whores screw for money, we do it for free"
"Nov '13 (referring to the draft class) is tired", "Nov '13 are rookies", etc
"1 life, 2 short, 3 years, 4 what?"
"What you don't do well once, do twice!"
"Be happy, man"
"My last poop before advanced training!"
"How much more (can we take)?
"Base K- the world knew, and was silent".
And of course, the most prominent of them all. עד מתי
"Until when??!!"
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Pain
Imagine the situation. You are about to embark on a 34 km march, about 7 hours total of walking in the darkness. You are pumped up, full gear on, heart racing in one of those indescribable situations that only soldiers can know.
The first two hours you are on a roll. The night is warm, the moon is beautiful, and you are enjoying the surroundings when slowly, so slowly that at first you only imagine the pain, you begin to feel pain in your heels.Your skin feels like its being scrunched up, then stretched. Rinse and repeat.
Oh no. It is the beginning of blisters. And no, not little blisters with some red and raised skin. Blisters the size of your hand; filled with fluid, blood, G-d knows what. Blisters that are agonizingly painful with every step that you take.
Thank G-d, you make it to the second stop of the march. You wince as you make your way over to the medic of the pluga.
"Hey man, listen. I have got these blisters, can you do something for them?"
"The truth is, I can't really do anything about them. The only thing you can do is to grit your teeth and finish the march or drop out."
"Nothing? Well, how about some pills against pain?"
"Sorry, can't give you those right now".
"Ah, okay."
Now what? Dropping out means you spare yourself an excruciatingly painful march. But then you will have to make up the march at a later point, or even worse in your opinion, on the final march to get your beret, you will march less than your friends and feel like you somehow didn't truly deserve it.
And lets be honest, it is just blisters, right? It isn't like your friend who dropped out with a bum knee or bad back.
The commanders and sergeant are looking at you. They recognize you as someone with a big heart and a lot of morale. Surely you can't let them down. They tell you that this is something normal for infantrymen, just grit your teeth and get on with it, soldier.
Your fellow soldiers are standing around you, sweat pouring off their faces, filling up their canteens. They have just been carrying the light and heavy machine gun, stretchers, communications equipment, and water bottles in addition to their vests. In another 20 km, they will open stretchers and carry two lucky soldiers 4 km in addition to all the gear they lugged. They are silent. If you drop out, they won't say anything. They understand, but still...how can you leave your boys because of...blisters?
So you grit your teeth and continue the march. You think about everything but the pain emanating from your feet. Ex girlfriends, favorite songs, sports, literally anything. Thank G-d, its dark and you are sweating so that your fellow soldiers don't see the tears silently rolling down your face.
6 km, stop, 6 km more, stop. Two and a half hours. The pain has now enveloped everything. It is visceral, the only real thing in this world. It is existence. Every wrong step, every stumble over a unseen rock jolts the pain to the maximum level.
This has become ridiculous. Why should you continue this madness? But you've done 18 km, more than halfway done. If you were going to stop, you should have done it by now. You can't stop now. You have to continue. To prove a point to yourself.
The march resumes and you start to fall behind your fellow soldiers, the pace is outstripping your limping.
So your fellow soldiers start to push you and whisper you to close the gaps.
Yalla, you can do it! You can't let them down so you run to close the gaps. At this point, you can't hide your sniffling, your gasps of pain.
When you get to the next stop, you almost collapse from joy. Only 10 km left.
You are placed next to your sergeant at the very front of the line so that he can ensure that you don't fall behind and stay with the pace. You can't let him know that you have been crying. You are a man, a soldier- who does that?! So you make sure to exhale very loudly with every step to stifle all other sounds.
"Are you okay?", asks the sergeant.
What do you answer? The answer is no, but the sergeant can't do anything for you in any case.
"I have blisters, but I am not giving up".
"Very good. Just grit your teeth and it will pass".
You give thanks to the jackass for telling you something you didn't already know.
Final stop. 6 km left. The lights of your base can dimly be seen around the bend of the hill in front of you. At this point, you have nothing left but one mantra pulsing in your head. Finish.
The march is over. 5 AM. You are practically delirious. You limp through the stretches, the checking of your gear, the shower. You collapse into your bed and pass out.
Welcome to the life of a infantry soldier.
(if anyone has good anti-blister suggestions, please comment to help me out!)
The first two hours you are on a roll. The night is warm, the moon is beautiful, and you are enjoying the surroundings when slowly, so slowly that at first you only imagine the pain, you begin to feel pain in your heels.Your skin feels like its being scrunched up, then stretched. Rinse and repeat.
Oh no. It is the beginning of blisters. And no, not little blisters with some red and raised skin. Blisters the size of your hand; filled with fluid, blood, G-d knows what. Blisters that are agonizingly painful with every step that you take.
Thank G-d, you make it to the second stop of the march. You wince as you make your way over to the medic of the pluga.
"Hey man, listen. I have got these blisters, can you do something for them?"
"The truth is, I can't really do anything about them. The only thing you can do is to grit your teeth and finish the march or drop out."
"Nothing? Well, how about some pills against pain?"
"Sorry, can't give you those right now".
"Ah, okay."
Now what? Dropping out means you spare yourself an excruciatingly painful march. But then you will have to make up the march at a later point, or even worse in your opinion, on the final march to get your beret, you will march less than your friends and feel like you somehow didn't truly deserve it.
