Hakaptzah

While on readiness as the team on call we often have drills, but sometimes the real thing. We are one of the first people to be called when any even occurs on the border, be it a terrorist attack or an invasion or something between. While on readiness we must remain on uniform at all times, when we sleep we can remove our boots, and 3 can shower at a time. When the call comes we have 10 minutes to be on all gear and out of there on the vehicles; out team leader gives us 4. The call is called a Hakpatzah.

Sunday afternoon on my way to lunch the Company Commander sticks his head out the door and says, in an oh so calm tone, "Tzevet Hat'eh (my teams name we are called after the Team Leader) Hakpatzah." Every one went running vest, gun, radio pack (I am temporary radio man till the regular one comes back). In the vehicles we start to put in the grenades and I then get on the radio and try to get some more information. By this point we are on the vehicles on the way out, sirens wailing, and at 100 kph in an armored vehicle. My Team Leader told me he has no idea of what is going on and we only know the area we need and no specifics, this may not be a drill. My heart leaped. a real event with Hezbollah behind it is a scary event and possibly deadly. then my Team Leader gets back on the radio he asks me if our missile system is ready and we are the way to a specific settlement. We scream along and my heart is pounding the not knowing is scary enough. Then we arrive, we pull up to the gate of the Brigade HQ, we pound out guns ready packs on, adrenaline pumping and ... all is quite and relaxed. Something is off.

out walks a Captain, and introduces himself. This was a drill to see how long we would tkae to be ready and on target. We were pissed, on lunch time? Why? There damn well be food left when we get back, and it better be good.      

Going back

I write this as I ride the bus back to the army. While most soldiers are at this moment bemoaning thier lives I am excited. I am going back to a fresh week with a fresh chance, and a fresh chance to excel. Each week brings its own set of stories and experiences to take in and more time to spend with my friends in the army. Besides I would say I am blessed to have the chance to stand and defend Israel's borders. Besides the view I have on the bus back takes my breath away. The view alone makes it all worth it.

Misakem Erez Day 2

From our sleeping positions we began to prepare for day two, we filled our water checked all our equipment was present and then got a safety brief. Next we took out a menorah and as a tired yet pumped tzevet we lit candles for Chanukah. Standing as a tzevet together we sang the blessings and the songs one says when lighting the candles and I thought for a moment how lucky I am to be remembering the Macabees (Jewish warriors who rebelled against the Greeks and defeated them in the story of Hanukkah) in the uniform of the IDF with an Israeli rifle in my hand and in the first of five final exercises to enter one of the top units defending Israel and the Jewish people. I really felt there and then that if I looked behind me I would see a line behind me of past Jewish warriors going back to Mickey Marcus, to Moredichai Anielewicz, to Jaboptinski, to the Macabees, to King David himself. Hanukah is essentially a military holiday and I thought there is no better way to celebrate than as a soldier in the IDF weapon in hand ready to defend our land.

As for the final exercise I was released second as I was the second in my team to arrive the day before and quickly got on my way. The first leg of my navigation was to descend from the mountain we had slept on and to enter the Beit Tenoufah valley which is a several kilometer long and 2-3 kilometer wide valley flat as a pancake with Mt. Achim (where I had slept) to its north and Mt. Turan to its south. I descended Mt, Achim and reached the water canal on the northern edge of the valley, crossed over the bridge and started to walk along the gravel road which cuts across the valley towards the south west. I walk straight along the path for 3 kilometers and then walk around the Arab village there from the west and then cross the road before me. Before me is a small wadi with Mt. Turan to the east and another set of large hills to the west. I enter the wadi and head south towards a sharp bend and there I find the fence around a water spout which was point six.

From point 6 I head back to the Arab village and the road, I then follow parallel to the road and Mt. Turan as I head straight east. I leave the village before me and then continue on to the next village and pass it as well. I am now searching for the first path to lead south with 2 buildings, one on either side of the path, at its finish. I find the path and take it all the way to its end which is where Mt. Turan begins to rise upwards. Here I begin to sarch for a cave, my 7^th point. The area is incredibly difficult to search though with dozens of barb wire fences as well as agriculture and cow pastures I cant find any cave in the area so where the cave is supposed to be I leave a large pile of rocks and a note and quickly move on. From here I continue east along the base of Mt. Turan and then when I get to a nice cleft in the mountain and began my ascent to the top of the mountain from there. I climb straight across boulders, rocks, and shrubbery till I get to the road about two thirds of the way up and from there begin to climb using roads. I quickly arrive at the top of the mountain, 548 meters. This was not a point for me, but a mandatory check in point. From here I begin to climb downwards now.

