אחרי לצנחנים, Eilat, Gibbush Sayeret Tzanchanim and start of basic training

So as most of you know already, I passed the Gibbush for Tzanchanim and have now finished my first week there. They are quite well known for their logo: אחרי לצנחנים (or after me to the paratroopers, in English) which is commonly seen on tourist shirts such as this one:

I also happen to really like their shoulder tag, which is a snake with wings, although I will only be getting it much further on into basic training, but here is a picture anyway.

I got the call on my way to Eilat and could not have been happier, letting out a bit of a shout in the middle of the Beer Sheva central bus station. Two things which have been on my mind lately since hearing I will be in Tzanchanim is that I have a 90 km march to look forward to at the end of training in order to get my red beret (כומתה אדומה) and of course, I will also have to do a 3 week paratrooper course. Although they are far away, it is still a very scary thought.

Several weeks ago we had a pre-draft trip to Eilat for a couple days. Overall it was fun, although I would probably not do it again because it takes pretty much a full day to get there. Eilat is sometimes considered the equivalent to a ‘Las Vegas’ in Israel, minus the intense gambling sessions, although it hardly compares. There were two highlights of the trip for me: one was meeting several famous Israeli singers out at a club one night, including Sabliminal and Idan Yaniv. The second one was going to this restaurant Casa do Brasil. I had never heard of it before, and didn’t really know what I was getting myself into until I got there, all I knew was that it was amazing food and I was hungry, so I went along with around 10 of my friends. To make a long story short, for around $50 you sit there at your table, all you can eat quality meat is brought to you – 11 different types/cuts of meat to be exact, all delicious. If that isn’t enough, after you have gone through all these meats (most people don’t even manage to try everything), it is a free for all and you just tell the waiter which meat you liked the most and they bring you some more. This was about 3 weeks ago, and I still cannot even imagine going back there in the future after eating so much meat, but it was definitely enjoyable and highly recommended.

Finally, this past week I started my army service, beginning with Trom Tironut (pre-basic training) at the Tzanchanim base, which is somewhere down south about 30 minutes from Beer Sheva. The goal of the week was essentially to get us into the framework of the army and familiar with army discipline without the serious consequences of not following the rules, which will come next week. There was also a 3 day Gibbush for the sayarot (elite units) within the Tzanchanim. Going into the week, I decided that I would give it a try, having spoken to many people who told me that if given the opportunity, serving in a sayeret is a superior experience. On the other hand, I had also recently heard from people who said that serving in the regular infantry (Gdud) is just as good, and a more eye opening service, in which you can contribute more to the State of Israel. The main drawback for me for doing the sayeret is that if accepted, I would be required to serve for 3 years instead of 2 years because the training is so long, which in my opinion is a big commitment. Regardless, I decided to give it a try. 

The Gibbush began on a Tuesday morning, with wakeup at 2:30 AM, and the physical tests starting already at around 4 AM. Unfortunately, on one of the first runs where we were required to run up and down a hill, still before sunrise and in the dark, I sprained my ankle. I decided to keep going, and to play it by ear as to how my ankle was feeling a bit later on, but after going through a couple hours I decided that I didn’t want to risk any long term damage to my ankle so I quit. However, I was there for long enough to realize that this was the most intense thing I have EVER done in my life, and I was only there for about 5 hours of the tryout, which ended up lasting until late Wednesday night (it was supposed to be longer, but I think because it was so intense enough people quit that they could end it earlier). The tryout involves nonstop crawling, sprinting, running with a 10 kg sand bag on your back, a long march carrying sand bags and a stretcher with 70 kg on it, crawling, sprints, and much more crawling for the entire day, until late evening. Everything I heard about the gibbush before I got there was true. No matter how much you train and prepare physically, after a short while because of the sheer intensity of the activity, it becomes only a matter of mental strength and the only thing that can get you through it is how much you want it. Several moments are stuck in memory and although I am thankful I experienced them, I would not want to experience again (even though I am sure I will throughout my army service):