And lets be honest, it is just blisters, right? It isn't like your friend who dropped out with a bum knee or bad back.
The commanders and sergeant are looking at you. They recognize you as someone with a big heart and a lot of morale. Surely you can't let them down. They tell you that this is something normal for infantrymen, just grit your teeth and get on with it, soldier.
Your fellow soldiers are standing around you, sweat pouring off their faces, filling up their canteens. They have just been carrying the light and heavy machine gun, stretchers, communications equipment, and water bottles in addition to their vests. In another 20 km, they will open stretchers and carry two lucky soldiers 4 km in addition to all the gear they lugged. They are silent. If you drop out, they won't say anything. They understand, but still...how can you leave your boys because of...blisters?
So you grit your teeth and continue the march. You think about everything but the pain emanating from your feet. Ex girlfriends, favorite songs, sports, literally anything. Thank G-d, its dark and you are sweating so that your fellow soldiers don't see the tears silently rolling down your face.
6 km, stop, 6 km more, stop. Two and a half hours. The pain has now enveloped everything. It is visceral, the only real thing in this world. It is existence. Every wrong step, every stumble over a unseen rock jolts the pain to the maximum level.
This has become ridiculous. Why should you continue this madness? But you've done 18 km, more than halfway done. If you were going to stop, you should have done it by now. You can't stop now. You have to continue. To prove a point to yourself.
The march resumes and you start to fall behind your fellow soldiers, the pace is outstripping your limping.
So your fellow soldiers start to push you and whisper you to close the gaps.
Yalla, you can do it! You can't let them down so you run to close the gaps. At this point, you can't hide your sniffling, your gasps of pain.
When you get to the next stop, you almost collapse from joy. Only 10 km left.
You are placed next to your sergeant at the very front of the line so that he can ensure that you don't fall behind and stay with the pace. You can't let him know that you have been crying. You are a man, a soldier- who does that?! So you make sure to exhale very loudly with every step to stifle all other sounds.
"Are you okay?", asks the sergeant.
What do you answer? The answer is no, but the sergeant can't do anything for you in any case.
"I have blisters, but I am not giving up".
"Very good. Just grit your teeth and it will pass".
You give thanks to the jackass for telling you something you didn't already know.
Final stop. 6 km left. The lights of your base can dimly be seen around the bend of the hill in front of you. At this point, you have nothing left but one mantra pulsing in your head. Finish.
The march is over. 5 AM. You are practically delirious. You limp through the stretches, the checking of your gear, the shower. You collapse into your bed and pass out.
Welcome to the life of a infantry soldier.
(if anyone has good anti-blister suggestions, please comment to help me out!)
Sunday, May 4, 2014
David the Nachlaui
Hey everyone.
The past month we have really been getting into the meat of advanced training. Most weeks we are learning how to fight in ever bigger groups (2 men, 4 men, the entire citah or company) and how to incorporate different weapons and terrain into the missions. Its quite interesting and challenging so I am really enjoying it. The next few weeks promise to be extremely difficult as one of them is "war week" where the idea is to provide us with a feel for what war is really like including lack of sleep, long hikes with all of our gear on us, etc. In any case, we are also closing in on recieving our green beret of the Nachal division. The tekes (ceremony) is on June 26th according to my commanders so I am very excited as that date is less than two months away.
Enough about me for the moment. I would like to comment on the story that everyone is talking about and has been termed David the Nachlaui in Israel. A video was posted of a Nachal soldier on guard duty in Hebron. A Palestinian child goes behind the soldier's back in the video and in response the soldier cocks his gun at the kid. A few days later, the soldier was released from combat duty by the army. As a response, thousands of soldiers went on Facebook to support the soldier and his actions. As a Nachal soldier myself, I happen to know the details on this story.
The truth of the matter is that the soldier was released from combat duty because he was aggressive towards his commanders (throwing rocks and assault) and didn't follow orders, not because of what he did in Hebron. But what really gets me upset about this whole story is why he was there in the first place. Soldiers are not policemen. We are trained to fight and view the world through the lens of where potential enemies and attacks can come from, however depressing that is. Therefore while I don't condone what he did towards a child, what did we expect? A soldier perceived a threat and acted accordingly. I am not going to get into politics surrounding Hebron but I will say this. Soldiers are not policemen and are not trained to be policemen....so what did we expect to happen?
Other than that, life is good. The summer is beginning to arrive and I can't stop sweating. The heat is on a different level than in the States. It is oppressive and suffocates you and it will take time for me to adjust to the situation. Here is to hoping that I adjust sooner than later as the heat is only expected to get worse as we head into June, July and August.
On a final note, tonight begins Yom HaZikaron, the day of memorial for the fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks in Israel. May their memory be a blessing.
The past month we have really been getting into the meat of advanced training. Most weeks we are learning how to fight in ever bigger groups (2 men, 4 men, the entire citah or company) and how to incorporate different weapons and terrain into the missions. Its quite interesting and challenging so I am really enjoying it. The next few weeks promise to be extremely difficult as one of them is "war week" where the idea is to provide us with a feel for what war is really like including lack of sleep, long hikes with all of our gear on us, etc. In any case, we are also closing in on recieving our green beret of the Nachal division. The tekes (ceremony) is on June 26th according to my commanders so I am very excited as that date is less than two months away.