I start to descend by heading west and then south on the trail which encircles the mountain top. On the eastern side of the mountain top I head north east with the trail and here I continue till I get to an intersection of two trails. One straight north and the second mine continuing north east. Here for the first time I do not remember exactly where to head or even the way the terrain is supposed to look. I only remember there is an Arab village, a real problematic one too, and then after is the Jewish settlement which will lead me to my 9^th point. I decided to continue with my trail north east and made my first navigational error of the exercise. The trail does lead me to the settlement but in a circuitous route and leads me down the mountain and I have to climb back up to get to the access road to the settlement. Once I get to the access road I take it till I get to a trail which leads north west and follow the trail towards a a local peak which contains my next point. I begin to get frustrated though as the trails are taking me around the peak but not towards it so I leave the trail and head into the brush in an upward climb. My point is a power lines pole so I am looking for the power lines as well. I slog my way through thick brush and as I close on the peak I see the lines in the sky so begin to walk beneath the lines towards the peak. I finally arrive at the pole and the peak and almost exploded with frustration when I see the pole is right next to a trail. So I take the point, my 8^th, and head north east and descend the mountain.

I now head straight north in parallel to a road and arrive at a Christian Arab town, and from there head up a hill to its east and then north to the peak. From the peak I make my next navigation mistake. I once again do not remember the terrain I need only I need a path heading north and down from the hill and it will lead me to the Tzipor aquifer. There was a path a couple meters to me west but it seemed to lead back to the Arab town so I went east and further along the hill. The path led me towards a Jewish settlement and towards the general direction I needed, but there was no path down so I decided to just cut a straight line down as by now I could see the aquifer. Little did I know this slope was quite dangerous with thick brush and drop offs of several meters. I had several near misses till BAM! I walked on to what I thought was a large bush and fell straight through what was really a tree and a four meter drop off, the tree caught me and slowed my fall so I was not injured but I realized to continue was too dangerous so I decided to stop and wait the 45 minutes to day light. I practically instantly fell asleep when I sat down and 40 minutes later awoke to begin plodding on. I finished the descent with no further injuries and found the trail I needed quickly and began to book it to make up for lost time. My 9^th point is a tree located in an open area after an olive grove. But when I arrive at the olive grove and cross it I see the area is not so open it is in fact covered in intense brush and undergrowth and dotted with trees to find this point borders on impossible. To pass the exercise I only need 6 points and I already have 8 so I decided to make up lost time and skip it.

I push along the trail towards the mandatory crossing point of a road which cuts across our area of operations. I follow my trail downwards and when I see the point I simply cut straight for it and arrive quickly. I find out there are only 2 people before me and one passed there not so long before me. So I quickly move out of there and start on the last 11 kilometers of the exercise. Here I enter a deep canyon containing the tzipor stream. The path radio antenna here is difficult to walk along with due to low trees and mud, with the trees being the more annoying as my radio antenna was constantly getting tangled up in their branches. But I push on and after a few kilometers the canyon widens out a bit and I see the trail leading up and out of the canyon to get to point 10 my last. I get to the path and climb it to the top of the canyon form there I walk 200 meters north and before me is the fish pond and I find its gate which it my last point. I take the point and continue along the lip of the canyon eastward with the stream below to guide me. After about a kilometer I finally can see the Kinneret and practicaly begin to cry from joy and the excruciating pain shooting through m legs and the soles of my feet. I push forward though and begin to descend into what is now more of a valley and towards the end point. I head along a road towards Kibbutz Ginosar and when I get to the road parallel to the Kinneret I head south towards the access road to Tamar beach. At the intersection with the access road I get permission and cross the road. From there I stumble the last kilometer to the beach of the Kinneret drop my rucksack and just collapse from exhaustion. 50 kilometers in a single night, and the pain in my feet was unreal I could not stand on them much less walk straight.

