There are many advantages to being a lone soldier in the Israeli army. I won’t go into all of them here, but for anyone who is looking into joining the army, I came across an excellent site that serves as an FAQ for anything and everything someone from abroad would want to know about joining the army: http://www.idfinfo.co.il
Earlier on in the month we had parent’s day at base. Normally, visitors aren’t allowed on base at all, with this being the exception. Naturally, me being a 'lonely' soldier, they didn't want my kind staying on base watching all the Israeli's have their parents come visit them bringing them snacks, home cooked food, etc, so they arranged a 'fun day' for all the lone soldiers on base, which for my draft is a whopping 70 soldiers. Probably one of the best parts about it was that we got to leave the base early in the morning, while everyone else was put to work cleaning the base to make it look cleaner than it normally does even for us. We had a guided hike through a part of the Negev close to Kibbutz Sde Boker, combined with a camel ride (as if we all missed feeling like tourists again), barbeque lunch, and a visit to a spa with an indoor/outdoor pool. Overall it was very relaxing and definitely beats most days on base, combined with the fact that we got out for the weekend from Thursday evening!
After my very enjoyable long weekend, I returned to base Sunday morning, mentally preparing myself for one of the most difficult/anticipated weeks of basic training – the first שבוע שדאות – or FIELD WEEK. If the week could be summed up in a sentence or two it would probably consist of the words: pick up a 20 kg backpacking bag, start walking up and down every hill/mountain/rugged terrain in sight, take a 7 minute break to eat, and then just keep walking up those hills for the next 5 days. We left for the Shetach (field) Sunday night, and that first night we had the privilege of sleeping in tents, which was surprisingly pretty decent. Four people per tent fit pretty comfortably, minus the fact that you're sleeping with all your clothes on, vest, and of course gun, and the fact that you get one blanket per two people to sleep in the middle of the freezing cold desert. The next day the fun began… I won't go into too much detail about what we practiced, but it pretty much consisted of non-stop walking up massive hills, while each pair of soldiers had to carry a 20 kg backpack in addition to all their normal gear (gun and fully equipped vest).
Meals in the field were an issue of their own. At the beginning of the day, we got the 3 boxes of military rations which would be our food for the day and had to be carried around with us. Each meal, we had on average 7 minutes to eat. This included the time needed to open all the cans of food, which would normally take about 2 minutes. Not only that, at all points in time we had to have 1/3 of us guarding, which meant that these people couldn't eat and just sat there watching, dreaming of the second someone would come switch them so they could grab a bite to eat. Needless to say, eating was chaos. Cans of tuna, pineapple, corn, tuna salad, and beans were passed around while literally being stuffed into people's mouths and swallowed, almost whole. One meal, I stupidly decided to waste a couple seconds spreading some mustard on my bread, but then I realized that I barely had time left to eat. I quickly stuffed anything I could reach into the sandwich, and after being halfway through it I realized I was eating a tuna/pineapple/mustard/bean in tomato sauce sandwich, and it may sound gross, but it tasted pretty good. That just goes to show how stressful it was even to eat our meals in the field, and how time-pressured everything was.
On the second day of field week, we had the privilege (and yes, it actually was a privilege) to do a מדס, a word used in the army for any kind of physical activity (usually run). We ended up running 4 km at a decent pace, but it was probably one of the easiest runs I have done in my entire life. Not only did I literally feel 20 kg lighter without all my gear on, but the feeling of taking off your boots, socks and uniform shirt after 2 days made me want to run at least another hour or two. It was the same excited feeling when we were told later on in the week that we have a session of Krav Maga, which is normally dreaded by most people, known for being quite physically taxing. Throughout the week, we had lots of practice building different types of fortifications, and I guess as their way of being efficient, each day when we built a different type of fortification (which usually involved digging quite a bit) we would end up sleeping there for the night. The sleeping conditions were probably even worse than the meals. It would be 4 people sleeping together in each fortification, which in sleeping terms translates into a hole dug into the ground. Each pair would get 2 blankets – one to spread on the bottom of the hole, which was usually covered in thorns first to add some padding – and then one blanket to cover them. Sleeping with your gun and vest on was feasible, being so tired that you can fall asleep in any position, but the cold was just unbearable. It was probably one of the few times in my life that I would wake up at night and just want the time to pass, not caring whether I slept or not because I was THAT cold. Of course, a night's sleep wouldn't be complete without 30 minutes each of guard duty, which everyone had to do once a night.