Enough about me for the moment. I would like to comment on the story that everyone is talking about and has been termed David the Nachlaui in Israel. A video was posted of a Nachal soldier on guard duty in Hebron. A Palestinian child goes behind the soldier's back in the video and in response the soldier cocks his gun at the kid. A few days later, the soldier was released from combat duty by the army. As a response, thousands of soldiers went on Facebook to support the soldier and his actions. As a Nachal soldier myself, I happen to know the details on this story.
The truth of the matter is that the soldier was released from combat duty because he was aggressive towards his commanders (throwing rocks and assault) and didn't follow orders, not because of what he did in Hebron. But what really gets me upset about this whole story is why he was there in the first place. Soldiers are not policemen. We are trained to fight and view the world through the lens of where potential enemies and attacks can come from, however depressing that is. Therefore while I don't condone what he did towards a child, what did we expect? A soldier perceived a threat and acted accordingly. I am not going to get into politics surrounding Hebron but I will say this. Soldiers are not policemen and are not trained to be policemen....so what did we expect to happen?
Other than that, life is good. The summer is beginning to arrive and I can't stop sweating. The heat is on a different level than in the States. It is oppressive and suffocates you and it will take time for me to adjust to the situation. Here is to hoping that I adjust sooner than later as the heat is only expected to get worse as we head into June, July and August.
On a final note, tonight begins Yom HaZikaron, the day of memorial for the fallen soldiers and victims of terror attacks in Israel. May their memory be a blessing.
Thursday, April 17, 2014
Fill-In
As I promised, I am about to fill you guys in on what happened over the month of March and end of February. Unfortunately, I can't remember everything that I did in chronological order so I will just write about some of the events that stick out in my head as memorable.
Out with the old, in with the new:
We started basic training with two commanders, Amir and Lior. About 2/3 rd of the way in to basic training, Amir was sent off to officer's course. In the army, there is a tradition called shvirat distance, literally breaking the distance, where the guys get to beat up the commander who caused them so much grief and get to call him by his first name. Amir was a really chill commander who rarely disciplined us and whom I really enjoyed being under. Lior was a different story. This guy would make us do sprints, push-ups, you name it. He was constantly on our backs and yelling at us and the worst thing was his unpredictability. One moment he would be joking and the next moment we would be running sprints. A lot of the guys hated his guts...I just thought he was an ass. Anyways, he was unexpectedly called back to his unit and I have to hand it to him, he truly got us when he broke distance. He told us that we had 5 minutes to change into krav maga gear (white undershirt, sneakers, army pants, water bottle) and to collect wooden poles and a spare t-shirt for him. Not knowing what to expect, we were taken to a basketball court where we were yelled at and did sprints back and forth for 15 minutes straight. We then placed the spare t-shirts over our heads so we couldn't see and were told to line up. We were instructed that this session was going to be an "absorbing session" where we absorb punches to the gut from the wooden poles to "strengthen us up". We had no idea that this whole thing was fake, and that he whispered in guys' ears to yell when he hit the pole on the ground. We thought our friends were being beat up, but in reality this was just his last way of screwing with us before leaving. When he told us that he was breaking distance, we really beat him up...I mean kicking and punching as months of frustration were let out. After speaking with the guy, I realized that he really had good intentions all along and that he was a great guy. Its very easy to lose sight of the fact that our commanders are really just 20 year old kids who laugh at the same jokes we do and are no more serious than we are.
Our two new commanders are really chill and so I am hoping that the pressure to maintain strict discipline will drop a lot.
Machine gunner:
In the average Israeli combat company, many soldiers receive specialized roles based on what the commanders think they are suited for. The best shooters get trained as sharpshooters and receive guns with advanced scopes. There are guys who get trained on grenade launchers, anti-tank missiles, platoon leaders and heavy and light machine gunners. As I am a big guy, I got trained for a full week on the heavy machine gun. There is no other way to describe the feeling of shooting that monster except that of power. Its truly an humbling feeling to know that you control this weapon of such destructive power. The thing weighs over 20 pounds without any ammunition and it is bulky as hell. It sucks to carry this bad boy around but shooting it makes it worthwhile. I am officially the backup machine gunner but there were two weeks when they decided that I would be the official one, including a week where we did a 28 km march. I carried nearly 30 kilo of weight due to that gun and its ammunition. I think that the harder things get physically, the more I rise to the challenge because although those two weeks left me drained physically, looking back and saying, wow I survived and excelled, gives you a great feeling.
Switching bases:
We moved bases from our old one to our advanced training one. Its pretty unbelievable, but the new base is worse than the old one, yay! Still in tents that leak with every rain, we have unreliable electricity and less outlets. Which means that they are always taken by the time you arrive to charge your own- fun! The base is smaller, though, which means less walking to and from places and the food is much higher quality. This is a huge point in its favor since to be honest, most weeks we are in the field and sleep on the base only two nights a week.