After a few minutes of just lying there I joined the other two guys there in a dip in the Kinneret and then we came back to help with the BBQ. After 85 kilometers and only 1000 calories in 2 days I could barely control myself from just tearing into the food like and animal. But oh boy did I eat, and eat, and eat. We would eat till our fill, lay down and sleep an hour, then go back for another round.

Misakem Erez Day 1

The first of our Misakm’im (Final Exercises) is Erez. The Misakem is named after Brigadier General Erez Gershtien former warrior and commanded in the unit d of the unit who was killed in Lebanon by a road side bomb. The Misakem takes place between the city of Akko, which sits on the beach facing the Mediterranean sea, and Tamar beach on the west side of the Kinneret (Lake of Galilee). This is an individually done night navigation carrying no less than 35 kilos (77 lbs.), with no map, and little food. Rest is dependent on the soldier and his ability to navigate. The total distance done varies slightly as each soldier has a slightly different route with different points to find, but my route came out to be 85 kilometers (53 miles). Study for this navigation begins days in advance and the brief each soldier must give before setting out takes hours. One must detail each step they will take what is around them, and where they are going. One must constantly be aware of significant terrain points, and other navigation aids. One must have a full understanding of how the terrain is built and will appear and in which direction water flows. (Water is the number one force in changing terrain and therefore dictates how terrain appears). All this for 85 kilometers.

Monday morning the last soldiers finish their briefs and we go over our equipment for the second and third time. Each jerry can is checked so it’s full, each radio is inspected so all parts are functioning and tied on. Then all the bags are loaded up, each soldier puts on his vest and then adjusts the bags so they are fit to sit just right. No one wants the bag which will bang him in the back of the head for 2 nights straight. As the sun sets we load the bags on the bus and the gather in a tight circle around the menorah and light candles as a tzevet before we all load on to the bus. (It was Chanukah if you have not figured this out yet). In a short few minutes we are at the start point, unload the bags and vests and are now ready for a quick diner and start. Each person is released in 5 minute intervals and I was last, so I had over an hour wait till I got to go, but finally it was my turn to go too.

The first portion of the navigation is over flat agricultural areas with no real obstacles except for water canals. My first point is only 3 kilometers (2 miles) from the start point and I start with a slow run. I quickly arrive at the bridge to cross the first canal and jog another kilometer, but then I have to cross a bog and there is no bridge. So each step I take very tentatively praying the ground is solid enough to hold me and finally I find a dry way across. From there I return to a quick walk and in 20 minutes I have taken my first point already. To the second point I head south till I arrive at a wide canal and then head east along it till I arrive at my bridge. From there I continue east till I arrive at another canal heading south and follow it south. It is along this canal I stop for my first water break; 10 kilometers done 75 to go. From the break I head till I reach my bridge and then I head back east count road intersections, two, and then to my right is an olive grove I continue east till its end and I am where my point, a large boulder, should be. But I can’t find it, then I realize why the corner its supposed to be in has become the compost pile with all the tree clippings pilled as high as I am where my boulder should be. So I leave a huge pile of rocks there with a note and move on (This is SOP for the situation). Point 3 is a good 11 kilometers from here. So I pick up the pace and along the way start to pass people. The next 3 kilometers slide by but then again I run into a problem. The mandatory crossing point for the road before me is not there. I followed by route to the inch and the crossing was not there so I decided to try looking south first but found nothing so I went north and 100 meters north I found the Hummer. With crises averted I report with the hummer and they tell me because there are a large number of Bedouins roving around the next area the next 3 kilometers must be done in pairs so grab a cup of tea and wait for another soldier to arrive.

With a partner to boot I started the next portion of the navigation. Here the area becomes hillier with water flowing into a large river network. (When I say water flowing I refer to when there is rain or during the winter season the rest of the year it’s just a large valley). We cover the next 5 kilometers in a good pace and quickly find ourselves at the gas station we have to cross the road at. From here I for the first time am not sure on where I am. From here I must enter a long river valley which will start by heading south and then turn sharply to the east. My only problem I can’t see the start of the valley. So I take an azimuth of 180 degrees (due south) and start walking and with time the sides of the valley start to appear out of the darkness as they close in. So I walk south further take the turn east and forest to the north, quarry to the south then bam my Y-intersection, 100 meters more and there is my tree. I get the codes off the tree and move off.

