The End...

A week ago I was honorably discharged from the IDF, but like most things in the army it wasn't with out its hiccups. In my typical dumb-luck fashion, the day before my release from the army I lost my army I.D. card. In addition to granting me access to walk around with an automatic weapon, the I.D. card also allowed me to travel for free on public transportation. I literally woke up on the day of my discharge, gathered my uniform to return and only at this point realized my I.D. was gone. I think it must have fallen out of my pocket the day before while traveling on the bus.

I was bummed because this meant that I was going to have to pay for my bus rides (I had planned to use it the two weeks after my release as well, as long as the bus driver didn't check the date on it which they rarely do), but I had no idea how big of a headache this was going to be. I arrived at the base and I wasn't allowed in. I didn't have my ID, dog tags, and I had come in regular street clothes. I had to wait outside for about 30 minutes calling various people trying to gain access to the base just so I could give back my uniform (this was even more of an ordeal because my commander had been discharged the day before). Eventually, I was let in only to discover that I would have to have a trial because it is impossible to be released without your I.D. card.

I spent half the day waiting for an officer to arrive in order to have my trial. After sitting around for all that time, I was informed I would have to travel to where my unit was currently stationed in order to be tried there. In the end, my trial took place at 10:30 pm and I was let off with a warning. Unfortunately, it was too late for me to go home so I had to spend one last night on the base. The next morning I woke up at 6 to get the first bus, and traveled to the intake base near Tel Aviv (where all of the new soldiers arrive to get their gear), and was released 20 minutes later. I think it was probably the most efficient part of my entire army experience. I wanted to take a picture of them cutting my I.D. in half, but since I didn't have my I.D. you'll have to use your imaginations.

Lately, I've had a lot of people ask me the same question, "Would you do it again?". I had been asked plenty of times before, but I usually answered by saying that I couldn't really know until I was done. I am not going to sugar coat anything. The experience was extremely trying at times. I heard someone say once that everyone is going to have at least one day when they want to quit, and I tend to agree with that. What most people don't know about the Israeli army is that probably less than 5% of your time is spent on missions, or doing what you are trained to do. Probably 50% of the time is spent training (at least in the special forces units), 35% is spent standing guard in a watch tower or an armored vehicle, and 10% is spent working in the kitchen or cleaning. For me, however, I think I accomplished what I set out to accomplish. There was more than one time that I told myself that what I was doing at that moment was the hardest thing I had ever done, and I got through it. I think I am leaving the army with a better sense of my limitations, my strengths, my weaknesses, and the knowledge that I can accomplish anything if I don't give up.

So now that I am done, the answer to would I do it again is.........definitely!

Anti-Guerilla Warfare

It has been a little while since my last post, but I've been kind of busy traveling back and forth from the U.S. and preparing for my release from the army.

The last week of our 4 month training session was spent learning various anti-guerilla warfare tactics, because this is the type of war that is fought in Lebanon.

The first two days were spent learning how to sneak around in the forest. Each night we practiced what we learned during the day. The first night was one of the tougher nights that week. We didn't actually walk very far, I think it may have been about 3 kilometers, but it took us close to two hours because of how thick the all of the trees and vines were (you can see the sort of vegetation we were walking in above in the picture). We climbed up a mountain with giant bags that would get stuck every time you tried to duck under a branch. I couldn't help but laugh when the guy in front of me would start yelling in frustration.

This particular type of warfare is extremely difficult. Once you encounter the enemy it is almost impossible to maintain any type of eye contact with your team. At any given moment you are separated by a tree or a bush that you can't see through. When the numbers increase it becomes even more difficult, if two teams attempt any sort of maneuver in the woods the chances of friendly fire are probably just as likely as killing the enemy.

On the third day we learned different tactics for fighting in bunkers. Apparently, in Lebanon, Hezbollah has built several underground bunkers that they use when fighting. They often pop up, fire, and go back down (the picture above is an entrance to one such bunker).

The last night the entire battalion participated in a mock anti-guerilla warfare exercise. My team led the our unit, because during wartime we are tasked with reconnaissance. My team was actually low on men (different people had been sent to different courses, and some were participating in an army wide shooting competition), so I was in charge of taking point as both the sharpshooter and technician (all that meant is that I walk in front and carry a big thermal night vision device). Our first mission of the night was to set up a reconnaissance post on top of a mountain. The only problem was that this mountain had more trees, thorns, and vines than any other mountain I had been on since our individual navigation week. It only took me about 10 minutes before my entire arm was burning from some plant I had touched (I later learned that it was a nettle, and even then didn't know what it was. I had to look it up on Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nettle). Being the point man meant that I basically had to clear a path through the thorn bushes for everyone else. This was pretty brutal and meant a lot of turning back around when I came to bushes that were impassible. It was a pretty brutal night, when I finally got a chance to sit down at the recon post I was pulling thorns out of myself for about an hour. I literally had a thorn in my knee that I found two weeks later.

Through out the night we had some staged enemies. Giant phosfluorscent lights would be shot in to the air and we would have to "call in" their coordinates to the "air force." Which is what we would do in an actual war. That night and the next morning we practiced an encounter in the woods with guerilla forces. The one thing I learned from that experience is that if it ever really happens it is going to get ugly. I think we started the drill with close to 50 soldiers and ended it with something close to 15. There is just no way everyone is gonna make it.

Mobilizing the Airborne Division - pt. 3

The third day we walked most of the day and most of the night. The only upside is that when an entire division is moving, it takes so long that the walking is pretty slow and there are often breaks. After all of our walking, up and down mountains, and then up and down and up again, we stormed a building and called it a night.

The next morning we prepared for the final "mission." We were going 10 km to the top of the highest mountain in the area (something like 1,000 meters above sea level). From there we were supposed to supply information to the rest of the division about where the enemy forces are so that our troops could advance.

As we sat around waiting to begin the hike we were informed that a bus would be coming to take us to our post at the top of the mountain. At first I didn't believe it because this is somewhat unheard of. Then we were told that the mountain is covered with land mines and that there is only one safe way up and down.

Around 11 PM we reached out post at the top of the mountain. We had been prepared to spend the next few hours freezing on the top of the mountain. Personally, I had already come to grips with the idea that I would not be able fall asleep. However, when we reached the top we found an old military outpost. The trenches of which provided welcome relief from the freezing winds. We were tasked with searching for enemy troops so we could warn our forces, so we split up into the pairs we would be working in and started a lookout rotation. Those of us who weren't first began looking for a place to sleep. My partner and I found what I can only describe as a 3 by 3 ft. hole that was about 10 feet deep and lined with concrete (I don't know what it had been used for but I assume storing ammunition and possibly food). When we got there the only thing in there was a big bird nest.

When we it was our turn to look out it was too foggy to see anything, even with our thermal night gear. We spent most of our time shivering and then woke up the next pair. In the morning we packed up our gear and rode back down the mountain. We waited for the rest of the Division to finish their respective "missions" and then there was a ceremony.

(More pictures to come)