Feeling the competition

This weekend marked the fourth seminar of my garin; a reunion that I have with all the lone soldiers with whom I lived with (and continue to live with) on Kibbutz Ortal. This seminar has been more significant for me than the previous ones, mainly because I have been doing kav Gaza for the last five months, closing nearly a month at a time and, therefore, not seeing some of my friends since the last seminar...

For the last two weeks, I have been based at the Tzanchanim training base, taking part in the preparation for commanders' course. All in all, it has been a fun, but exhausting fortnight, and one where the outcome is still to be decided, as tomorrow I will know whether or not I will be going to commanders' course. In all honesty, it is unlikely that I will be going to 'makim' (commanders' course). As my mum said, I have said this sort of stuff before, for example after the tzanchanim gibush, but this time it is definitely different. I have been sent to the preparation for makim, on a conditional basis, i.e. if anyone else screws up, I would be taking their place. On top of this, I'm fairly 'vatik' (veteran) compared to the rest of the people there, and it is the norm to send people to makim as early as possible in their service. The only way for me to have any chance of going, is if my grades from the last two weeks (a combination of scores from the fitness test, navigations, shooting and, most importantly, a written test on just about everything connected to the army) are exceptional, which I can tell you now, are not that great. Whatever happens, it has been a great experience in this preparation and has given me an idea of the competition and professionalism that is vital in becoming qualified to be a 'mefaked' (commander).

Mucking around on the radio with my lone soldier friend from Canada, just before a navigation starts.

As I said, I actually had a fun couple of weeks in the army, mainly due to (as it always is) the people I was with. I was in a class with 12 other guys, all from tzanchanim, who had all been sent to the preparation course with the intention of them becoming commanders once they have finished the course. It was a real mix of guys; there were soldiers from all the batallions of tzanchanim (101, 202 and 890) and from a range of different draft dates, from November '09 (yours truly) to the very 'fresh' August '10, who received their red berets a mere fortnight ago. I made quick friendsips with a lot of them and, as it always seems to happen since I'm that lone soldier from London who is always speaking English, I became known by everyone in the course. Being one of the oldest ones there, meant that I was able to strutt my 'pazam' (time done in the army) around and use it to my advantage, sort of like how schoolkids do to those in younger years! This was definitely a new experience for me, especially since in the gdud, we are youngest draft and are constantly made to realise it through things like kitchen duty. Apart from the fun of being amongst the older soldiers there (by the way, 'older' doesn't necessarily mean age in the army, as not everyone drafts when they are 18, due to various different reasons, for example I am actually older than my officer in the gdud!!!), it was also cool to tell these guys stories from gaza and what it is like be in the gdud and do something real, as opposed to training. The guys I'm with are all real stars and it just shows the level of quality that those who go to makim, normally have.

Quickly going over the route of the next navigation.


It was not all fun and games though. For the first week we did navigation, which I had done only about month ago. In that sense it was good, since I was one step ahead everyone else (the whole course is rather competetive) and my navigations were all successful. However, I am now a bit sick of navigation in general, despite it being one of the most enjoyable and rewarding things in the army, and especially sick of carrying that f***ing 15kg radio on my back over hills upon hills, for 12km every night! The second week consisted of lessons from morning 'till night, on all the material we learn about as a soldier and as a commander. For me of course, this is twice as hard, not only to concentrate in Hebrew in a classroom for 13 hours a day, but also because the language itself is not your usual street-slang, which I can half-handle, instead it's technical words that even the Israelis were struggling with! Being back at the Tzanchanim training base and having long, full days, felt like I was back in basic training, which made me realise how much I miss the 'old days' and that even when I was being forced to stand on time and was being discplined in every aspect possible, I was and always have had a cracking time in the army. I am, without a doubt, a big 'mor'al' (someone who loves the army), which is normally used in an insulting way, but I don't care!!!

That's what a week of navigation does to you...


Everything was made so much sweeter by the fact that football results have gone my way in the last couple of weeks. I saw Arsenal drop out of three competitions, while my team, Tottenham, have made it through to the quarter-finals of the Champions League for the first time ever. The whole course definitely knew about this information as I have not stopped talking about it for the last week and that when everyone was in the classrooms during personal revision time, I was in the tuck shop watching the Spurs game on television! To top everything off, it has also been an amazing weekend here with my garin. It's so fantastic to spend some time with the guys who I still consider my first real family here in Israel and we had a good laugh this weekend in the North.

Garin Bazelet - a year and a half since we made aliyah!