From here I need to follow the power lines to the next mandatory road crossing, my only problem is I can’t see the power lines. So I start in the right azimuth and still can’t see the power lines, and then before me is a new settlement which I don’t remember from the maps (It was not on the maps I checked afterwards) but smack in the middle of the settlement is a tower holding my power lines and its all light up from the settlement. So I follow the power lines to the road and the hummer. At the hummer I met one of the mafkatzim (Team Leader literally a Platoon Leader recon units do not use platoons rather they have teams) and he told me rain is coming so get on my rain gear. As I pulled my rain gear out I felt the first drops hit me, so I quickly put it on. From the crossing point I walked with my power lines up the start of the slope of Mt. Atzmon looking for the path which was supposed to cross the ridge line eastward. As I climbed up the slope the trees began to become close together and harder to climb between. And then before me was a trail leading east so I took it, but in a few minutes I realized this was not my trail. So I kept climbing up and the slope was still a hard climb even with fewer trees now. Finally I arrive at the top of the lower peak with my trail upon it, and before me I see the trail running eastward towards the top of the mountain, my point, and as I looked up I could not believe my eyes. The mountain seemed to rise up into the sky and into the heavens. As the slopes rose up they met fog and clouds from the rain; with clouds ringing the peak it fades and appears from view with an almost mystic feel. I begin my trudge up the mountain by heading down the small valley below the lower peak and then rise again towards the middle peak. As I reach the middle peak I find another soldier there looking around and I ask him what he is looking for and he tells me the point at the top of Mt. Atzmon. I laugh and tell him to look east and he looks up at the peak rising into the clouds and fog and almost starts to cry from the climb before him. I laugh and push on towards the top of the mountain. I have to head down from the middle peak and then began to climb the main peak. I feel almost as if I was in the Lord of the Rings and the climb continued, through, cold, fog, and drizzle. The peak finally began to close in and I reached the path which circles the peak, and I went to the south. I followed the path and then when a path lead north I went with it and reached the peak and my 4^th point. From here it was downhill as I twisted my way down the mountain towards the valley below. The paths here begin to disappear and change from the aerial photos so I decided to just go straight down and ditch the paths. I finally made it to the valley below and to the old well which was my 5th point, and last for day one.

From here I had to move to my sleeping point on Mt. Achim which was the other side of the small valley I was in. So I began to climb up and then headed east towards my position. I finally get to the turn in the path which leads me to my sleeping point and head up the path till I get to the hummer. I then have to get my sleeping position a bush I was assigned and learned ahead of time. So I head to the corner of the olive grove there, and then north to the first tree, east from there east between two trees and then the tree before me was my position. I get there and crawl under the tree and pass straight out. A little bit of food latter on and back to sleep. I had finished 3^rd on day one over all but on time I had finished first.

Krav Maga Final Act

The final act of Krav Maga for our training is our hardest on as well. Each person has two parts to his act. The first part is to be a warrior inside to fight one whose act it is ongoing, the second part is the act it’s self. In the building there are 4 warriors, one warrior wielding a knife, and one with a bat. There are also all the Krav Maga, and Terror instructors as well as the officer who runs the section, as well as our Platoon Sergeants and Team Leaders. I started as knife, to be specific. This means every time Adam (The officer who developed the act 15 years ago and comes back to run it every year) calls out knife I run in and attack, stabbing repeatedly until subdued.

After four rounds of knife I got to step out and drink water and rest and then I went in for four rounds as a warrior. The first person to go in we tore apart and within 2 minutes Adam had thrown him out by grabbing his padding and effortlessly hauling him to the door and throwing him out. The second person in was heading to the course to become a Terror instructor the next day, and was rated number 2 in all Israel for MMA. He was no push over to fight, and the third person to enter was the same except for the MMA rating. The fourth person to enter was an easier fight, but by this point I was tiring out from the repeated combat and thus, took some punches in addition to the ones I was giving.

