Once again it has been a while since my last post. I'll try to summarize everything I've done since the jumps.
We jumped for the fifth and final time on a Sunday and in a very informal ceremony, we received our wings. From there we traveled to our base to get ready for War Week. Sounds kind of scary doesn't it? Well that's exactly how we all felt. We were really nervous. Instead of just a few weeks in the shetach, we were about to do 6 days, including Shabbat. Was this going to be Hell Week #2?
We spent Monday and Tuesday morning getting ready for the week ahead. Late afternoon on Tuesday we walked with all our gear to the area where we once flew in Black Hawks. That is how this week started as well. Once it was dark and it was our turn to fly, about 15 of us were led to a landing spot and within a few minutes, a Black Hawk touched down in a storm of dust in front of us. We ran towards it, jumped in and it took off. We only flew for about 5 minutes and then landed somewhere nobody recognized. Because this was war week, a war simulation, we just landed deep in enemy territory and had to meet up with the other groups and get out of the area before the enemy fires artillery to the place where the helicopter was spotted. If I remember correctly, we walked all night, about 10km to the place where we would do our exercise in the morning. We arrived at the place before first light, so we lay down in "ambush", which when you haven't slept all night, means resting your helmet on your gun and nodding off. Not long after though we woke up, davened and did an exercise as a plugah. When we finished that, we walked about 2km to a shady area to sleep for the day. That is basically what we repeated for the next few days. Walk about 10km. Do a plugah exercise. Sleep, or attempt to fall asleep during the hot part of the day. Do a plugah exercise before dark and repeat it at night. And again and again. It was actually kind of boring, but the lack of sleep was starting to take a toll on us so we started counting down to Shabbat. On Thursday night we did an exercise alongside tanks, but they just shot their machine guns, not the cannons - a little disappointing. Once again we walked all night, but this time to capture the fake arab village from our rivals, the 890 battalion. Unfortunately we didn't use paintball, just empty rounds that make the noise of a bullet but don't shoot. It could have been very cool, but honestly it was a mess. There's no way of knowing who won.
Shabbat was like finding an oasis in the desert. After all, we had been walking for days and would finally be able to sleep like we needed to. This was also the first time we were allowed to take off our vests. Needless to say, all we did was daven, eat, and sleep, a lot. And then on Saturday night we walked to a "mission", where part of the plugah blocked a road and we were supposed to ambush the terrorists. What was supposed to happen was that we would come down from a hill on one side and another machlacka would come from the other side and we would complete the mission. However, they came too early and killed them before we got down. So it didn't go as planned. We walked through the night again but we knew that soon the week would end. On Sunday morning we did another exercise and then we were given time to sleep. But the most unlikely thing happened. It poured for about a half hour. So no sleep. Then helicopters picked us up and we flew back to the place where we started the week. Although the base was visible, it was just a tease. But it wouldn't be long till the week would finally end. After we landed we walked away from the landing spot and rested for a while. Then once it started getting dark we walked to the arab village and did an exercise till the early morning and walked towards the base. Would we be going back there today was the question on everyone's mind. We waited for the light in ambush. The guy beside me actually got stung twice by a scorpion as we were waiting but he's fine. After resting until about noon, we put on all our gear and put on gas masks. This was how we would walk back to the base. As we were walking, gas grenades were thrown at us, but because of the wind and the large spaces between soldiers it didn't affect us. Soon we took off the masks and opened stretchers for the final walk to the base. This time I was on the stretcher. It was only about 3 kilometers to the base but it was the heat of the day. The feeling back on base was one of accomplishment. We had survived war week!!
There was supposed to be a really big festive meal for everyone, but we were called to Chevron to strengthen the area in light of the recent events surrounding the Palestinian state. That weekend was Rosh Hashanah- Wednesday night, Thursday, Friday, and Shabbat. We were disappointed that we weren't going home but we would be protecting small Jewish towns. You sort of walk around a bit, daven at the shul, but you eat the meals at their homes. We were on our way to a town but then the driver turned off the highway near the town and pulled into a base, the same base we were at for Shavuot. We were 5 people and 2 places to guard. In the end, a miluimnik (reserve soldier) helped us out and we guarded 3 on 6 off for those 3 days. Not the most fun. Davening was sometimes done individually as there was hardly a minyan on base and the food really sucked. Instead of hearing Unetaneh Tokef, I was hearing Allah a-u-akbar But often when things are looking pretty down, there is light at the end of the tunnel. For me, that light was a Day of Fun for chayalim bodedim.
As a general rule, when you are told the night before to wake up and stand for the commanders on the dress uniform, you know it's going to be a good day. This time though, we were told to wake up in civilian clothing. Almost unheard of in the army. We boarded buses while the sun was still just below the horizon and drove off to Dor Beach which is in the north. My expectations were high, but I had no idea just how incredible a day the FIDF (Friends of the IDF) had planned for us. This wasn't just a day at the beach. There was tons of great food being served all day. They gave out lots of little gifts like towels and bags. There were massages being given throughout the day. Koby Peretz, a famous Israeli singer gave us a memorable concert. This event was so amazing that even Miss Israel was there for the day. We could use this more often!! Thanks FIDF!!
As training was coming to an end, we had only two masaot left. The one to prepare you for the masa kumta and the masa kumta itself. The preparation one started at about 7pm and once again we did it on the base, which, if the walking doesn't kill you, the boredom will. The pace wasn't too fast and everything up to about 20-25 kilometers felt pretty normal. But after that, your feet just start to sting and there is nothing you can do about it. You just have to continue. A number of times throughout the masa I fell asleep. No, not during the breaks. While walking. That's possible?!? Apparently it is. Even the commanders were sleepwalking. You nod off, walk a few steps, suddenly wake up and try to continue walking while awake. Then it repeats. One time I started sleepwalking and the whole group stopped for a break while I just crashed right into the guy in front of me. This masa was literally neverending. It just went on and on. After 10.5 hours and 48 kilometers, it came to an end. At least we got gun straps with our logo on it at the end. Despite the pain and the major chaffing (sorry), we went to sleep for the day and at about sundown we got on buses and limped home.
Just one more to go!! (which at the time of writing this, I've already done)