So tomorrow is D-Day for me. Either I get accepted into commanders' course or I return to my company on the kav. I think I have made myself clear as to how much I want to go to 'makim' but I know that there is a high possibility that it won't happen and I need to be prepared for that. I am probably closing next weekend whatever happens, so happy Purim to you all, try not to get too drunk!!!

Sgt. Sank

What a crazy couple days I have had; all leading to me sitting back here in my room in my kibbutz, Ortal, at the start of ANOTHER regila! Yes, that's right, despite only going back to the army on Thursday, following a week's long 'regila' (holiday from the army for kravi soldiers), I was in the army approximately 48 hours before I was sent on another week's holiday!!! I will explain, as we go along...

First of all, let's start with the 'regila' that I just had, it really was a great one. I managed to see all my friends; both from my garin and guys from the platoon, as well as spending some time on the kibbutz. The highlight of the regila was probably the incredible football match where Spurs beat Milan away in the Champions League, but in general, it was a nice break from the army and I relaxed in the days and partied pretty hard in the nights. Right in the middle of my regila, I was called by the army to go to this special event in Jerusalem. The tzanchanim brigade sent a small group of soldiers (mainly officers), supposedly the "best of the brigade", to a boarding school near Jerusalem where we talked to students about their upcoming draft and how important it is to do a meaningful army service. I was obviously picked to go because of my story and when I introduced myself to all the students as a "lone soldier from London", the spotlight was immediately upon me and they were all asking the usual questions. As much as I was annoyed to give up a day of my holiday, it was definitely a worthy cause and a highly enjoyable experience to be with all these high ranking officers; including the commander of the whole brigade and the commmander of the training base, the latter of whom I am now on first name terms with!!!

Watching the Spurs game on the kibbutz - pure pride.

Another thing that happened recently was my change of ranks. I went from being a 'rabat' (corporal) to a 'samal' (sergeant). My rank changed because of the amount of time I have been in the army; all boys become sergeants after completing a year and four months of their service. So although I haven't actually done something to achieve this increase of rank, it does mean that I get to put the three stripes (which represents being a 'samal') on my aleph uniform, the uniform I wear when travelling to/from the army and for formal events. I found out, after reading about it on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sergeant#Israel, that becoming a 'samal' also activates a 1.8 shekel increase in my army wage!! Putting the three stripes on my uniform is a very clear sign of being relatively veteran in the army and since I started my service before the rest of my army friends from November '09 draft (due to the fact that Garin Tzabar participants draft together in October), I am the only one in my platoon, apart from the commanders naturally, who has the priveledge of being a 'samal'!

Showing off my stripes!!!

As I do for every blog, I write down on my iPhone a brief outline of what I will write about in the upcoming post, as it is quite hard to rememeber exactly what happes over a period of seventeen days. Well, I had written a specific topic that I wanted to talk about in this blog but, as things turn out, ironically, it has become even more topical. I was going to talk about one particular thing that has been slowly annoying me in my army service. That thing is how it seems that every time I make a good friend in the army, he ends up leaving me and going to commanders' course. This happened a number of times already; with guys from both my original class on the training base and those who are with my now in the battalion, going off to commanders' course. I was never bothered about not going to 'makim' (commanders' course) as I was never much of a model soldier; staying behind to clean up or volunteering to do stuff was never really my style. I was kind of lazy and was happy to be a 'hapash' (simple soldier i.e. not a commander) for the whole of my service, as I have been very comfortable in the battalion and on the 'kav'. However (I think you can see what's coming here), the night before I went back to the army following my regila, my officer called me to tell me that I was going to 'makim'...

A couple of the guys from the 'erev mahlaka' (platoon evening) that we had on the regila. I had to say goodbye to them, as I left to 'makim' :(

For me this is a massive deal. As I said, I was never keen on going to 'makim'; content on staying a 'hapash' until the end as I have enjoyed being with my platoon and company so much. Another reason why 'makim' didn't suit me was that going to the course would mean giving up on a lot of the lone soldier rights that I take excellent advantage of, for example, taking two weeks off at Pesach when my parents come, is going to be highly unlikely if I am on the course, since every day is supposedly vital in becoming qualified. However, since being told that I would be going to 'makim', I have realised that it is an amazing opportunity and now I am desperate to go for a number of reasons. Firstly, it's another of the many experiences that I have thrived on doing throughout my whole army service; doing a three month course with guys from all the other infantry brigades (golani, givati etc) and learning how to be a commander is a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. It is also great for your C.V. once you leave the army; to say that you were a 'kravi' (combat) soldier in tzanchanim and completed commanders' course is surely a good way to sell oneself. The more that I have convinced myself that I would never go to 'makim', makes it even sweeter that I have actually been chosen and recommended by my own commanders and it gives more determination to go to the course and really try and do well. I can't tell you enough how happy I am to have been asked and, despite being slightly skeptical at first, am now 100% focused on doing this. However, nothing is definite yet, I am first doing three weeks of prepartion for 'makim' (hence, the reason for the regila) and only after the preparation, will I be evaluated if I am suitable to go to the course. Over the next couple of weeks, I will explain in more depth the procedure of this preparation, as well as what going to 'makim' means, in terms, of the rest of my service.