After my round as a warrior I de-padded and went outside to rest. After another two rounds of 4 it came to my round. I was to be second in the round to go. The first person started and then I began to warm up, and clear my mind. The first part of the act is a sprint from the Krav Maga building to the base’s gate and back which one needs to run in under 3 minutes to receive the 3 points. It’s either 3 minutes or less and 3 points or nothing. So as I stood on the start line I cleared all thoughts from my mind and concentrated on only the run, then I heard 3 … 2 … 1 … go! Off I went pouring all my guts into the sprint and trying to milk very second out of the downhill I had to the gate. Back I kept pushing and when I got to the last 100 meters I began to sprint and then before me was the building and the “crowd” I would have to pass. The second part of the act is punching through a crowd immediately after the sprint. So with all the momentum of the sprint I went straight in and fairly easily popping out the other end. From there I ran to the entrance to the building where someone waited me with a punching bag pillow and I began to punch away. On both sides of me now were an instructor and they began to punch away at me, in the stomach. As I worked on the sack they worked on me and began to shout at me “ask for it harder” so I did I boy did I get it, the instructor on my right who looks like he has been taking steroids since age 2 wound up and wham. But I kept going at my sack and a few seconds later I was sent inside to pad up. Once inside there are members of my team who pad me up and then I was ready for the 4^th and hardest part of the act.

From the moment I got the order to go it 22 minutes began to tick backwards. For the next 22 minutes I would fight like a maniac and give my all to the punching bag. The moment I ran into the center of the building one of the warriors pounced on me. This was the same person who had been thrown out when I was a warrior previously and I dominated him pinning him to the wall and raining upon him blows. From here on I had no conception of time only a continuity of actions I performed. After my first fight I was sent to the punching bag to work on it and then the team member who had gone in before me was sent in to fight me and from that sparing session Adam sent in the bat, and then the knife, and then more time on the bag. For the next couple minutes things become a blur of sparing one on one, or two on one, with knives and bats as a break, with in between time on the punching bag. Then out of nowhere I begin to take blows from all sides I don’t even realize what is happening of the first few seconds till I realize the officer of the Krav Maga/Terror section is pouring out on to me blows. So while I was already at the point of exhaustion I began to give back blows, a knee there and a swing there. I even succeeded to push him back towards the back wall before he retaliates and I am spinning/flying halfway across the small room to land on my back. Under a rain of his blows I get back on my feet and start to give back again.

When Nitzan (The officer) backs down I am sent back to the punching bag and then in comes the next person from my team. Emanuel, no small man; he is mostly muscle and probably the strongest person in my team. He also received best soldier for the Krav Maga final. So while I work on the bag he comes in and in no time we are sent to fight each other, then a knife comes at me, and then Emanuel again, then bat. This goes on for another repetition or two and then all 4 warriors are sent in on me. By this point I have been in 21 straight minutes of combat, can barley lift my arms, and am running on nothing more than pure adrenaline. For the next minute while I take blows from four people I feel none of it, none at all. While I try and fight back they succeed by pure force of mass to push me into a corner and while I can’t get out I just keep giving back blows. Then after what feels like hours and an eternity Adam shouts out to me “STOP, remove padding.” Done, finished, no more. I remove my padding with a lot of help and as I walk out, I realize I am sacred of myself because I just enjoyed what I did. I just found the experience of beating another person, or person’s, fun.

Airborne School

This past week I received my airborne wings. Two weeks ago my entire company picked up and went to airborne school. On arrival we were in processed and splint into “sticks” of about ten soldiers each. Each “stick” had an instructor assigned to it. The first thing that struck us was the level of discipline in the course. The IDF is famous for its lack of discipline within its ranks, and the pinnacle of this the Golani Brigade (my brigade). I am not sure the course was ready for the shock it was about to get. We were instantly upset over the requirement for us to polish our boots both in the morning, and in the afternoon. Walking in formation, we were simply incapable; keeping quite …that was a joke. But we trained anyways.

We stated with how to perform a proper roll, first left and right then forwards and backwards. This involved us falling on our ass a lot in a large sand box. It was quite painful, especially when we missed our shoulder muscles and fell on our sides. From there we moved on to the harness, how to get in it and how to jump out of the plane its self. We also covered what happens while we are in the plane. While the instructors demonstrated we were dying of laughter from the tune all our instructors used. They use high pitched, almost shrill sing song tune for all the commands and we just could not keep from laughing. But when we got to the towers this began to change.

