Commander's Course

This past week soldiers were chosen to go to a course to learn how to command a hooliya, small group (4 people). From my team there were 6 people that were chosen, and for some reason I was chosen. Not that I don't think it is something I could do, but I was surprised that they felt my Hebrew was good enough. Harrison was also chosen to go, but in the end he couldn't go because of his concussion.

We spent two days in the field learning how to storm a hill with a small group. It is almost exactly what we had done before, except we also learned about all of the different jobs that people have within the team. For example, there is a sharp shooter, someone with a machine gun, someone with a grenade launcher, and so on. In addition to learning how to control the movements, we also learned how each person works sith their particular job. The sharp shooter, for instance, is used to judge the distances so that the commander can decide whether to shoot a grenade, throw a grenade, charge, and so on.

We were supposed to stay in the field an extra day, but the soldiers who did not go to the course were on the base doing guard duty and they were short on replacements. After we got back to the base I got the chance to practice what we learned in the simulator. We had three simulations on hills and different outdoor locations and our fourth simulation was in a neighborhood in which we were placed on the roof of a nearby building. This I think was by far one of the coolest things I have done since I have been in the army. It felt somewhat like a video game, but we were shouting out orders and there was someone with a headset speaking with someone else in the control room that simulated what it is like to talk with other groups in the field.

Pairs Week

Two weeks ago we had a week in the field called "Pairs Week." As I am sure you can guess, we spent the week working with a partner. We were in the field learning how to storm a hill. Usually this is done with an entire company, or several, but their thinking is that you start at the base and work your way up. So...we start with pairs, then there is something called a hooliya (about 4 people) which loosely translates to "small group" or "band," then a class (10-12 people), a platoon (or in my case in the special forces we have teams, which is roughly 20 or 25 people as opposed to 30 or 35 in a platoon), and finally a company (in our case 90).

In the beginning it is a lot to learn, but it starts to make sense as you catch on. When one person is advancing the other is covering him and they both make their way up the hill until they are close enough to "charge."

During the week Harrison had to leave the field and see the doctor because he got a concussion. Between the different training exercises there are a lot of different things that the commanders have us do. For instance, during the week we ran 2 km with our vests and guns and one day we ran a kilometer while carrying someone on a stretcher. During the week Harrison's group did a relay race with another team. The first part of the relay race was carrying wounded soldiers. Harrison's partner sprinted down a hill and tripped. Harrison fell head first on a rock. He had a week at home to rest and he is doing better but he still gets a little dizzy from time to time.

Memorial Day (Yom Ha'zikaron) and Independence Day (Yom Ha'atzmaut) (May 7th and 8th 2008)

      Since it was Israel's 60th Birthday I figured I should probably write something about it.  There is an interesting thing in Israel that the day before Independence Day is their Memorial Day.  I think they like the transition from something depressing to something uplifting.

     Because it was Memorial Day my company was given early leave in order to represent the paratroopers at various military graves across the country (and as a nice bonus we were given the rest of the week off).  Harrison and I went to the military cemetery in Haifa on Wednesday morning May the 7th.  We were assigned to stand at different graves and act as representatives of the paratroopers for the families whose grave we were at.  Where I was stationed there was a soldier who was killed in 1973 during a training exercise.  

     He was using a newly developed "mini-grenade", however, there was a problem with the 

     design that did not enable soldiers to hear whether or not the grenade had been activated.  

     From what I understood the soldier had released the grenade and activated it without

     knowing.  It detonated close to him and a piece of shrapnel cut his neck.

In addition to the soldier's sister and her family, friends of his from his unit were also there.  I was told that they have been coming every year for 35 years.

     Next to where I was standing was a soldier whose family had all passed away.  As it turns out 4 years ago there was a girl soldier who was sent as a representative to his grave and she was so saddened by the fact that no one was there to visit him on Memorial Day that has come back every year to visit even though she is no longer in the army.  Two years ago the girl's boyfriend died in the Second Lebanon War, and now she continues to visit the grave every year before going to her boyfriend's grave.

     We waited with the families through the moment of silence and then through the following ceremony.

     That evening I attended a ceremony on the kibbutz marking the end of Memorial Day and the start of Independence Day.  After the ceremony there was a big barbecue at the kibbutz and dozens of free concerts through out the country.  We talked about going to one of the concerts, but in the end we decided to go to a party at a nearby kibbutz.  It was a good time, but I think I was expecting more for the country's 60th anniversary (maybe I needed to be in a big city). 

First Half of Basic Training

     Ok...so the title of this post is a little misleading.  The way that my training breaks down is that there is basic training for the first 4 months, then 2 months of advanced training, and 10 months of special forces training.  All-in-all it is a year and 4 months of training, and at this point I have finished the first half of the basic training portion.

     It has been pretty interesting.  I didn't know what to expect going into it and I would definitely say that there are parts that have been harder than I expected and other parts less challenging than I expected.  

