Where Were We?

In the last four weeks, so much has gone on in both of our lives (Yon will catch everyone up soon).  For me, the time has simply flown by.

About three weeks ago, I finished my time at Michve Alon.  The objective of the course was for us foreigners to get used to life in the army- operating on little sleep, waking up early, following orders, etc.  Since the majority of the soldiers in my platoon were volunteers, we didn’t have so much trouble getting used to that part.  The trouble we had at Michve Alon was that, as a preparatory course, it seemed as though they didn’t know what to do with us much of the time.  So we made friends and joked around, then the course was over.  As soon a and we bonded, we were broken up and sent throughout the IDF.

After leaving Michve, we were sent to the recruitment depot (simply known as “bakum”) to find out where we were being sent.  “Finally,” we thought, “we’re going to be starting our training.”  Unfortunately, the IDF does not operate that efficiently.  For two days, I was stuck at the bakum trying to figure out where I was being sent, while most of my friends left the day after we got there.  After two full days of sheer idleness, I was quickly rushed from building to building, grabbing new equipment before getting on the bus for the Nahal Infantry Brigade.

After a week of pre-basic training (trom tironut), we were sent to different battalions throughout the brigade.  From each battalion, we were split down to our individual platoons and squads in order to start basic training.  This week was spent getting used to real army life, which is a lot more strict than the first month of my service.  Some of the Israelis have had a tough time adjusting to the army, which has resulted in the entire unit sprinting or practicing marching in the middle of the night.

One of the highlights of this past week was that we had our first Masa (the technical translation is “hike” or “journey” but it sounds better as Masa).  Throughout basic and advanced training, we will have a number of these hikes culminating in Masa Kumta (The Beret Hike).  The Masa Kumta will be approximately a 70-80km hike.  For obvious reasons, we can’t jump right into hiking those distances.  So this week, we started with a 3km hike with light gear.  Since I’m liked by my platoon sergeant, I was given the honor of carrying the squad’s extra water – a backpack filled with about 30 liters of water.  As heavy as that bag was (30kg or 66lbs), I finished the hike at the same pace and with a bigger smile than most guys in my squad.

So, I’m now with the squad that I will be with for the duration of my training.  We sleep in the same tent, we eat at the same table, we sprint to the same location.  We march together and we got our rifles together.  We’re all training to be part of Battalion 50, Nahal Infantry Brigade.  Below are the battalion and brigade pins I’ll be training to earn.

Nahal Warrior                                 Battalion 50

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