Another highlight of the week was the masa (=hike) we did on Wednesday night. I was pretty anxious before it, knowing that I had a pretty hard time doing the last one, which was 7+1 km, and that this one would be 10 + 2 km with the stretcher. However, I was put to ease with the fact that I wasn't carrying anything extra this time, with other people having to carry and run with the radio like I did last time, or the water pack, which is 13.5 L (or kg) of water. The masa turned out to be not at all difficult, and even enjoyable at times. There were no extremely steep hills this time, and anytime we would get to the slightest incline, everyone would pick up the pace and start pushing the guy in front of them. Even though I was also pushing the person in front of me, it felt like I was floating effortlessly up the hill and it didn't seem to require extra energy. I guess I was lucky that I wasn't the last person in the line... This was also the first masa that we did as a whole מחלקה, (around 45 people) instead of just my kita of around 15. Everyone was also much more excited about the masa, because although it was supposed to be a surprise, we all knew we were going to have a small tekes (ceremony) at the end where we would get our unit tags. For the last kilometer of the march, with the stretcher of course, we were walking toward the location of the tekes, and all you could hear was the music playing with the shuffling of quick footsteps in the background – it was a great feeling! The tekes itself wasn't anything special, although everyone was very excited to get our unit tags (the snake with wings I have previously posted). On a side note, the widely publicized reason behind the unit tag is that a previous Egyptian president is rumoured to have said that there would be snakes with wings before Israel would have paratroopers, so that is where the idea came from. Following every masa, there is always this sense of happiness, that we actually accomplished something difficult, and that they'll give us some extra time to recover or something, and usually this happens in the form of snacks after the masa along with some extra time to shower. However, this being field week and all, we merely left the field, walked the 12 kilometers for the march, ended up at the tekes, and once the ceremony finished, we walked back to our holes to sleep. Somewhat depressing… but that's field week. The next day we spent reviewing what we did the entire week and preparing for a final, comprehensive test which would last 4 hours and cover everything learned for the 5 days we were there.
Finishing this last activity, and being able to walk back to base very late Thursday night, regardless of the fact that it was close to 12 midnight, and of course freezing outside, was a great feeling. I don't know what felt better: knowing that soon we'd be able to eat normally, or the fact that we would be given time to shower and change clothes for the first time in the past 5 days, or the thought of not sleeping in a hole outside in the cold for the night. Amidst all these thoughts, we were surprised by the fact that, upon arriving at our rooms on base, there was a barbeque prepared and waiting for us! I don't think I have ever seen so many people that happy before. Everyone sat down at the tables, and tray after tray of chicken, skewers, hot dogs, burgers, were brought out for us to feast on. The fact that it was past 12 midnight didn't stop anyone from stuffing their faces, and I think it was well deserved. Of course, it must be noted that I don't think it was the army's idea to give us a barbeque. I don't think they value our hard work this much. I think it had to do more with the fact that someone in the Pluga had a parent who wanted to sponsor the barbeque, and why would anyone want to resist, even the commanders. Shortly after finishing to eat in a reasonable amount of time (compared to the 7 minutes we got used to), we were quickly brought back to reality by being given the very familiar 7 minutes to clean our faces from all the camouflage paint we had on, and of course, shave. This was followed by a cleaning session of several hours for all our equipment, returning some extra equipment, and cleaning up our rooms. By 4 AM, there was still no end in sight, when finally I was pulled aside and told I have 20 minutes to shower and get into bed because according to army rules, I need to have 7 hours of sleep before I leave base. I got special permission to leave for the weekend, while everyone else stayed, because my parents were coming to visit (another perk to being a lone soldier)! Of course, army rules are made to work around, and even though I was in bed shortly after 4, the lights were on in the room and everyone else was still cleaning up so I didn't go to sleep until around 5 ish, when everyone else did too, but I can't complain.