I am literally over the moon about the whole 'makim' thing and now just hope that everything goes well and I end up going to the course in around a months' time. So, I'm now on another regila (!) and plan to do pretty much the same as what I did in the last one. I will be sure to write another blog after the end of the first week of the preparation for 'makim' and will let you know about what happens...

Mr Navigator

Today is the first day of my week long 'regila', a not-often-enough holiday given to combat soldiers. It's a well-earned break from the four continous months of 'kav' Gaza that tzanchanim have completed so far, although for me personally, it is like a second holiday, following the two weeks off I had with my parents recently.

The 'sho'alim' (wolves) that is my platoon.


The '17' just gone was another really good one, mainly because I managed to go home for a weekend in the middle, as part of an extended day off to sort things out on the kibbutz. It all started with this special navigation course that I was sent to, which was done with the elite paratrooper unit. At first, despite being very interesting, I just couldn't understand the whole navigation thing. Learning about topography and reading maps is not really strength of mine, but by the middle of the week I had slowly started to get it and was succeeding in the navigations. For the final exercise, we had a 12km night navigation without maps (!) and without instructors. My partner managed to get us lost for three hours in his part of the route, but I succeeded in finding all the checkpoints in my half of the navigation (albeit by luckily stumbily onto one of them) and I was able to memorize my 6km half of the route; including distances, directions and a detailed description of the surroundings. By the end of the week I had been converted to actually enjoying it all and the thrill of being in the 'shetach' (open land) alone at night with just a compass and your memory to find your way, was rather exciting. Did I forget to mention the 12kg radio that I carried on my back the whole week because my partner is more of a veteran in the army than me by a mere four months? O ye, that bit was kind of hellish. Anyway, I can now say that I am able to navigate, a skill only taught to the upper echelons of the army; like officers and elite units.

Carrying food as part of company duties in the pouring rain - but still smiling!!!



For the navigation course, we were mainly based at the paratroopers' training base, where I was situated for the first eight months of my service; completing both basic and advanced training there. Going back there was such a fun experience; watching all the 'tironim' (soldiers in basic training) running around, standing for attention and getting punished is always fun once you know that you have "been there and done that". Walking around with the red beret is also a great feeling and made me feel very veteran, as the 'kumta' (beret) is like the Holy Grail for soldiers still on that base, a right that only those who have finished the dreaded masa have. So walking around the base made us feel pretty good about ourselves and reminded me what a long time has passed since it was me standing in line outside the dining room before entering for every meal. Being back on the base also meant meeting up with friends who are now commanders themselves, which is surreal to think how they were once doing press ups with me as punishment but are now the ones punishing their own soldiers with press ups!!!


One of the funniest moments of the 'kav' so far - the patrol car getting stuck in the mud!!!



Despite all the trouble going on in Egypt at the moment, the border with Gaza has, thankfully, been pretty quiet. Nonetheless, I did manage to fire my gun over the border for the first time, albeit warning shots, which was really cool. Also, I met the regiment commander, an extremely high ranking officer, who came to visit us on base. He actually took my place on the patrol, in order to check it all out, so me and him swapped places, in a kind of football-style substitution. It was a ridiculous situation; an officer with 40 more years of army experience and 9 ranks above me (he's a general - two ranks away from chief of staff - compared to my lowly rank of corporal) coming to switch me! I decided against giving him a slap on the back and wishing him "good luck"!! These two events from the latest '17' gave me a realization of the journey I have taken. Looking at where I am now and what I've done (in this last fortnight alone) just shows how unbelievable it all is. To think about what I would worry about two years ago; whether it be to finish an essay on time or stressing about a weekend arrangement and comparing it to what I have to deal with now, not just the whole Gaza thing, but living out here on my own as a lone soldier. Looking at what I'm doing now in comparison to my old life or to my friends in university is a point that I continue to bring up on the blog, thus showing its importasnce to me and something I am extremely proud of.

My new 'kat' (butt) for my gun, which adds to the bling that everyone desires...


