Kicking it up a notch

Lately, training has been slow. We have spent most of advanced training either learning about the country, guard duty or learning about new weapons. The last two weeks however have really kicked it up a notch...or 10.

When I first got back to the army, (April 19-24) it was still going slowly. The reason was because it was Yom Hazikaron (Israeli Remembrance Day for the soldiers) and Yom Haatzmaut (Israel’s birthday.) On Yom Hazikaron, we spent the day talking about fallen soldiers. We watched two video clips on Roi Clien and another soldier who sacrificed their lives for the country they loved.

On Yom HaAtzmaut, we spent the day celebrating, by having a bbq and having a talent show. While everyone said they would have rather been at home for the holiday, they said the army did a pretty good job of entertaining us.

Then the knob got turned and things become harder and more fun. The next few days were spent out in the field learning Lasha"v or house clearing. We learned how to enter a house and clear it of bad guys. The highlight of the week was defiantly playing paint-ball against the commanders. At the end of the week, the commanders go into the house and pretend to be terrorist. We (as the soldiers) work in teams to clear them out. It’s a lot of fun, as well as a great learning exercise.

Then we went back to the base for a little R&R before the next week.

Week two was spent back in the field learning to work as a kita (11 man team.) We learned how to work together to conquer a mountain or move in an open field. It was hard work, but a very important week in the army. It is during this week that our commanders get tested to see if they can lead their group into war and how effective they are. The week went by fast and there were a bunch of highlights that I will probably never forget for the rest of my life:

Highlight list:

1) We are no longer allowed to call our commander "commander". Instead we must now call them by their first name. My commanders’ name is Yani and from now on I have to call him Yani or I get punished (funny how things change so fast.)

2) I was placed on the radio for the week and as such I got to work right next to Yani and had to repeat all his orders over the mic and to the group. Because I was so well and “a siren" during the drills, I received Chayal Mitzdayen again and got off on Thursday. Also, the MP (1st in command) said that while I need to improve on my Hebrew, I was a great radio man and that my commander should be happy to have me.

3) When we were waiting to get tested at the end of the week by the MP, as a helicopter flew over head and hit a bird. As a result, the helicopter had to land and our kita was tasked with guarding the helicopter. As we did a 360 defensive circle, the pilots called us up one at a time to look into the helicopter and see inside.

4) We won the right to bring a pakal musica (speakers and iPods) and food on our masa cumta. The masa cumta is a 54k march, where at the end we receive our green berets. It is the culmination of our training and will take place in two weeks (can't wait.) The reason why this is a highlight is because up to now we have never been allowed to eat or talk on the masas that we did and soon well be able to.

5) We had to do a training exercise in front of the Ma'am (Commander for the entire advanced training base.) He said we did so well that we should be really happy with ourselves.

6) We did a training exercise, where we pretended to go into Syria and blow up a car. After we planted the explosives, we all got to yell: "Al a Palchan" (why to go Palchan, my unit.) Up till now, we were never allowed to say Palchan or anything relating to our unit so it was nice to finally say something.

There are still many more highlights, but the most important one is:

7) My cousin: http://curiousjew.blogspot.com/ has gotten engaged. Congrats.

Warning to my loyal fans (the fame has gone to my head.) I have a 21 coming up next week. This means that I will be closing the base for 21 days and will not be near a computer for the next three weeks. I am sure that I will have a long blog to write when I get back. In the off chance that I do get a computer before then, expect a quick blog to be written about what I did. In the meantime I wish everyone a happy Log Ba'Omer and happy Shavuot.

An emotional roller coaster of a week.

Last week (April 4-9) we spent a week working on all of our shifsoriems (ties) and having a misdar. A misdar is a check made by either the MM (second in command) or the MP (first in command). The highlight of the week was on Thursday when we went on a 36k march through the field. While the march as a whole wasn't hard, the last leg of the march (the final 6 k, when we open up the stretch), was the hardest part.

We also go to meet our medics for the first time. While we were at basic training, our medics went to the medical training course to learn to me combat medics. These guys are really cool and they fit right in with us.