     The first real week of training was called M-16 week.  We spent the whole week at the shooting range learning to shoot correctly and how to fix the sights to our eyes.  The first thing we did was actually pretty incredible.  There was a shooting range simulator that looked like three movie screens put together.  They have the technology to put up any image that they want.  When we used the simulator it was the image of a shooting range (wow!).  Even more impressive was the technology connected to the guns.  We all shot with M-16s that had been connected to wires and shot lasers.  From the control room they could tell if we moved the neck of the gun a centimeter before, after, or while shooting, how hard we squeezed or released the trigger, and exactly which bullet hit where.  It was pretty unbelievable.  The rest of the week we were at the real shooting range (we even slept out on the range one night).  At the end of the week I was one of three soldiers chosen to participate in a fun "prize" activity.  We got to shoot with the commander's guns (they were essentially the same as ours, except they had a special sight which doesn't have to be lined up, simply put the dot on the target).  First we shot at metal ammunition containers filled with water and then at a balloon placed on the head of a target.

     The week after that was a week in the field.  We left on Saturday night and came back to the base on Wednesday morning.  So far that was the hardest week of training.  We spent all day hiking from place to place with all of our gear: stretcher, radio, a bag with 10 full liter bottles of water, and for every two people a large bag with personal gear (i.e. - shovel, gas mask, blanket, change of clothes (which went unused)).  During the week we learned how to walk as a group in the field, how to cross open areas, how to carry wounded soldiers both on the stretcher and on our shoulders (this was particularly difficult do to all of the gear and steep inclines of the hills), and lots and lots of crawling.  At the end of the week there was a test on everything we learned, which we later learned that our team had received the highest marks of the entire company.  Wednesday morning there was a 6 km hike back to the base plus one more kilometer carrying someone on the stretcher.  When we got back we cleaned all of our gear and got prepared to go to Jerusalem for our swearing in ceremony on Thursday at the Western Wall, which my Mom, sister, and Grandparents flew in for.

     Since then we have had another week in the field, in what was called "Pair" or "Duo" week.  Essentially, we spent the week learning how to storm hill tops in pairs.  The way it was explained to us is that it is the basis for what we will be doing later on.  In the beginning we learn how to work in pairs, in another two weeks we will learn how to do the same thing in groups of 4 or 5, then groups of about 10, followed by our team of 20, and by the end the whole company of 90.  We did several dry runs and then live fire in day and night.

     One week was spent learning first aid and chemical/biological/atomic warfare.  Part of the chemical warfare training involved going into a tent full of gas and taking off the gas mask.  Apparently, this is something of a joke to all of the commanders.  They tell everyone something ridiculous to do when they come out of the tent gagging and crying.  Also, while in the tent they make everyone sing a song (for instance there was a group that sang "Happy Birthday," so that they know when you take your mask off that you breath in the gas).  Our commander told us, "I am completely serious, when you come out of the tent the best way to get the gas off of you is to grab both of your ears, flap your elbows, and jump on one leg!"  Of course this is at the same time that you are drooling on yourself and you can't see because your eyes are watering so hard.  To top it all off there are girls who come to videotape you make a fool of yourself so that when you finish basic training you can laugh at what an idiot you were.

     Other than that nothing too special.  We have done some guard duty on the base and worked in the kitchen a little bit.  We had our first two lessons of Krav Maga (the Israeli self defense/hand-to-hand combat system), except at this phase of our training the lessons only consist of 45 minutes to an hour straight of conditioning.  It is actually kind of funny, it is one of the things I was really looking forward to and now it is the time that everyone in the team hates the most.  I'm sure it will get interesting later on, but right now all we do is suicides, crawling, or push-ups.

     That's about it for now.  I am fairly certain that I am going to be on the base for the next three weeks, so I don't know if there will be any updates in the near future but if I get off I'll try my best to keep this somewhat up-to-date.

My Parents First Trip to Israel (February 29, 2008 - March 8, 2008)

     My parents came to visit (their first trip to Israel) my second to last week at Michve Alon, on February 29th.  I got off from the army that morning and went to Tel Aviv to go and meet them at the airport.  They landed around 5:15 PM and I met them at the gate, but it was downhill from there.  

     After the hugs and kisses the three of us went to go and pick up the car (or perhaps more aptly - passenger van) that they had rented.  The interior lights in the van didn't work, but we were in a hurry to get to Haifa in time for Shabbat dinner so we told them we would make do with the flashlight we had rather than switch cars...a mistake that would later come back to haunt us.  As we preceded out of the airport and towards Haifa my dad thought he heard a noise coming from the outside of the car, he got out to check the tire, but it seemed intact.  After 5 more minutes there was another loud noise and my dad informed us that he saw our tire rolling down the middle of the highway in his rearview mirror.  "Welcome to Israel."  