As much as I was looking forward to my regila this week, I could definitely tell that my Israeli friends were much more excited than me, which made me realize something. As much as I love my kibbutz, I still don't have that true "home" feeling in Israel i.e. a place I can relate to, like my home in London. This doesn't mean I am unhappy in Israel, as you know that isn't true, it's just that spending my weekends living out of a bag is sometimes very frustrating. I have come to realize that I will only have that "homey" feeling once I have a place of my own out here, which will probably be once I have been released from the army. This living out of a bag and travelling long distances at weekends is simply part of the army experience and something I have got used to. So while my Israeli mates were looking forward to a week of waking up every morning at home, like being on half term from school, for me, it's more like an extended weekend. Saying this, I do love my weekends and am obviously happy to spend a week seeing friends, spending time with my girlfriend and being out of uniform!!!

The company's goldfishes!!!


Got to go now and enjoy my week of freedom! Will be sure to post another blog at the end of the next seventeen...

A near cycling nightmare

I'm starting to get a bit sick of the whole 17:4 thing, not that I was ever enjoying being home for only once a month, however, at the start of 'kav' it was a kind of new and interesting experience. The novelty has since worn off though, and despite never being happier in the army than I am now, I am ready to finish the 'kav' and start getting out of the army more than four days every month.

Coming back to the army after my two week holiday with my parents over the new year period was actually a lot easier than I had thought it would be. I received a warm welcome back from all my friends and commanders alike, which really meant a lot to me and shows that my newly formed friendships have really stuck. I didn't have much time to settle in though, because within half an hour of coming back I was already cleaning toilets as part of company duties!!!

Posing on base with my dog tags worn in the opposite direction - a sign showing I am halfway through my service!!!

The main thing that happened in this latest '17' was a very serious incident that occurred on the first Shabbat. Once again, I am not overstepping any boundaries here, mainly because this incident was so serious that it was well publicised worldwide, and I even got many facebook messages from friends back home, checking to see if I was OK. Two Friday nights ago, during an incident on the border, Nadav Rotenberg, a soldier from battalion 202, was killed. The fact that an Israeli soldier was killed is obviously a massive deal and it affected everyone immensely on base, and in Israel, in general. Without going into details of what exactly happened, I think it's vitally important to mention how terrible it is that a young boy has lost his life in the defence of our country and in the fight against those who want to destroy it. While some people will talk about the consequences of his death and what it means for the future of the current (relatively) peaceful border with Gaza, I think it's better to focus on what it means for his friends and family. The funeral, no doubt, was filled with many tzanchanim who served with him, who then went back to 'kav' with one man less. While the shivah has long since finished and his parents are slowly getting used to life without their son. It angers me to think that Israeli parents are still losing their sons, aged young as 19 and 20, all because there are those who can't accept that all we want is a land of our own. I never like this blog to be a political rant but sometimes I need to get across what I'm thinking.

Eating pizza with friends on base.

It was very difficult to explain to my mum (and now to you) why, despite that great tragedy, things carried on like normal almost immediately. Israel remembers and commemorates those who have passed away in the long struggle for our cause better than any other country in the world. I can give you countless examples of how I have personally experienced this since being in Israel; like how the army sends soldiers to the memorial days of every single soldier who has fallen in service, or the extreme solemness that is Holocaust memorial day. However, despite all this intense remembrance, Israel has developed a culture, whereby people are almost immune to tragedy, thus, explaining the 'tough' Israeli. This may because the suffering and tragedy of Jews has been common throughout history and, consequently, we have tragically become used to it. Or, which is what I think, the constant threat of our neighbours means that we are unable to stop for a minute and be sad, as the work of securing our borders safely for the citizens of Israel can never stop. This explains how even after everything that happened on that Friday night; on base, things just carried on like normal.

My Tottenham towel proudly hangs in my room on base.

It's hard to move away from a subject like that, but the '17', like I said, carried on as normal. In fact, it was one of the best 17s I have had so far, partly because I only did one full day of company duties and not one day in the kitchen!!! The day before we went home, we were scheduled to have a fun, bike ride for all the platoon. For those of you who don't know, for some reason I have never successfully learnt how to ride a bicycle and I then had to embarrassingly explain this in front of my whole platoon. My platoon commander said "it'll be fine", a common response in the army to any sort of problem, however, by the end of the day the whole company knew of my incapability to ride a bike, and I even had the deputy company commander offering to teach me!!! In the end, the bike ride got cancelled and we played football instead, so I got away with it...

