As 2010 comes to a close, here is a year in review - a complete year spent in the IDF. It started with the completion of my basic training and the start of tank training. I was chosen to be a tank loader - the job that I wanted. I spent the next 2 months learning my job and getting to shoot guns mounted from tanks. I even got the opportunity to drive the tank one day! I received my black beret in completion of this training. In advanced training we did interesting work - learning how to operatethe tank as an entire crew - commander, gunner, loader and driver working together. In addition to getting more familiar with the tanks, I became well acquainted with the outdoors, the desert and the summer heat. At the end of training my tank crew was awarded the outstanding crew within the company. With the completion of all the training, we finally received our warriors pin - indicating that we had become fully qualified combat soldiers in the IDF! I even received the honor of having the company commander give me his personal pin!
After trainig it was time to put that training to 'good' use, where I would guard the border with Lebanon from July until the end of December. All that intense training did not prepare me for the boredom that I was to face. My wide range of responsibilities included standing for extended periods of time, staying awake and maintaining the tanks. Most of the last 6 months was spent outisde, and after a quick estimation, about half of the days (3 months) I spent sleeping in a tank. It's hard to believe that 1/4 of the year was spent sleeping inside a tank.
In October, I had the chance to visit home for 2 weeks - the first time that I had been home in a year and a half.
2011 should be another interesting year. With a bit more than 3 more months left in the army, it should make for some more intersting times as now we will start training in the Golan Heights. With my release in April, it should be interesting to see what life outside the army has in store for me.
Thanks to my loyal readers of the korner. Hope you enjoyed my last year of blogging and will continue to read what life has in store for me in 2011. Don't feel shy to share the blog with friends and family.
Wishing everyone a successful 2011!
Friday, December 31, 2010
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Release date
My year and a half of service is quickly coming to a close (Feb 19/2011). Less than 2 months away! What to do afterward??? The release date is towards the end of the training and the most intersting exercizes are to be conducted after my release date - those are the exercizes of the company and batallion levels. I recently asked my company commander what the situation is with my release. He was quick to respond not to worry (apparently, when translated to english, the statement 'dont worry' actually causes the opposite effect! - I'm not sure if thats an army thing or a Hebrew thing). In any case he said don't worry I will get my accumulated vacation days. So where did my vacation days come from, and how many do I have, and why have I decided to save them up? To answer the questions out of order - I have a lot of vacation days and I was forced to save them up. Each soldier gets a certain amount of vacation days a year. If one is a jobnik - comes from the english word job implying that the soldier has a regular day job from 9-5 or something of that matter he can request time of like you would at a regular job. For a combat soldier, its difficult enough getting off our scheduled weekend! Forget about unscheduled personal vacations! So without the option of taking vacation days they get saved up and in essence the vacation is all piled up at the end of my service. With my entitled vacation time practically I would stop working well ebfore the 19th of february, thus I would miss even more of training.
In response to what my company commander told me I was quick to respond that I want to stay on until the end of the training. Needless to say, but he was more than surprised and said it shouldn't be a problem. After taking a look at the schedule for the training I have decided to continue 'working' up until the end of the last training exercize which is of the battalion level. After that, I will get my vacation and then get released on the 10th of April - another month and a half after my original release date - and I will have a bit longer than one month of vacation time - which will start in the month of March.
So why specifically have I decided to sign this extra month? There are several reasons, however the main reason is that I expect the training to be fun - why would I decide not to participate in something that I expect to enjoy? On top of that how often does someone get to participate in a battalion level tank training exercize - 35 tanks! I'd be a fool to pass it up!
In response to what my company commander told me I was quick to respond that I want to stay on until the end of the training. Needless to say, but he was more than surprised and said it shouldn't be a problem. After taking a look at the schedule for the training I have decided to continue 'working' up until the end of the last training exercize which is of the battalion level. After that, I will get my vacation and then get released on the 10th of April - another month and a half after my original release date - and I will have a bit longer than one month of vacation time - which will start in the month of March.
So why specifically have I decided to sign this extra month? There are several reasons, however the main reason is that I expect the training to be fun - why would I decide not to participate in something that I expect to enjoy? On top of that how often does someone get to participate in a battalion level tank training exercize - 35 tanks! I'd be a fool to pass it up!
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Last stare into Lebanon and is now a Sergeant!