Socially: The army has been interesting socially. It still is hard for me due to the language and cultural gaps, but I am making friends and I really love the guys in my group except for a bunch, 4 or 5 or so rotten apples. This core can really drag down the rest of the company (29 guys in total). It took me a while to cope with this reality until my father gave me a great piece of advice. He said that there is no way for you to be friends with 28 guys. Find two or three guys that you will become super close with and ignore the bad apples. I have started applying this advice and found that I am enjoying the company more than ever and am much more relaxed than I was before.
Relaxation of discipline:
At a certain point, our commanders lowered the discipline. This means they give us more time to do things, we are allowed to address them by their names, and in general they treat us with more respect. As a 23 year old, this was a nice return to sanity. Of course, the company took this treatment as an excuse to lower our standards in meeting missions and tasks, which angered the commanders and as a result we have been getting punished and talked down to. Eventually, the situation got really bad, to the point where we got an talk by the brigade commander who didn't like what he was seeing. We'll see if the company gets back up to standard, I hope it will.
Marching on:
As I have already alluded to, we have been slowly advancing in length and difficulty the marches we do. We just did a 28 km march with 30% body weight. Our next march is 30+4 with 30% weight (the +4 is the number of km you do carrying a soldier on the stretcher), so wish me luck especially as I tend to get blisters from the marches that can be quite debilitating.
I am sorry for the delay in posts! Hope everyone enjoys.
Nate
Out with the old, in with the new:
We started basic training with two commanders, Amir and Lior. About 2/3 rd of the way in to basic training, Amir was sent off to officer's course. In the army, there is a tradition called shvirat distance, literally breaking the distance, where the guys get to beat up the commander who caused them so much grief and get to call him by his first name. Amir was a really chill commander who rarely disciplined us and whom I really enjoyed being under. Lior was a different story. This guy would make us do sprints, push-ups, you name it. He was constantly on our backs and yelling at us and the worst thing was his unpredictability. One moment he would be joking and the next moment we would be running sprints. A lot of the guys hated his guts...I just thought he was an ass. Anyways, he was unexpectedly called back to his unit and I have to hand it to him, he truly got us when he broke distance. He told us that we had 5 minutes to change into krav maga gear (white undershirt, sneakers, army pants, water bottle) and to collect wooden poles and a spare t-shirt for him. Not knowing what to expect, we were taken to a basketball court where we were yelled at and did sprints back and forth for 15 minutes straight. We then placed the spare t-shirts over our heads so we couldn't see and were told to line up. We were instructed that this session was going to be an "absorbing session" where we absorb punches to the gut from the wooden poles to "strengthen us up". We had no idea that this whole thing was fake, and that he whispered in guys' ears to yell when he hit the pole on the ground. We thought our friends were being beat up, but in reality this was just his last way of screwing with us before leaving. When he told us that he was breaking distance, we really beat him up...I mean kicking and punching as months of frustration were let out. After speaking with the guy, I realized that he really had good intentions all along and that he was a great guy. Its very easy to lose sight of the fact that our commanders are really just 20 year old kids who laugh at the same jokes we do and are no more serious than we are.
Our two new commanders are really chill and so I am hoping that the pressure to maintain strict discipline will drop a lot.
Machine gunner:
In the average Israeli combat company, many soldiers receive specialized roles based on what the commanders think they are suited for. The best shooters get trained as sharpshooters and receive guns with advanced scopes. There are guys who get trained on grenade launchers, anti-tank missiles, platoon leaders and heavy and light machine gunners. As I am a big guy, I got trained for a full week on the heavy machine gun. There is no other way to describe the feeling of shooting that monster except that of power. Its truly an humbling feeling to know that you control this weapon of such destructive power. The thing weighs over 20 pounds without any ammunition and it is bulky as hell. It sucks to carry this bad boy around but shooting it makes it worthwhile. I am officially the backup machine gunner but there were two weeks when they decided that I would be the official one, including a week where we did a 28 km march. I carried nearly 30 kilo of weight due to that gun and its ammunition. I think that the harder things get physically, the more I rise to the challenge because although those two weeks left me drained physically, looking back and saying, wow I survived and excelled, gives you a great feeling.
Switching bases:
We moved bases from our old one to our advanced training one. Its pretty unbelievable, but the new base is worse than the old one, yay! Still in tents that leak with every rain, we have unreliable electricity and less outlets. Which means that they are always taken by the time you arrive to charge your own- fun! The base is smaller, though, which means less walking to and from places and the food is much higher quality. This is a huge point in its favor since to be honest, most weeks we are in the field and sleep on the base only two nights a week.
Socially: The army has been interesting socially. It still is hard for me due to the language and cultural gaps, but I am making friends and I really love the guys in my group except for a bunch, 4 or 5 or so rotten apples. This core can really drag down the rest of the company (29 guys in total). It took me a while to cope with this reality until my father gave me a great piece of advice. He said that there is no way for you to be friends with 28 guys. Find two or three guys that you will become super close with and ignore the bad apples. I have started applying this advice and found that I am enjoying the company more than ever and am much more relaxed than I was before.
Relaxation of discipline:
At a certain point, our commanders lowered the discipline. This means they give us more time to do things, we are allowed to address them by their names, and in general they treat us with more respect. As a 23 year old, this was a nice return to sanity. Of course, the company took this treatment as an excuse to lower our standards in meeting missions and tasks, which angered the commanders and as a result we have been getting punished and talked down to. Eventually, the situation got really bad, to the point where we got an talk by the brigade commander who didn't like what he was seeing. We'll see if the company gets back up to standard, I hope it will.