I am back in the army on Sunday; the reason why my four days home has been cut down to three is rather interesting though. I have been chosen to do a special course of navigation, with elite paratroopers. The reason why I am doing this is because my platoon commander wants me to be his spearhead sharpshooter (even I have to admit how cool that sounds), so it should be a very interesting week. Until next time...

Touching the Wall

Today I said another goodbye to both my parents and grandparents. As hard as it was to leave my parents once again, in comparison to previous farewells we actually coped fairly well. Knowing that I will see them again in 16 weeks, when they come out here for Pesach, encourages me a lot and will give me something to look forward to. I am now organising my things back on my kibbutz, as I return to Gaza tomorrow and start another 17...

What an amazing holiday I have just had. For the past fortnight I was with my family in Tel Aviv and I definitely took full advantage of my two weeks away from the 'kav'; staying in a hotel and going out every night is a stark contrast to kitchen duty! After not seeing my close family since the summer when I was back home, it was obviously really incredible to spend such a long period of time with them and we really used the time well to catch up and just enjoy being with each other. In addition to all the quality family time, I also partied very hard and have definitely exceeded my alcohol and food intake levels for the entire year!! Unusually, this time off felt more like a holiday from the army than my month back in London did! I think this is because by being in Tel Aviv with my family, I still felt relatively close to the army; seeing soldiers on the street, speaking to army friends on the phone and reading things about Gaza in the news, however, I still was most definitely on holiday. Even though I feel a bit depressed about leaving my family and how it is going to be extremely hard to get back into the routine of the army and of 'kav', it was all so worth it and I have truly had the best two weeks for a long, long time.

Tucking into one of the many steaks that I ate!!!

It was definitely a holiday to remember. I saw everyone I wanted to see; from friends I have in Tel Aviv to others who had played a big part in my aliyah experience. It was also great to be back with my daddy, who I have a special relationship with. Making him laugh by telling him funny stories from the army and explaining to him the complexities of the army culture, like the differences between all the units, certainly made this holiday enjoyable for him. While in Tel Aviv, I realised that, when seeing soldiers walking home on a midweek night that I could never be a jobnik. I have nothing against jobniks (non-combat soldiers) as every role in the army is vital and when one fails, the whole army would fail. However, maybe it's because I am a lone soldier, but I would never dream of giving up my place as a combat soldier. Even though we have it the hardest; forget the physical stuff, I'm talking about not going home, having bad conditions and not sleeping, we are the ones who are strong enough to deal with that lifestyle and still carry on and continue giving to this country. During this holiday, I also experienced that zionistic inspiration that always reminds me why I am here. On one instance, I was walking down Ben-Yehuda, a prominent street in Tel Aviv, when I was asked to help make a minyan for the evening prayer service. I decided to say yes and I ended up praying like I havent done in years and that is what Israel is all about; not the religious aspect (although I do think that's important) but the fact that everyone is Jewish.

Meeting up with cousins.

While I was on holiday, a new year started, 2011, and it made me think back to the year that has just passed me. For me, 2010, was obviously all about the army and was my first full year in my service. From January to December I was an enlisted soldier and, despite having many weekends off and some special lone soldier holidays, I was in the army for days on end. Looking back, it all started with a swearing-in ceremony at the Kotel, where I proudly stood in front of my parents and grandparents and pronounced my loyalty to the Israeli army and the state of Israel. Training continued into the early months of the year, which was filled by weeks in the shetach, a couple of interesting weekends in Hebron, a memorable helicopter ride and my training as a sharpshooter. Around the time when basic training finished, my parents came for Pesach and I once again spent time with them in Tel Aviv. Following Pesach, I started advanced training and the hard, exhausting and endless weeks of shetach continued. There was a two-week break from all the shetach, when we completed jump school, parachuted five times and received wings for our uniform. The end of advanced training came close and our last week of shetach, war week, concluded our time on the Paratroopers' training base. Then came the masa kumta, one of the hardest physical challenges of my life, let alone the year, and I finally received my red beret! My parents surprising me at the tekes was by far the best moment of the year and something I will never ever forget. I had two months of training in the Golan heights, before I went home for a month, the first and only time I have been back since making aliyah. Following the temporary depression of coming back to Israel, I finished my 'maslool' and received my fighter's pin (from my legendary platoon commander). Since, I joined a new platoon and a new company in the battalion, and for the rest of the year I started and am currently doing 'kav' Gaza.

With my papa at the kotel.