Crappy weather
On the way back to base it began to rain again. The entire weekend I had managed to be indoors while it had rained. In the negev desert there were sand storms, whereas in the rest of the country there was rain and even snow in the golan. During the storm there were winds of 100km/hr and the kineret rose by 5cm. While I was at home the rest of my platoon was in the field and said that it did not stop raining for over 2 days straight. They had no dry clothing and could not fall asleep because they were so cold. Simply, it was the best weekend not to be in the army.
The drive from Kiryat Shmoneh to the base took us through 2 extremes of weather. Kiryat Shmoneh sits in a valley between the Golan Heights and the hills by the Lebanese border. As we were driving through the storm in the city and driving upwards into the peaks, we were driving through the rain and the clouds themselves. We couldn't see 10 meters in front of us. Then are all of a sudden we would exit the clouds and the sun would start to blind us as the rays reflect off the water that was on the ground. We looked behind us and could see the massive storm and black clouds in the distance. Looking forwards we saw the next cloud that was just like the last. To our side we see the valley and Kiryat Shmoneh where we came from and the massive low hovering rain clouds over the valley, yet below us. Once we finally made it through the clouds we got to our base where the weather is sunny, and obviously very muddy.
Cleaning the tank
On Tuesday we supposed to join everyone else in the field for another week, but they came back early because of the terrible conditions. Our first task once they arrived was to clean the tank. This was a nightmare because the tank was FULL of mud. It was the type of mud that was hard and had solidified, but it was soft and fresh mud. They split the word up over a day and a half so on the second day I helped the gunner clean the tread tightening system. Its job is to make sure that there is no slack on the treads. In order to clean it you have to first be able to see it. Having never cleaned it before I wasn't exactly sure what specific part needs to be cleaned. I was given the general instructions of start digging in this general area and remove all the mud. The best tools to use is a large metal pole to loosen up the mud, a screwdriver to get to the small corners and mainly your hands. In order to reach the difficult parts I have to reach in with my hand until my shoulder and dig away behind the nooks and crannies. Due to the positioning of my arm I can't even see what im doing otherwise my face will be inside the mud. After digging for over 3 hours I had completed the difficult work and the gunner came to finish off the cleaning. In addition to the cleaning outside the tank I did a fairly thorough cleaning of my sleeping quarters inside the tank (also known as the turret floor). There was a nice layer of mud caked on the floor. To clean it you get on your hands and knees and start scrubbing with a bucket of water and sponge.
Crappy food
In some upsetting news, the reserve soldiers that were on the base with us got switched to the same horrible peopel that were incapable of making and delivering us food. With the reservists there was no cook so we get to make breakfast and dinner for ourselves. Lunch was shipped in from a different base. Nobody had a real problem if we went into the kitchen and searched for something to eat. There was one reservist who happened to know how to cook well and they decided amongst themselves that they would all pic up his hours of guard duty so that he could become the cook. There was always plenty of tasty food to eat. But of course the fun had to end sometime.
Our first shabbat with the new old 'cook' did not go so well. (Here I use the term 'cook' in quotations so you don't get him confused with the reservist that was not a cook but knew how to). The army always seems to give people stupid job titles and tho has no idea what he is doing is misleading and cruel. idea what he is doing is misleading and cruel. We were stuck outside again for shabbat and when we saw what we received for dinner we were excited - chicken wings! When it actually became time to eat, that level of excitement turned to anger. Before I get to that I want to explain how we eat when we are in the field. We receive a container of food, a loaf a bread, forks (if we happen to be so lucky), and usually without a proper place to sit. We don't really have a place to sit, so we put the container on the ground and everyone huddles around it. Upon the arrival of food, 8 hungry soldiers who have anxiously been awaiting its arrival are notified of its presence. I don't really need to explain this any further, I think its quite clear how this plays out. So back to the Shabbat meal - when we sat down to eat the meal, we realized that there was only enough for one chicken wing per person! However, in the 'cook's' defense we also received a leathery piece of chicken breast that was only slightly larger than the size of the chicken wing. There seemed to be one living being that was pleased with the food that we got, and that was a cat who ate the scraps we threw it.