This first tower is nothing it’s a meter off the ground and used simply to practice exiting the plane, and drills done while in the air. The next tower we used was less fun, it is 4.5 meters tall or 14 feet tall. Here we strap into our harness climb up on to the walkway and up top attach the towers straps to our harness. The idea is the tower acts like our parachute when we jump and then will hold us off the ground in a swinging motion so we can also practice the landing. This tower in Hebrew is called the “"מאמן (mamen – meaning trainer), but we all affectionately referred to it as the "מאשיך" (mashech- puller) because when hooked up to the straps it attempts to yank one clean off the tower. Now jumping off this tower is far harder to do than jumping of a real plane, as you spend a good ten minutes up top just contemplating the height, and when you are finally hooked in you feel like any second the straps are going to pull you off the tower and throw you spinning off into thin air. The worst part really is when they drop us right on our ass. They leave you swinging in the landing position for several long seconds, as we try and predict when they are going to drop us so we can try and roll properly. What always happens though is they drop you and you fall right on your butt or sides in the most painful way possible, and are then yelled at on how we are a total failure at life and are going to die when we jump. The last tower thee is 9 meters or 30 feet tall. Here one practices exiting a plane, and also deploying reserve chutes. This tower works by having you jump from the tower and then your straps are attached to a zip line which keeps you in the air like a chute will.

After a week of training on all these towers we finally finished up and were off to the real thing! We traveled to the air force base where we were to take off from. There we lined up by doors, and laid out our parachutes and sat down waiting to get the order to put them on. We were all nervous though as we were the last plane, and the day was fast fading. Finally the order came down to put on our harnesses, and we began to strap up and get checked off. Finally our plane came back and as it touched down and rolled towards us, we got lined up and were marched to the back door and in we were loaded. I was in the first stick set to jump out of the right door and within ten minutes we were over the drop zone, which was at Palmach, a beach. The door we were set to jump from would have me at jumping towards the ocean. So as we came in we got the order to stand up, and got a final check off. Then came the red light, and the first soldier entered the door and got ready. Then came the green light, and the first soldier got the order “קפוץ!” (kfotz – meaning jump!) and as he jumped, then next soldier already threw his strap to the instructor and was in the door and out then, all in 1.5 seconds. Real quickly it was my turn and I too threw my strap, the instructor grabbed it, checked by stance in the door, and tapped my soldier and yelled “קפוץ!!!” and I hesitated for a moment so they shouted at me again, and what happened next I am not sure. I remember wanting to jump, and the next thing I remember I was outside the plane. When you exit the plane you experience three seconds of absolute thrilling, free fall. When you leave the plane the first thing that happens is your legs kick up from the propeller back blast. Then as you keep your hands on you reserve shoot and count to three you keep falling. At three you feel a sharp tug as the chute opens and deploys, and when I looked up I saw the most beautiful sight of my life a full canopy over my head. Then I looked around me and saw the view, and it was stunning! A setting sun, a string of other paratroopers before me, and absolute silence around me; I just had to let out a shout of absolute thrill. Then as the ground got closer, I got into the landing position and kept trying to guess when I would land, and then bam! It was a slight shock, but I still succeeded to do something similar to a roll. We were lucky with our jump we really jumped at the last possible second.

The next day we were scheduled to jump first, and we were pumped. We spent far less time sitting around, and got strapped in. In no time we were marching to the plane and getting onto the runway. As we were coming over the drop zone our plane began to sing songs from our unit, which really helped to release the tension a bit. This time I was last in my stick and was the middle stick. So as we came back over the jump zone for the second time I was standing with the rest of the guys and ready to go. As I got to the door I got my order “קפוץ!!!” and out I went. This time jumping from the left door and looking out at Israel I got a great view, again. I actually had a few twists in my chords for my chute, but I quickly straightened them out with a few kicks. This time the landing was easier as I could judge the approaching ground far better. As I folded my chute up and placed it on my back I knew I would have to do this again, the thrill, the adrenaline, the view was simply too much to pass up on; and when I finally went home at the end of the week I felt as if my chest was sticking out 2 feet farther with the pin on my chest.