Wow, that was breathless! I have definitely achieved a lot, as well as experiencing things I would never have dreamed of doing if I hadn't taken this amazing journey. Reminiscing about 2010 really does show how much I actually have done in a year and this is only regarding my army service, I haven't even mentioned the countless weekends with my garin, where we blowed of some much needed steam from the army. It has been a long year, thinking about that swearing-in ceremony in Jerusalem seems a very long time ago and to think how much I have advanced as a soldier, both in terms of training, experience and qualification (and how much better my uniform looks now, with all the pins and the beret) is astonishing. Now to 2011, my last full year of being in the army. The length and difficulty of the previous year does make me worried that this year, a year of multiple 'kavs', will be even harder. Although nothing will ever compare to the difficulty of masaot and things like that, this year will probably be harder because of being home less and putting in more hours so to speak. On January the 13th, a weeks time, I will be "touching the wall", which means I have completed exactly half of my service. That is hard to swallow as it is scary to think how I've got to do it all over again...

So I am back to routine tomorrow and starting another 17. As much as it will be hard to go back because of my time off, I am excited to see my friends again and get back into the thick of things. On my next exit, I'll write another blog, updating you on everything that happens in this '17'. I do hope this blog continues to interest and inspire those of you who read it and I do really appreciate all the feedback that you give. A happy and healthy new year to you all...

Braving the weather

After completing twenty consecutive days in the army (instead of the usual seventeen; I'll explain later), I can finally look forward to spending a little over two weeks with my parents and grandparents in Tel Aviv, over the New Year period.

As I just mentioned, we just did a '20', rather than a '17', the reasons of which I'll get on to later on in the blog. Twenty days. That's the longest amount of time I've ever spent in the army without going home and it definitely felt like it, especially since we spent three consecutive weekends on base. Despite only being on base three more days than what we normally have to endure, the difference was undoubtedly noticeable; mainly because of the extra Shabbat on base. Looking back to the start of '20' feels like reminiscing on years gone by, but here goes...

The '20' started with a trip to the Palmach museum, which is dedicated to the memory of those who fought and gave their lives while fighting for the pre-IDF, pre-1948, 'army' of the Jewish people in Israel. Speaking to a surviving soldier of the Palmach, now an old man, really put things into perspective for us young soldiers, as well as reminding me what an incredible miracle it was for Israel to survive its early years. The first night on base after being home (normally a very depressing time) turned out to be a really great evening, as there was a live showing of El Classico, the football match between Barcelona and Real Madrid, on a projector screen in the company area. For Barca-mad Israelis, this game was a must-see and I thought it was simply amazing to think how a whole fighting company from the paratroopers' brigade had gathered round to watch the match, with the Gazan border 'just around the corner'. Even those who returned from a patrol mid-match, immediately sat down and joined in with everyone else, despite being all geared in combat vests and helmets!!!

The last night of the '20'; going home celebrations.

Closing twenty days is such a long time that I have almost forgotten how Chanukah came and went during the time I was on base. Initially, I was annoyed to be closing for the whole of Chanukah, since it is one of my more favoured Jewish festivals, but I soon learnt that there aren't many more better places to celebrate Chanukah than in the army. Nearly every night, groups of religious guys would come to the company to light candles with us, say the prayers and give us doughnuts. Wow, did we eat doughnuts alright. I'm surprised I haven't been diagnosed with some kind of stomach disease after this '20', I must have averaged around 5 or 6 doughnuts a day! Seriously though, Chanukah felt very meaningful in the army and there were some special events arranged during the festival, like the company-Chanukah-steak-night-thing, where we also recieved some brand new fleeces. The big night, however, was first night Chanukah, as the whole gdud (batallion) came together to light the candles. The real reason for the big effort, however, was the visiting guest who came especially to light the candles, the defence minister, Ehud Barak. Obviously, I was intrigued to see him in person and honoured to meet someone who has contributed a lot to Israel. My Israeli friends, on the other hand, found it weird that I was excited to see and hear from a politican, typical Israelis. However, my excitement soon turned to disappointment as some of us were jumped to the border to deal with an incident and I missed seeing him completely. That's just the way it goes sometimes in the army. Whether it's missing a friend's birthday because you're closing shabbat or missing out croissants in the dining room because you're gurading; you just get used to it. By the way, the race to eat the limited number of croissants served at breakfast, if you happen to be awake or even on base, has now become part of our daily routine!!!

Even when on kitch duty, I still celebrated Chanukah. Here in the dining room, the Chanukiah proudly stands over the yoghurts!