1.       Throughout the tryout, probably the most common thing you will do is crawl. When I say crawl, I mean get on all fours and crawl with your entire body sliding over the ground. For me it felt like a very intense full body workout, and that wasn’t even the hardest part about it. To start, everyone lines up on the starting line, and you are required to crawl to an object about 20 meters away and back. When the examiners yell go, everyone jumps forward, swinging their arms to their sides, usually smacking the people beside them in painful places. Then, once the crawling begins, there is so much sand and dust kicked up that no matter where you are – at the front or the back of the pack - once you finish it and clean yourself up a bit before the next one, you look at the person beside you and he looks back at you and you both look horrified because all you can see is a sandman beside you. Your teeth and mouth are full of dust, and I inhaled so much dust that I was on the verge of puking after that first crawl. This fact was very simply explained by a guy in my group who said, even after the first crawl, that he is going to be coughing and spitting up dirt for the next two weeks. I have to stress that you are crawling in the middle of the desert – full of painful rocks and of course some desert plants full of thorns. Once you feel the prick of the thorns and wait a couple seconds the pain goes away until a while later you feel something in your hands and you realize that the thorns are still there although now covered in so much dirt that you can’t be bothered to try and get them out.

2.       For meals, you get manot krav (military rations) – cans of beans, tuna, halva, pineapple, pickles, and several loaves of bread to be divided among the entire group (approximately 25-30 people), 2 can openers, and a limited number of forks and knives. At first it was a somewhat civilized meal with everyone passing around the cans, sharing the same forks and knives of course, and inventing the most ridiculous combinations of sandwiches. Eventually, everyone just began to use their unbelievably dirty hand (full of sand and mud) to scoop out some food from the can and eat it, and then pass it to the next person in the circle. The day was so intense and stressful that it didn’t bother anyone, including me, but in hindsight, to an outsider it would have seemed ridiculous.

Overall, the gibbush was very challenging and intense, both physically and mentally, and I’m not even sure that if I didn’t leave because of my sprained ankle I would have been able to continue with it to the finish.

After coming back from the gibbush, we pretty much spent the remainder of the week cleaning up and preparing the base for our training for the next 4 months. This included walking back and forth over certain areas and picking up every single piece of trash (which was mostly really old cigarette butts), and walking through each of the around 10-15 shooting ranges to pick up bullet casings from the floor, which the army collects every couple months and recycles. By Wednesday night, most of the soldiers with me, both native born Israeli and immigrants from elsewhere in the world were all somewhat frustrated and fed up with the work, and the low morale could definitely be felt. However, as I’ve been told by many people before, the mood can change a lot from one second to the next in the army. Right after dinner we had to go back to the shooting ranges and continue our work. Before we got started, our commander made a point of gathering us around in a chet, waiting for quiet, and asking if we all knew what was special about that day (Chanukah!). After everyone took about 5 seconds to process that it really was the first night of Chanukah, we all began singing (actually more like screaming) Maoz Tzur so loudly that the commander had to start yelling at us to shut up, but it was amazing that from one minute to the next everyone’s mood could change so drastically and for the good. The commander then proceeded to inform us that he has been in the army for more than 2 years already, and he is so happy because after having to close the weekend of Chanukah on base for the past 2 holidays, he finally gets to leave base for Chanukah on this, his last Chanukah in the army. Of course, it wasn’t as joyful as it seemed because he still has to come back after the weekend and spend the remainder of the holiday on base, but it’s definitely better than nothing. This also made me realize that just like the commander, it will definitely not be my last holiday spent in the army, and whether it is spent closed on base away from family and friends or with the weekend off I can only try and make the best of it.

This past weekend I was lucky enough to get a Yom Siddurim (pretty much an errand day) which is an extra day off every month given to lone soldiers to arrange things that their parents would otherwise be able to help them out with – shopping for miscellaneous items, going to the bank, etc. Of course given that I have only spent one week in the army so far, it was a warmly welcomed extra day to relax and catch up with friends, no strings attached. I am somewhat excited to start this week off because there are so many unknowns. This week they will be dividing everyone up into groups/divisions and I will meet my commander as well as teammates who I will be doing everything with for the next 4 months – eating, sleeping, running, and even showering together. I have already met and become close with many people last week who I hope to be together with this week. Even if I am not placed together with these new friends, overall the people I will be with seem like good people and I can only be optimistic. I’ll also be told which unit in the Tzanchanim I will be serving in out of the following three:

202 (מאתים ושתים) or as the joke is מאתים יורים שתים פוגעים – 200 shoot, and 2 hit   OR

890 (שמונה מאות תשעים) or as the joke goes שמונה מאות טפשים – 890 stupids     OR

101 (מאה ואחד) which I have not heard a joke for yet, but this is the unit I want to be in.

That’s all for now, and I hope to stay in touch with everyone. Feel free to send me a message on facebook or comment here, although I can’t promise that I’ll respond quickly because from now on I can be on base 2-3 weeks at a time.