Marching on:
As I have already alluded to, we have been slowly advancing in length and difficulty the marches we do. We just did a 28 km march with 30% body weight. Our next march is 30+4 with 30% weight (the +4 is the number of km you do carrying a soldier on the stretcher), so wish me luck especially as I tend to get blisters from the marches that can be quite debilitating.
I am sorry for the delay in posts! Hope everyone enjoys.
Nate
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
A Packing List that is Actually Useful
Hey guys. As most of you know, I am in vacation mode right now, enjoying making my own schedule. I will write a post about that soon and what I have been doing in the army until now. But for now, with all my free time, I was thinking of posting information that would have helped me with my integration into the army. Therefore without further ado, here is the insider packing list that I would recommend to lone soldiers and this will give you guys some details and particulars of army life..
Bag: Don't take too many! There is no reason for taking more than one personal backpack to the army-seriously. The only time I can think of for taking two personal bags (on top of the two kit bag bets and one kit bag aleph) is if you are going to visit someone for the upcoming Shabbat and want to keep your Shabbat stuff separate from your gross army stuff.
I prefer taking one big personal bag with me to the army (I use the Garin Tzabar hiking backpack) for two reasons. The first is because backpacks have multiple pockets, allowing me to compartmentalize: valuable stuff such as the choger (army i.d. card), wallet, cellphone, iPod etc, kumta (beret), and keys in one, shoe polish and hygiene (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shaver if you need it, etc) in another, and so on and so forth. Other people prefer using the big green kitbag aleph. After bakum, they take it home, unload it and then use it for their personal stuff. I don't and this is the second reason- because I am in Nachal and we don't have personal rooms, I have nowhere to store change of clothes, hence my kitbag aleph functions as my shelf.
Clothing: Not including the first week, you really don't need a lot. This is what I bring back and forth as laundry in my bag to the army. Three white undershirts- one for madei aleph (dress uniform), two for madasim (workouts). Three pairs of thick army socks and two pairs of thin white socks for workouts. Two madei bet (normal uniform). One pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, wool cap, neckwarmer, and gloves- for sleep in winter and indispensable for guard duty. One green thermal undershirt.
Hygiene: Deodorant, shower gel/shampoo, anti-fungal powder for the feet-believe me you don't want athletes foot, GoldBond-every guy will understand, toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss-extremely important.
Misc.: Any snacks or books that I have room for and my Tefillin (that I need for Friday and Sunday morning prayers).
Its not a lot, my bag is always fairly lightweight. The general principle is to pack as little as possible. Hope this helps to any future lone soldiers.
Bag: Don't take too many! There is no reason for taking more than one personal backpack to the army-seriously. The only time I can think of for taking two personal bags (on top of the two kit bag bets and one kit bag aleph) is if you are going to visit someone for the upcoming Shabbat and want to keep your Shabbat stuff separate from your gross army stuff.
I prefer taking one big personal bag with me to the army (I use the Garin Tzabar hiking backpack) for two reasons. The first is because backpacks have multiple pockets, allowing me to compartmentalize: valuable stuff such as the choger (army i.d. card), wallet, cellphone, iPod etc, kumta (beret), and keys in one, shoe polish and hygiene (toothbrush, toothpaste, deodorant, shaver if you need it, etc) in another, and so on and so forth. Other people prefer using the big green kitbag aleph. After bakum, they take it home, unload it and then use it for their personal stuff. I don't and this is the second reason- because I am in Nachal and we don't have personal rooms, I have nowhere to store change of clothes, hence my kitbag aleph functions as my shelf.
Clothing: Not including the first week, you really don't need a lot. This is what I bring back and forth as laundry in my bag to the army. Three white undershirts- one for madei aleph (dress uniform), two for madasim (workouts). Three pairs of thick army socks and two pairs of thin white socks for workouts. Two madei bet (normal uniform). One pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt, wool cap, neckwarmer, and gloves- for sleep in winter and indispensable for guard duty. One green thermal undershirt.
Hygiene: Deodorant, shower gel/shampoo, anti-fungal powder for the feet-believe me you don't want athletes foot, GoldBond-every guy will understand, toothbrush, toothpaste, and floss-extremely important.
Misc.: Any snacks or books that I have room for and my Tefillin (that I need for Friday and Sunday morning prayers).
Its not a lot, my bag is always fairly lightweight. The general principle is to pack as little as possible. Hope this helps to any future lone soldiers.
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Reflection
This past Shabbat, I was walking to the synagogue with my adopted family. We were talking about the fact that I am going home (tonight!) and my adopted father turned to me and said that aside from making sure I relax, this trip home would be a great time for me to reflect on my journey so far.
I have thought about his statement, and its true, this is the perfect time to reflect on what I have gone through the past 7 months because yesterday I officially finished with my basic training and am about to have a two week leave in the U.S.
I have left the country of my birth where I had a perfect life to a kibbutz in Israel's beautiful but embattled southern region, joined the IDF as a combat soldier in an intense unit and slowly begin to integrate myself into Israeli society.