The biggest thing that happened during this '20' was, without a doubt, an incident on the border last Saturday night. It was such a big deal that it quickly became news on the television the very same night and in all the newspapers the next day. Now I'm not overstepping borders of what I'm forbidden to say on the blog, as the incident has been made public, however, there are some (even major) details that have been held back, of which I won't be delving into. Those of you who regularly keep up to date with news in Israel will probably have heard about what happened, but for those who didn't, I'll briefly explain. The sighting of two terrorists near the border was followed by those terrorists being killed, as well as one of our soldiers, a tzanchan from batallion 202, being shot and wounded. Although I wasn't directly involved in the incident, I did happen to be there when it all happened and pretty much saw everything. A soldier getting shot is a rare occurance, in comparison to the more common killings of terrorists, so this just elevated the whole event. Afterwards, my platoon area became a mad-house of telephone calls from worried parents who had seen on the news the headline, "paratroopper shot in Northern Gaza". I contacted those close to me in Israel, who had heard something and were, consequently, alarmed for my safety. Hearing about a thing like that is the constant nightmare that Israeli parents (of sons in kravi) go through on a regular basis and is the day they dread for the most, bar none. Unfortunately, for one set of parents that nightmare became a reality last saturday night. The soldier, thankfully, is in a stable condition. My parents had not heard about it until I told them, which I was happy about. I would not want to think about how my parents would have felt if they had read that on the news. I just want to wish the young soldier, who happens to be a friend of a friend, a full and speedy recovery.

Posing as a pilot!

I don't want to end the blog on a sad note, so I want to talk about another thing that I will remember this '20' for; the blistering cold. Subsequently, the reason why we closed an extra three days was because of the weather and beacuse of the incident. Before I even start, I know it doesn't compare to those of you in London who have been quarantined by the snow lately, this is a rare instant where conditions back home seem favourable to those in the army! Nevertheless, it is so very cold in Gaza, especially at night. For us soldiers, careful planning must be taken, in order to tackle the problem of a mid-night guard duty in the freezing temperatures. For me personally, minimum dresswear is an initial level of thermal vest and longjohns, followed by uniform, a fleece and the almighty snowsuit. This is then complimented by a second pair of socks, woolly hat, neckwarmer and gloves. Despite that mountain of clothes, I was still freezing every night!!!

Braving the cold (in the snowsuit) and the rain (in the waterproof jacket).

I definitely feel that I've deserved this upcoming break, in terms of the recent time and work I've put into the army. I'm obviously really excited to see my family, who I haven't seen since being back home in the summer, which feels like an age ago. Also, I'm craving a break from the kav lifestyle, meaning that I can look forward to sleeping more than three hours a night, going to bed without wearing boots and eating three meals a day with cutlery while sitting at a table. I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year, I know that being in Tel Aviv for a fortnight with friends and family will mean I'll have a good one...

New boots and a first degree burn...

I'm once again at the end of another 17:4 and am back in Ortal, before I return to the army tomorrow to start it all over again. It was another regular '17', packed with interesting episodes of which I will describe in this blog. Also, I had a simply fantastic weekend in Tel Aviv, releasing all the steam that built up during the 17, by going out with all my friends. I'm now relaxing on the kibbutz, sorting out stuff for the next 17, like packing my bag and downloading movies for my iphone.

During the 17 just passed, I really experienced, for the first time, 'action', as they call it, and first-hand accounts of and personal participation in real security work being done on our border with Gaza. Describing to you in detail some of the crazy stuff that happened is obviously going way beyond what I can talk about as part of the security protocol, but, using my own judgement, I can hint at what sort of things I was involved with, in this last 17. All I'm going to say is that, relatively speaking the border with Gaza is considerably quiet and that the IDF is fully in control of protecting the civilians on our side, yet, incidents do still happen and, being a 'lohem' (fighter) on the 'kav' does mean that I am heavily involved in preventing and dealing with these incidents. One particular incident will forever stay in my mind as it was my first piece of real action and my first live contact with those on the other side of the border. Without talking about what is forbidden by the army intelligence, I will say that I was involved in a sort of "chase and catch" experience, which was definitely the real deal. This all sounds so surreal and I know that I have said many a times before that "I can't believe that me, this North London mummy's boy, is doing all this stuff" but now it has been taken to a new level! When all this action was going on and I was really in the thick of it, I have to admit that it wasn't thoughts of heroic zionism and powerful determination to defend the country that was going through my mind, I was, instead, a little scared and nervous about what was going to happen. Saying this though, the adrenalin was insane and I did enjoy the whole experience, in terms of finally doing something real and meaningful that effectively contributed to defending our country.

Grenades. Enough said.