The next week (April 12-15) was also a relaxing week. Half the group, went to Beslach (a base used for advanced training or officers course.) Once we reached the base, we were split up into our learning groups. The options were either: GPS, Radio, Makach (a 50.cal machine gun), Machlar (an automatic grenade launcher), Mortar, Driver for an Amour personnel charier, or MishMish (someone who works half the day in the kitchen, and then half the day guarding our stuff). I was picked for the Machlar,which is this really big grenade launcher. The gun alone weighs 34.3 kg and that's not including the stand, ammo or a variety of other parts that need to be carried along with the gun. The crew that has to use this gun is made up of 4 people, each of which has a special job. The breakdown is like this:

#1 - shooter

#2 - commander of gun - says where to shoot and what's the range and so on

#3 and #4 - help to carry things and then help to set up.

When it comes time to shoot, #3 and #4 are sent to the bottom of the hill to protect the back, while #1 and #2 stay at the top of the hill with the gun and shoot.

Even though the gun weighs a lot, shooting it will be something i never forget. The gun makes such a big boom, that you scare yourself the first time you hear it.

The course only lasted 4 days. The first two days were spent in class, the third day was spent shooting and the last day was spent cleaning up and having a celebration for the end of the course. The class included the four of us (Nachlawim) as well as soldiers from the Golani Brigade and the Gadsar Bedouin brigade. At the celebration, Chayal Mitzdayen was chose. A Chayal Mitzdayen is a soldier who works really hard during the week and is someone who helps out when needed and is willing to give of himself. Its basically like the good student award. Every group got one (from the GPS, Mortars, Makach, Machlar, MishMish, drivers and Radio courses), so in total there were 7. I was one of the lucky 7 and as a result, i got to leave the army early on Thursday (while everyone else got to leave on Friday.)

Of course Murphy's law has to come in sometime during the week and this week it hit us hard.

While half the group was away at Beslach training, the other half of the group was at our advanced base guarding.
The medics however, went to our basic training base. The reason was so that they can learn a little about what we learned in the basic training course. While they were there, on of the medics committed suicide. Its often funny how it takes a tragedy to bring people together, but that is life. As a result of this, now more then ever, the group feels like a family, supporting one another through our time of pain and suffering.

Here's hoping that next week goes by smoothly and without any other incident.

Coming home and getting back to buisness

As most of you know, i went home for my Regila or week off from the army. The trip was great and adventurous because not only did i got to see my family and friends, but i was also in the middle of a hurricane and without power for 6 days (the majority of my trip.)

When i got back, it was back to reality and back to the army.

My first week back was a week at Mikva Alon. Mikva Alon is the army Ulpan base. This is where new Oliem go to learn Hebrew, if the army feels that your Hebrew is not good enough. The program combines Ulpan and basic training for the soldiers there.

We, on the other hand, were there to learn more about our selves and why we are fighting. The week was broken down into:

Day 1: we went to Lochame Gitaon. This is a kibbutz that was founded at the start from country. The specialty of this kibbutz is that it was made up of ghetto upraises and so they created a museum that portrays the Warsaw uprising and the uprising of other ghettos. The museum is very interesting because instead of showing camps and death, the museum features more of the uprising side and the brave soldiers who lead them.

Day 2: problems in the country; new immigrants vs. Israeli born people, Jews. vs. Arabs and so on.

Day 3: We talked about problems with the army, the democratic system and the laws of the army. We also talked about Code of Conduct in the army. We were given different situations and asked if what the soldiers did was right or wrong. An example would be that we were in a city and we are suddenly hit with a rock. When we turn around to see who threw it and it turns out to be a child 7 years old. After we tell him to stop, we keep going and we feel another rock hit us. We turn around to see the same kid holding a bigger rock, that if it hits us, we will be hurt. What do we do? Do we shoot in the air, causing a scene and an international case, or run away and act like a coward and make it seem like we will do nothing.

Day 4: we talked about our enemies: Syria, Lebanon and Iran

Day 5: we went to the Acco Prison to see some of the history of the country.

The week was really fun and interesting because we got to learn a lot about our selves and how the army and country works. It was also nice to finally eat good food in the army and to sleep in a building on bunk beds.

Then we went back to base and relaxed before our next week, which was guard week.

Guard week was the same as usual, with guarding at weird hours and not really doing anything fun.

Then came Passover. Passover was a lot of fun and a great experience to be on base for it. There was a lot of food to eat (finally) and it was great spending the holidays with my "family." While we all wished that we were home, we all knew that we would be spending the next 24 hours with great people and great friends. The week went by fast and now are reaping the rewards of the holiday by resting for four days.