Here are my reflections so far:
1. Strengths/Weaknesses: I love rising to the challenge. The physical workouts, sprints, living in the field, e.t.c spur me to work hard. The more shitty the conditions are, the more I am pushed to give my all and I have found that I have reservoirs of strength I never knew about. I am competitive and I view the hard times simply as a competition; this gives me the strength to overcome whatever we are going through. What gets me down is the social aspect of the army- the complaining, the unmotivated soldiers, the childish/selfish behavior of my fellow soldiers. This, therefore, is my challenge: finding a way to take my strength when it comes to the physical aspects of the army and applying it to the social side.
2. Zionism/Motivation: Every lone soldier blog I read and everyone I talked with before doing the army told me that I would lose my motivation, that once in the army I would be "Shavuz:, an Israeli slang term for army depression, that my starry-eyed Zionism wouldn't last. I have not found that to be the case. I am still motivated and love this country with every fiber of my being. What is true is that I have been exposed to the reality of life in this country and in the IDF. Like any normal relationship, my expectations have been tempered by reality. But after moving here and being in the IDF, and seeing the valleys of life here, I am more convinced than ever of how right my decision was. I have no regrets and am proud of my decision.
3. Time: Easily the greatest enemy of every soldier. The hardest aspect of the army BY FAR to adjust to. The fact of someone else controlling your life down to the second, and I literally mean to the second, is not easy for a college graduate to get used to. The other aspect of time that is so hard to deal with is just how slowly or quickly it goes by. A four hour shift of guard duty. Ten minutes to set up an entire shooting range with full gear on. Eight hours of sitting in classrooms and being expected to remember all the material. Four minutes to change from dress uniform to normal uniform. Failing to meet the order and so three and a half minutes to get back into dress uniform and then do it all over again. 35 minutes for meals, only an hour each day to shower, organize your stuff, call people, and eat non-army food. Time that is not yours, but the army's- this is the hardest part of the army. But I will say this. After being in the army, you truly value just how precious time is. When I have free time to relax on the kibbutz on Shabbat, I savor every moment. Without being too cheesy, I love G-d that much more for His gift of Shabbat after starting the army, really. For all those who make their own schedule, realize how much it is a luxury and not a given.
4. Garin/Family: Of course there is no substitute for my family and I can not describe how happy I am that I get to see them in less than 24 hours! But there is no way I could do what I am doing without my Garin and adopted family. Knowing that I have 19 friends who I can call at any time and who will help me without a second thought is such a resource to rely upon. When I have had a long week filled with 18 year old Israelis, to be able to chill with my fellow Americans over beer and junk food, well, its just perfect. I really don't know how lone soldiers deal with the army without the Garin Tzabar framework.
Look out for more updates soon, I have plenty of free time all of a sudden to write.
I have thought about his statement, and its true, this is the perfect time to reflect on what I have gone through the past 7 months because yesterday I officially finished with my basic training and am about to have a two week leave in the U.S.
I have left the country of my birth where I had a perfect life to a kibbutz in Israel's beautiful but embattled southern region, joined the IDF as a combat soldier in an intense unit and slowly begin to integrate myself into Israeli society.
Here are my reflections so far:
1. Strengths/Weaknesses: I love rising to the challenge. The physical workouts, sprints, living in the field, e.t.c spur me to work hard. The more shitty the conditions are, the more I am pushed to give my all and I have found that I have reservoirs of strength I never knew about. I am competitive and I view the hard times simply as a competition; this gives me the strength to overcome whatever we are going through. What gets me down is the social aspect of the army- the complaining, the unmotivated soldiers, the childish/selfish behavior of my fellow soldiers. This, therefore, is my challenge: finding a way to take my strength when it comes to the physical aspects of the army and applying it to the social side.
2. Zionism/Motivation: Every lone soldier blog I read and everyone I talked with before doing the army told me that I would lose my motivation, that once in the army I would be "Shavuz:, an Israeli slang term for army depression, that my starry-eyed Zionism wouldn't last. I have not found that to be the case. I am still motivated and love this country with every fiber of my being. What is true is that I have been exposed to the reality of life in this country and in the IDF. Like any normal relationship, my expectations have been tempered by reality. But after moving here and being in the IDF, and seeing the valleys of life here, I am more convinced than ever of how right my decision was. I have no regrets and am proud of my decision.
3. Time: Easily the greatest enemy of every soldier. The hardest aspect of the army BY FAR to adjust to. The fact of someone else controlling your life down to the second, and I literally mean to the second, is not easy for a college graduate to get used to. The other aspect of time that is so hard to deal with is just how slowly or quickly it goes by. A four hour shift of guard duty. Ten minutes to set up an entire shooting range with full gear on. Eight hours of sitting in classrooms and being expected to remember all the material. Four minutes to change from dress uniform to normal uniform. Failing to meet the order and so three and a half minutes to get back into dress uniform and then do it all over again. 35 minutes for meals, only an hour each day to shower, organize your stuff, call people, and eat non-army food. Time that is not yours, but the army's- this is the hardest part of the army. But I will say this. After being in the army, you truly value just how precious time is. When I have free time to relax on the kibbutz on Shabbat, I savor every moment. Without being too cheesy, I love G-d that much more for His gift of Shabbat after starting the army, really. For all those who make their own schedule, realize how much it is a luxury and not a given.