Life on 'kav' is somewhat enjoyable. Despite the ongoing notion of being a 'toran' (duties, like kitchen and cleaning), which are very annoying, and substantial lack of sleep (I'm averaging about 20-25 hours of sleep a week, no exaggeration!!!), despite all that, I'm having a ball. Playing playstation and watching movies with the guys in my platoon in our surprisingly extensive free time, is all the more fun since we're in the army. These guys are really becoming very close friends (as are the commanders, especially my legendary MM), especially when you can consider that I'm with them for the best part of a month for 24/7 and am experiencing with them this 'kav'. So life in the army, is pretty much better than ever before, I think the fact that there is no shetach or physical challenges improve the morale! Personally, there are also the little things, which give me a morale boost, and help to making an epic 17 day period more bearable, for example, my football team Tottenham's wonderful recent form (I could spend a whole blog on this subject and how when receiving the news about the Arsenal result while on guard duty, a response team was almost sent out to investigate the source of screaming and shouting at the guard tower!!!).

My platoon.


The best bit of the 17 was wihtout doubt when I managed to see my mum, who was here for a week as part of a work trip. Since my parents surprised me at my tekes kumta, I decided to take a little revenge and, after explaining to my mum how there was no way I could take a night off from the army, I turned up at her hotel lobby and got the expected tears! I managed to spend a lovely evening with my mum and ten women from England, to who she was showing Israel and the projects of the charity (United Jewish Israel Appeal of Britain) where she works, in order to raise more money for the Galil region. Although just a short reunion, it was a much needed meet-up, since it was the first time I'd seen my mum since I've been home. Luckily, I won't have to wait much longer, as my parents and grandparents are coming to Israel over the New Year period to see me, and my two weeks holiday to be with them has already been approved by the army. A less-so enjoyable moment in the past month was when I got burnt on my arm from an oven door, while doing kitchen duty. The fact that I will have a scar on my arm from my army service is not a problem, the fact that it is from kitchen duty, instead of something more meaningful is what really got me angry.


Me with my mum (whose arm is around me) and the rest of the women on the trip.


This wednesday was the 1st year 'pazamoledet' (draft anniversary) of the Nov '09 draft, meaning that we have been in the army for a year now, I have actually been a soldier for a little longer due to the Garin Tzabar programme, but November 25th 2009 was the day I received my uniform and went to the tzanchanim training base. A year in the army... wow, how time can fly and yet, I've done so much, I don't want to do a blog reminiscing about all I've been through, as I've done that before, however, it is definitely worth mentioning that I've spent the past year of my life as a soldier. For the rest of my platoon, it was a celebratory night, they'd got through a third of their service, however, the celebration quickly turned to depression as they came to terms with the fact that two years still remain. One needs to understand that as much as the majority of Israelis are happy to give and contribute their part towards the country (this is apparant mainly in 'kravi' and, especially in Tzanchanim, as they are both voluntarily conditioned) the army is still a massive chore; a three-year pause to an Israeli's teenage life, instead of enjoying the supposed best years of your life, they are subject to three years of restricted freedom, being away from home and tough times. This explains why, as much as we (yes, me included) can enjoy our time in the army and understand the importance of what we are doing, we also cannot wait 'till its finished and we can get back to being free!!!

Our 1st year 'pazamoledet', also means that Nov '10 drafted and our sons (children equals a draft a year below you, grandchildren two years!) have finally joined the army. I wish good luck to all those who just joined the army; those in Garin Tzabar, to you Robin and those coming to tzanchanim. I both envy you (because I know what a fantastic year I've had) and am pleased to be where I am now. This week, for the first time, since joining the army, I changed my army boots; giving in my old, worn ones and receiving a new, hard, uncomfortable pair. I was very reluctant to give in my old pair, mainly because of its nostalgia. In those boots I did everything; the gibush for elite tzanchanim, jumped out of plane with them, walked in them for hundreds and hundreds of kilometres including my masa kumta and slept in them for hours and hours. The new boots are very hard and uncomfortable, and wearing them in will take time; one popular method of speeding that process up is to drive over them with a car!! Also, I just wanted to mention how in the IDF olympic games this week, which of the infantry brigades finished in first place... tzanchanim!!

The new boots - not a sratch on them.


That's about all my news from this past month. I've got something coming up next week, where I am being filmed on television because of my personal story, with the blog definitely being an apsect of that. In fact my blog has become quite known in the army and in my company, I remember how the company radio man wanted me to post his mobile phone number on the blog as a way of getting American or English girls! It's another regular 17 on the horizon, once I'm back from that I will write another blog of course...