Every lone soldier in Tzahal is entitled to take a month break once a year. The first of these trips is paid for by a sponsor who donated money to the FIDF. So for that reason, I am writing this post from my hometown of Toronto where I am spending the month with my family and friends. <br></p>
<p>Two months ago, not only was I excited about going home, but things on our training base were winding down. We started to give back the equipment that belonged to the base and clean our plugah building so it would be spotless for the November draft. Everyone who had not yet completed the killer obstacle course, including me, was given another chance, which this time was successful. Because of the holiday of Sukkot, we didn't spend much time on base in the final weeks of our training. We also spent about a day and a half on another base to learn about some of the types of missions we would be doing after training. It wasn't really that useful. All of that stuff could have been done on our own base. I imagine a lot of it will be on-the-job training. <br></p>
<p>Where do you go after training? As you know, I have been a part of the 202nd Airborne Battalion. But until you finish the training, you're not 100% part of the battalion. A few weeks before the final masa, some people traded their guns from the base for the guns owned by 202. Guys who had regular guns didn't trade. Only sharpshooters, grenade launchers, and machine gunners traded. I had a regular M-16 and expected to hold onto my gun until the switch later. But then something totally unexpected happened. Remember the sharpshooter training, where two guys in my kitah got the job and I didn't? Well now it was their turn to be disappointed because I became the one and only sharpshooter in the kitah, until at least, some more guns come in. My commander even told me that I had had excellent shooting results in that week of training. This whole thing was a nice surprise not only because I enjoy being a sharpshooter, but because it allows me to walk around with a really cool gun. I know it sounds a bit barbaric, but in the IDF soldiers show off by having enhanced parts and accessories on their guns. In army slang, that's called wassach.<br></p>
<p>Now that we had finished everything we had to do in training, it was time for the most dreaded but also the most rewarding event of all: the masa kumta. This would be our last march. I remember at the very beginning of basic training we had our first masa of 4km. Man was it hard!! 45 minutes long!! Compare that to the masa kumta which is 15 hours long. Sure, the pace is lowered, but not by much. We set out from our base in buses towards the Beit Shemesh area. I'm not exactly sure where we started from but it was in that area. Our destination? Ammunition Hill in Jerusalem. In a car, that route is about 35 kilometers. Our masa was 60 so we took a major detour. The terrain of the route was very hilly, either on a road, a walking trail, or rocky hiking trails. Jerusalem is built on a mountain of sorts so their were a lot of ascents. We usually took breaks every hour for 10 minutes but we were forbidden from sitting. If we did, there was a chance our muscles would seize up. Not long into the hike my right achilles tendon started to hurt. It felt like my boot was digging into it every step I took. I tried to push through the pain for a few hours, but there was no way I could continue like this for 10 more hours! I took my boot off and tied an extra sock I brought around it to separate the boot from my foot. It didn't totally ease the pain, but it would get me through the masa. Because I was now limping, I guess I favored my left foot and sprained it. It still hurts to walk on it.</p>
<p>Everyone took lots of snacks to help pass the time but it was mostly pretty boring. They also put out meals for us to eat along the way. At least we weren't on the base. After about 10 hours of walking and limping we caught a glimpse of the lights of Jerusalem. I couldn't believe it! There were still another few hours of walking, but it was within reach. We were almost there. Just as the sun was peeking from the horizon, we opened the stretchers and loaded them up with the water packs we carry. We are used to carrying people on them, so this was quite easy in comparison. The sun was coming up and it was starting to warm up. We were freezing so that helped. Finally we reached the city and got a few minutes to rest. But it wasn't over yet. Everyone who had done this masa gathered and we walked (or limped) another kilometer or two through the city to Ammunition Hill. This was the best part of the whole march. Most of the cars that passed us honked in support. As we neared the finish line, a lot of parents were there waiting for their sons, including mine. It was such a relief to see them and I'm sure they were even more relieved to see that I had survived.
<p>Soon after arriving, our company commander gave us a speech telling us how proud he was. Then we did some extremely important stretches and put our vests on a truck heading to our new base. The rest of the day we got off so we davened and caught some shut-eye. But there was much more important stuff happening in Israel that day. Gilad Schalit was freed!! There was a point where he was still in Egypt and even with the pictures, it was so hard for me to believe that this day had come. I am often asked as a soldier what I think of the trade, but like most Israeli citizens and Jews, I am split. Obviously though I am thrilled that we have him back. We'll easily catch the terrorists they freed.
A few hours later the tekes started. We were obviously exhausted from the march so it wasn't very long, just 40 minutes. There were a couple speeches, a little music, we sang Hatikva and arrived at the main event: the distribution of the red berets. It's a hugely symbolic event when you trade your basic green beret for your unit's beret, especially when it is red. I'm pretty sure I saw our Mem - Pay( company commander) shed a few tears as this went on. The whole tekes ended shortly thereafter.
You can find a video of the tekes in the video page of this blog.
In short, after the tekes I went back to our apartment with my family and cousins for a little dinner. Four days later, after Succot had ended, I went to pick up my plane tickets and to return all my army equipment to our new base in Shechem. After that, I packed a bag and within 24 hours I was on a plane heading home! I spent just over a month at home. I didn't do anything overly exciting but it was just amazing to see my family and friends after being in Israel for so long. The day before my flight home I received a frantic call from the airline telling me that my flight was cancelled. The next flight wouldn't be for another 5 days! So I got a bit of an extended break. Then I flew back to Israel and the next day I was on a new base in Shechem for kav.