4. Garin/Family: Of course there is no substitute for my family and I can not describe how happy I am that I get to see them in less than 24 hours! But there is no way I could do what I am doing without my Garin and adopted family. Knowing that I have 19 friends who I can call at any time and who will help me without a second thought is such a resource to rely upon. When I have had a long week filled with 18 year old Israelis, to be able to chill with my fellow Americans over beer and junk food, well, its just perfect. I really don't know how lone soldiers deal with the army without the Garin Tzabar framework.
Look out for more updates soon, I have plenty of free time all of a sudden to write.
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Quick update
Hey guys, so I am about to have my break from the army that soldiers receive every 4 months or so and I will fly home to see my family in the States!!
During that time, I will fill you in on all the details and processes that I have done in the army when I have time to write. But basically, in the past few weeks, we have done a lot of shooting, I learnt how to shoot a machine gun, more marches and lots and lots of guard duty. Like I said, I will fill you in on all the details when I have a whole bunch of free time.
One last funny tragic note. I received a religious exemption to grow a beard during my army service. There was an accident in trimming my beard this past Thursday night and to fix it I had to reduce my beard to stubble. So please pray hard that I manage to keep my beard because after looking into the mirror I don't like my chances....
Fill you in soon and have a peaceful week.
During that time, I will fill you in on all the details and processes that I have done in the army when I have time to write. But basically, in the past few weeks, we have done a lot of shooting, I learnt how to shoot a machine gun, more marches and lots and lots of guard duty. Like I said, I will fill you in on all the details when I have a whole bunch of free time.
One last funny tragic note. I received a religious exemption to grow a beard during my army service. There was an accident in trimming my beard this past Thursday night and to fix it I had to reduce my beard to stubble. So please pray hard that I manage to keep my beard because after looking into the mirror I don't like my chances....
Fill you in soon and have a peaceful week.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
A long overdue update
Hey everyone.
It has been over a month since I have written an update and as you can imagine, there is a ton of information to fill you in on. I am sorry that it has taken so long. Long story short: the charger to my computer died so I couldn't use it for about two to three weeks and then I have been busy during the weekends and I simply put the post on the backburner.
So this is what I did for the past month. The first week was spent in the field during field week, the second was also in the field and the theme was tzemed chulia (which I will explain). The third week was classes about first aid and the countries surrounding us; their political situations and military capabilities. And this past week I was sent to a driver's course. Let me go into a little detail.
The first week was called shavua sauduat (field week). This week is meant to try us to our limits and give us an idea of what it means to be an infantry soldier. You spend the week living in two-man tents that do little to stop the freezing cold. You eat combat rations on limited time for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Your commanders wake you up every night for all kinds of surprise wakeups: packing up camp and moving to another location at 3 AM, simulating a surprise enemy attack replete with tear gas, putting on gear, carrying your fellow soliders in fireman carry etc. Your nights are also spent guarding. Your days are spent on classes: camouflage, how to walk operationally, signals, how to build defensive positions, how to observe the field and what not to do. You are completely wiped and at wit's end and the commanders are down your throats at all moments. Even with all the added stress, you are expected to do the same things that you do every week: shine your shoes, workout etc. This was easily the hardest week that I have done in the army....but I loved every moment of it. I love challenges and this week of intense physical and mental challenges was just the kind of the experience I was expecting from the IDF. Whenever I had to carry another fellow soldier (and because I am a big guy, I was given all the other big guys to carry, including one guy who is easily 200 pounds/90kilos) or do other tasks, I was reminded of advice that our commander gave us that I really identified with. He said that in the army, you have to switch on a switch in your brain where you disconnect your mind from your body. If your mind says that you have to achieve this task, for example carrying your fellow soldier who represents a wounded soldier to an evacuation point, then your body will find a way no matter how much pain you are in. I was astounded by how much my company was able to achieve during this trying week. The army is a great laboratory for turning these boys into men.
At the end of this week there was a competition in my pluga between the different classes on all the stuff we learned. The competition consisted of a bunch of timed physical and mental challenges: such as crawling, stretcher runs, building positions, answering questions about the classes we took during the week. My class out of all the pluga won the competition and even though I fell on my elbow and got a spectacular bruise it was a fitting end to the week especially because it meant we got to leave early the following week!
We spent the Shabbat following field week in the mud and then were in the field again for tzemed chulia. Tzemed chulia is basically learning how the positions of how to fight and advance in two man and four man groups. This was a really cool week as we moved past stupid discipline and started the long process of becoming real soldiers. As I wrote, we got off early which was awesome.
The third week was a nice relaxing week after being in the field. Its amazing how much people take running water, hot showers, change of clothes, and cooked food for granted!! We spent the first few days in classrooms learning basic first aid and how to apply bandages and tourniquets. The last days of the week were spent learning about our enemies and their history and current situations. I won't lie- its scary knowing that our enemies are also working and organizing against us but although the classes were sobering, it also gave me motivation to know that our time spent as soldiers is not a waste, but a service that ensures our continued existence as the Jewish state. We spent the weekend on the base during guard duty and I must say that I have never seen such beautiful sunsets/sunrises than in the desert.
This past week was probably the most fun week I have had yet in the army. I was sent to a driver's course for an armored personnel carrier in a massive army base in the South. This base is amazing- it has gyms, incredible food, all kinds of courses, (girls :) and it was just a pleasure to be there. The course itself was fun. The vehicle I drove is really old and not really operational but it is used for training exercises and evacuating the wounded so it is still useful. Driving this monster up and down the desert was awesome and surprisingly easy.