The following week was a week of advanced shooting. We have slowly progressed from simply lying down and shooting targets 25, 50, or 100 meters away to shooting targets at all distances in different types of positions and operating jams in our guns. We’ve also even practiced shooting with our gas masks on after sprinting 100 meters to get us breathing heavily. Unfortunately, this wasn’t too effective because in order to put on the mask I needed to take my glasses off, and without them, I could barely see the target 50 meters away. Another practice involved shooting a target 300 meters away. You don’t really understand how far 300 meters is until you have to run it several times with all your gear on (vest, gun, ammo, etc). We are not allowed to walk at all at the shooting range, everything must be done running. This includes grabbing all the equipment to set up the targets, running 300 meters out, setting it up, and then running back even though you’re not finished because you ran out of time. We then get more time to finish it, run out 300 meters and again run back, only to have the commanders yell at us because not everyone went to help. So as a punishment, everyone has to sprint out to the targets again, and then sprint back. I’m sure you can do the math, that’s 1800 meters run already and we haven’t even started the shooting exercise yet!
The week was interrupted by a visit by theדודות (aunts) of Ramat Gan. Almost every unit in the army is sponsored by a different city in Israel, getting certain donations and gifts several time a year. However, nobody is as extensively supported as the paratroopers. Everyone received a pair of dry-fit shorts, and 2 shirts, all around 500 soldiers from my draft. As if that wasn’t enough, all lone soldiers were treated to an upgraded lunch, which for us soldiers means more than the miniscule amount of chicken usually given for lunch, and many more presents including a nice pair of sweat pants and shirt that say Tzanchanim on them, a flashlight, watch, wallet, and thermos. Of course everyone was very grateful and it was very interesting hearing their stories about their connection to the unit, whether it was them themselves who served in the paratroopers, or their family members who served as officers very high up in the unit.
Finally, at the end of the week, we had our Tekes Hashbaah, or swearing in ceremony. Quite a few hours went into practicing how to stand, march, and hold your gun during the ceremony, and you’d be surprised at how difficult it really is to teach 500 soldiers to move the exact same way. The day included a tour of Jerusalem for a couple hours, but with an unforeseen significance. We walked the route the paratroopers walked/fought through during the 6 day war in 1967, when Jerusalem and the old city were liberated from Jordanian control. It included a very detailed description of all the battles/gun fights along the way, and I felt very honoured to officially become a part of a unit with such a meaningful history. The ceremony itself obviously included the usual high-ranked officers talking about things that don't particularly interest us lowly soldiers, but it was still very exciting to be there and officially receive our guns and a tanach, symbolizing our commitment to the values of the Jewish people and Israel. Of course, no such event would be the same without some extra appreciation for lone soldiers. We had a separate, more intimate ceremony with the commander of the base and several other 'falafels', as people call them (the symbol for their rank is this circle, star-type shape which people call a falafel). They expressed their appreciation for the decision and sacrifice made by the around 70 lone soldiers now serving in the Tzanchanim. We also got another care package – more of the same clothes to keep us warm during our days in the cold shetach (field), along with letters from people abroad expressing their thanks for defending Israel. It reminded me of all those letters that I used to write in school for soldiers and made me wonder if they ever got here and what other soldiers thought of them.
Even though I am considered a lone soldier, or sometimes they even go as far as to coin it a 'lonely' soldier, I hardly felt alone. My kibbutz adopted family made the drive all the way from up north for the Tekes, and my parents managed to make it as well. Not to mention my coordinator from the Kibbutz, Avner, who manages to make almost every tekes (there were at least 5 in the span of less than 2 weeks) and several of my friends from the Garin who talked their way into a day off from the army, whether for a Yom Siddurim (errand day) or whatever excuse worked. And of course my friends from the garin who are also serving with me in the paratroopers, just in a different battalion who were also participating in the ceremony.