     We then proceeded to sit on the side of the highway, which had no shoulder, for about 2 and half hours (for those of you unfamiliar with the geography of Israel:  in that time we could have probably driven to Haifa and back) arguing with various people about getting a new car.  Eventually we switched our bags to the new car and continued to Haifa.  Needless to say we missed Shabbat dinner and instead ate in the first falafel restaurant that we came to in Haifa, where the power promptly went out.  Fortunately, the trip improved from that point on (granted it had no where to go but up).

     I took my parents to meet my adopted kibbutz family on Saturday, and the next day they took me back to the army.  Normally I would have been given time off to be with my family, except that it just so happened that my try-out for the paratroopers was that upcoming Monday and Tuesday.  

     After the try-out my parents came to pick me up and I was given the rest of the week off.  We traveled around Jerusalem for two days and I was able to show them some of the places where I had spent my first month in the Holy Land.  We drove back to Haifa on Friday so that my parents would be able to participate in at least one Shabbat dinner, and on the next day they flew back home.

Until now (August 2007 - May 2008)

I guess I'm a little late jumping on the blog bandwagon, so I'm going to try and catch everybody up:

Pre-Army:

    I arrived in Israel late August 2007 with plans to join the Israel Defense Force (IDF) through a program called Mahal 2000.  Unfortunately for me, the language of the Israeli army is Hebrew, which I didn't speak.  I had planned on enlisting in November and studying Hebrew until that time.

    The first month I lived in Jerusalem with a family who I did not know, but they were friends of my parents.  In that first month I studied Hebrew in an intense one-on-one class and also tried to pick up what I could working in a falafel store (although in retrospect I think I learned more Arabic at the falafel store).  

       In October I moved to Netanya, a city on the coast North of Tel-Aviv, to study at a month long Hebrew course called Ulpan Akiva.  I had actually progressed a good bit in the two weeks in Jerusalem and was allowed to start at a fairly high level when I arrived at Akiva (for those of you familiar with the Hebrew alphabet I was able to start at level "ג").  

       I finished my month long course on November 1, and was planning to be drafted on the 4th of November.  Contrary to my plans, I received a phone call on the last day of my course informing me that my draft date had been pushed back a month and that I would be sent to an army sponsored Hebrew course.  At the outset I tried to fight this decision due to the fact it was based on results of a Hebrew test that I had taken before I had started studying Hebrew, but in the end there was not much I could do.  As a result, I ended up staying at Akiva another month to try and improve my Hebrew (and also mostly because I had no where to go since I was living at the Ulpan).

       After finishing up the Hebrew classes I had a week of limbo before starting the army Hebrew classes.  Fortunately, I was put in touch with someone who helped me to find a place to live on a kibbutz near Haifa.  Needless to say, I was somewhat surprised to discover that my roommate, Harrison, was from Mississippi (I don't know what the odds of that are, but I can tell you he is the only Mississppian I have met).  He is 21 and also came here to join the army (and in a weird coincidence we have ended up at all of the same places).  

 

Army Ulpan (Hebrew Class):

     On December 18th I started my army career at a base called Michve Alon.  Michve Alon is an education base whose main function is to help immigrants with their Hebrew before starting the army.  We were given Hebrew tests and then separated into teams based upon our Hebrew level.  Somehow after 2 and a half months of Hebrew I was placed in the highest Hebrew level on the base (I still don't know how).   I was put in a group of mostly Russian immigrants, although there were also two Americans, one Canadian, and a 26 year old from England, many of whom had been in the country as much as 7 or 8 years.

     The first month at Michve Alon we did not have any Hebrew lessons, it was strictly basic training.  The same training that regular Israelis receive if they are going to be joining the army and getting a job (i.e. - driver, working in an office, basically any non-fighting position).  The second two months were the actual Hebrew classes.  I think the classes helped my vocab a little bit, but what really helped was being in the environment where I heard Hebrew all the time, even when I wasn't in the classroom.  I definitely think I might have been able to learn more in terms of grammar and possibly vocab if I had continued to learn on my own in those 3 months, but I don't think my understanding of Hebrew would have improved as drastically.

     In my last two weeks at Michve Alon there was a special tryout for all of the soldiers on our base for the paratrooping division.  I had a lot of trouble getting into the tryouts (if I get some time later I'll try and post that story, but its pretty long), however, once I was allowed to participate in the tryouts I did really well.  I found out the next week that from the 120 people that tried out 25 people had been accepted.  From my division only Harrison and I were accepted.

Paratroopers:

     On March 18th, I started all over again in the Paratroopers Brigade.  After two days in the paratroopers there was another try-out for the Airborne Special Forces Battalion.  It was a 3 day try out that was very physical.  There were about 450 people that started out, something like 220 that finished, and maybe 150 that were selected.  After a week everyone was brought together and then separated according to the new battalions/companies/teams.  They explained to me that I had been chosen for a new special forces team.  In general there are three companies: the reconnaissance, anti-tank warfare (where Harrison is now serving), and combat engineering.  They have not explained much to us, but from what I have been able to gather my team is going to train to become a specialized sniper team.

     Hopefully that is a good foundation to let everybody know where I stand.