And now here I am back on the kibbutz after another relaxing Shabbat writing this post to you in the late hours of the night/morning before going back to the army. I personally am doing great and really appreciating the support I get/give from the Garin, just being with everyone again is a balm to frayed nerves and stress. I definitely could not do without the framework it gives me.
Finally, my company is looking for help to raise some money to help out with gear that we need/desire for our training. Check out our donation page, written by another lone soldier in my class (shout-out to Shaul!) http://shaularmony.wordpress.com/donate/ . I would like to stress that we are not here to beg for money. If we don't receive a cent, we will survive albeit without the gear that we would like. We are looking for people who identify with and support our cause and are willing to donate. Have a great week everyone!
It has been over a month since I have written an update and as you can imagine, there is a ton of information to fill you in on. I am sorry that it has taken so long. Long story short: the charger to my computer died so I couldn't use it for about two to three weeks and then I have been busy during the weekends and I simply put the post on the backburner.
So this is what I did for the past month. The first week was spent in the field during field week, the second was also in the field and the theme was tzemed chulia (which I will explain). The third week was classes about first aid and the countries surrounding us; their political situations and military capabilities. And this past week I was sent to a driver's course. Let me go into a little detail.
The first week was called shavua sauduat (field week). This week is meant to try us to our limits and give us an idea of what it means to be an infantry soldier. You spend the week living in two-man tents that do little to stop the freezing cold. You eat combat rations on limited time for breakfast, lunch, dinner. Your commanders wake you up every night for all kinds of surprise wakeups: packing up camp and moving to another location at 3 AM, simulating a surprise enemy attack replete with tear gas, putting on gear, carrying your fellow soliders in fireman carry etc. Your nights are also spent guarding. Your days are spent on classes: camouflage, how to walk operationally, signals, how to build defensive positions, how to observe the field and what not to do. You are completely wiped and at wit's end and the commanders are down your throats at all moments. Even with all the added stress, you are expected to do the same things that you do every week: shine your shoes, workout etc. This was easily the hardest week that I have done in the army....but I loved every moment of it. I love challenges and this week of intense physical and mental challenges was just the kind of the experience I was expecting from the IDF. Whenever I had to carry another fellow soldier (and because I am a big guy, I was given all the other big guys to carry, including one guy who is easily 200 pounds/90kilos) or do other tasks, I was reminded of advice that our commander gave us that I really identified with. He said that in the army, you have to switch on a switch in your brain where you disconnect your mind from your body. If your mind says that you have to achieve this task, for example carrying your fellow soldier who represents a wounded soldier to an evacuation point, then your body will find a way no matter how much pain you are in. I was astounded by how much my company was able to achieve during this trying week. The army is a great laboratory for turning these boys into men.
At the end of this week there was a competition in my pluga between the different classes on all the stuff we learned. The competition consisted of a bunch of timed physical and mental challenges: such as crawling, stretcher runs, building positions, answering questions about the classes we took during the week. My class out of all the pluga won the competition and even though I fell on my elbow and got a spectacular bruise it was a fitting end to the week especially because it meant we got to leave early the following week!
We spent the Shabbat following field week in the mud and then were in the field again for tzemed chulia. Tzemed chulia is basically learning how the positions of how to fight and advance in two man and four man groups. This was a really cool week as we moved past stupid discipline and started the long process of becoming real soldiers. As I wrote, we got off early which was awesome.
The third week was a nice relaxing week after being in the field. Its amazing how much people take running water, hot showers, change of clothes, and cooked food for granted!! We spent the first few days in classrooms learning basic first aid and how to apply bandages and tourniquets. The last days of the week were spent learning about our enemies and their history and current situations. I won't lie- its scary knowing that our enemies are also working and organizing against us but although the classes were sobering, it also gave me motivation to know that our time spent as soldiers is not a waste, but a service that ensures our continued existence as the Jewish state. We spent the weekend on the base during guard duty and I must say that I have never seen such beautiful sunsets/sunrises than in the desert.
This past week was probably the most fun week I have had yet in the army. I was sent to a driver's course for an armored personnel carrier in a massive army base in the South. This base is amazing- it has gyms, incredible food, all kinds of courses, (girls :) and it was just a pleasure to be there. The course itself was fun. The vehicle I drove is really old and not really operational but it is used for training exercises and evacuating the wounded so it is still useful. Driving this monster up and down the desert was awesome and surprisingly easy.
And now here I am back on the kibbutz after another relaxing Shabbat writing this post to you in the late hours of the night/morning before going back to the army. I personally am doing great and really appreciating the support I get/give from the Garin, just being with everyone again is a balm to frayed nerves and stress. I definitely could not do without the framework it gives me.
Finally, my company is looking for help to raise some money to help out with gear that we need/desire for our training. Check out our donation page, written by another lone soldier in my class (shout-out to Shaul!) http://shaularmony.wordpress.com/donate/ . I would like to stress that we are not here to beg for money. If we don't receive a cent, we will survive albeit without the gear that we would like. We are looking for people who identify with and support our cause and are willing to donate. Have a great week everyone!
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