This last week of January, was meant to be another week in the field. I was originally supposed to have Sunday and Monday off from the army to spend with my parents, and go back to base Tuesday, but obviously, nothing goes according to plan with the army. At 1 in the morning on Monday, I get a call from my commander. I decided to answer the phone, although maybe if I wasn't half asleep I would've chosen not to answer. He told me that he has bad news – that plans have changed and I need to be back at the bus station at 9 AM. Once I processed that it means I have to leave 6 hours from then in order to make it back in time, I got really upset and started arguing with him. After his reply of 'אין מה לעשות' several times (nothing you can do about it) I accepted it and hung up. 10 minutes later, he calls back, saying that because I am a good soldier, I can have another day, and only have to come back Tuesday morning. It was great news, and despite this unexpected issue, because I was so tired, I still managed to fall back asleep in probably a minute.
Going back to base was a bit of a shock. I went from being able to do whatever I want, eating great food ALL THE TIME, and spending time with my parents, to chaos in the field. I met all my kita, and heard all the horror stories from the night before, and the cold wasn't even the problem this time, even though it was still FREEZING. They all ended up getting up 2 hours before wake up because, halfway through the night, they awoke to discover that due to all the rain that was pouring throughout the day before, there was a stream of water running through the tent, and everyone was sleeping in their sleeping bags in this stream! Their sleeping bags were soaked through, and everyone was walking around in soaked uniforms. As bad as I felt being off base while they were all suffering (or should I say עושים כיף חיים, having the time of their lives) as my commanders like to call it, I was soaked and full of mud just like them within 10 minutes. The entire time we were there was spent doing drills working in pairs, conquering hills, and finally, by 10 PM, we started to fold up the equipment and tents. We made our way back to base earlier than planned because they were worried of more people getting hypothermia due to the cold and wet uniforms everyone was wearing. All in all, I guess it was an experience to remember, and hopefully not to be repeated. Of course, getting back to base we were greeted with the dreaded task of cleaning all our equipment from pounds and pounds of mud, which was done most effectively by simply taking it into the showers with us. Finally, by 4 AM we were allowed to go to sleep.
The next day was spent mostly in class, learning about different weapons and ammunition we will be using in the future, and studying for a test we would have the next day. All this time I was under the impression that although my kita would have to close the weekend on base, I would be getting out, and on Thursday nonetheless, because I have a Garin seminar on the weekend. Another perk of joining the army through Garin Tzabar is that 3 times a year we have a seminar, where everyone, no matter where they are serving, has to be released from the army. Because everyone in my group serves in different units, we all get out different weekends and sometimes I go without seeing some friends for months at a time. These seminars ensure that we all see each-other at the same time at least 3 times a year, and of course it never hurts to get another weekend off from the army. The first day is spent as a fun day, and this year, for some reason after voting, it was decided that we all go to a spa. However, as is typical of the army, at the last minute I was not told I can't leave on time because I have to do a test on all the information we learned the past couple days, and given an added surprise that I have to do the Bochan Maslul (obstacle course). This was the first time I did the entire thing, and I really didn't find it so hard. I got over the wall no problem, although I got stuck at the rope climb for about 40 seconds, when it should take probably 10. Despite this, I ended finishing in 10 minutes 20 seconds, and even though it's not a pass, (a pass is 10 minutes flat), I'm confident that next time I'll be able to cut my time by at least 20 seconds, and probably more.
As of right now, I'm mentally preparing myself for the upcoming week. Even though my kita hasn't gotten all their specialties yet, they are slowly starting to give them out, and mine is מפקד חוליה, which essentially means I'm like a mini commander, in charge of 3 other people in my group. Apparently, people who get offered to go to the commander's course and become a commander later on in their service are chosen from people in this position, so I guess it's a good sign. This was apparently the 'hushed' up reason for them not exactly cooperating with my wanting to go to the medic course. Either way, I'm excited for the next week and hope the weather will be alright, unlike last time.
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