Lunch the next day was no success story either, in fact it was an embarrassment to food. There is typically a traditional Jewish dish cooked for shabbat lunch. Since cooking on shabbat is forbidden, the dish, called cholent or chamim is prepared before shabbat starts and is left for a long time to cook (rule of thumb - the longer the better). The dish typically includes meat, potatoes, beans, and/or rice. I am the last person who would be able to identify ingredients in a cooked dish or describe the process in how it was made, but I will now describe exactly how the 'cook' prepared the meal by sight smell and taste only:
1. Throughout the cooking of the dish do NOT add any seasoning
2. Salt is also forbidden
3. Boil whole potatoes
4. Boil beans
5. Put chicken breasts in the oven and cook them
6. Boil hot dogs
7. Take the potatoes, beans and chicken and add them to the pot of boiling hot dogs
8. This dish is now ready to be served!
I'm not sure if the food looked worse than it tasted or the other way around, but it was simply disgusting. Everything tasted gross and bland with a hint of hot dog water. It looked like boiled hot dogs were left sitting out for a week. People were laughing at us because we actually intended on eating it (only after seasoning the food). In between the 2 horrible meals it rained from 3AM-7AM while I was in the tank. I didn't get soaked because I half closed the hatch, nonetheless it was not fun. The highlight of the shabbat was after it had rained, we made a mud sculpture of a turtle. Yes, we have too much spare time.
Doing nothing
Sunday evening my tzevet was taken to a different base in order to do maintenance on a different tank because my commander had to go attend a 2 day course. We had to do more work than expected, but at least I got a good night sleep in a bed, and even managed to take an afternoon nap the first day. In the early evening we were told that we were returning to base because my commander's course finished early. This was very upsetting news because I was expecting another full nights' sleep and a second easy day. Back at base I was expecting to go back to work right away, but in the end it was decided that we would switch with the other tzevet in the morning. Before going to bed I got to relax and had time to watch the movie - 'the hangover'. After a good night sleep again we woke up only to find out that in the evening we would be making the switch! With only one task to do all day -arrange some equipment that took less than 2 hours I managed to go for a jog and watch 19 episodes of Family Guy!!! All this happened before 7PM when we left for the field to make the switch. I almost completed the entire season 8 of Family Guy in one day in the army. The fact that I was able to do that in the army instead of on my own time made me extremely happy. It is not very often that I can accomplish things in the army that I would normally do on my own time.
More food problems
After those 2 refreshing days we headed back to the shetach for another cold week. While in the field we are supposed to get one meal a day (lunch) from these idiots. I'm not going to get into any elaborate stories, but here is the bullshit we had to deal with:
This past week, on the 20th of December, I got promoted to the rank of sergeant! One might be surprised to find out that it really isn't that big of a deal to get this promotion. I didn't do anything noteworthy, per se and I wasn't recommended for the promotion either. It just happens.After a year and 4 months in the army, everyone gets promoted to sergeant. Practically, what does it mean? On my uniform that I wear in public I get to sew on the 3 strip patch on the sleeve of my upper arm indicating my rank. In addition to that I get a pay raise! Hold onto your hats, because this pay raise is really going to shock you. I get a raise of 2 shekels (about 60 cents).... a month!
The End!!!
After a cold and windy week in the shetach I finally finished my last guarding mission on the Lebanese border!!!! Once I return from my weekend at home at the start of 2011 we will start preparing for 2 months of training in the Golan Heights, which will take me to the end of my service. On wednesday I was supposed to be picked up at 730AM to be driven back to the base so I can prepare to go home. I had thought that the bus comes by the base at 930, so I would have plenty of time to shower, organize my things, and relax a bit. Well, I wasn't picked up from the shetach until 805, and returned to the base at 815. I was then told that the bus was at 830, and not 930. SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!!! If I were to miss this bus, I would have to wait until 1130 for the next one. Lets just say after 17 days on base, one can get ready to go home quite quickly. The bus ended up being a few minutes late, but nonetheless I still would have been on time.
On the way back to base it began to rain again. The entire weekend I had managed to be indoors while it had rained. In the negev desert there were sand storms, whereas in the rest of the country there was rain and even snow in the golan. During the storm there were winds of 100km/hr and the kineret rose by 5cm. While I was at home the rest of my platoon was in the field and said that it did not stop raining for over 2 days straight. They had no dry clothing and could not fall asleep because they were so cold. Simply, it was the best weekend not to be in the army.
The drive from Kiryat Shmoneh to the base took us through 2 extremes of weather. Kiryat Shmoneh sits in a valley between the Golan Heights and the hills by the Lebanese border. As we were driving through the storm in the city and driving upwards into the peaks, we were driving through the rain and the clouds themselves. We couldn't see 10 meters in front of us. Then are all of a sudden we would exit the clouds and the sun would start to blind us as the rays reflect off the water that was on the ground. We looked behind us and could see the massive storm and black clouds in the distance. Looking forwards we saw the next cloud that was just like the last. To our side we see the valley and Kiryat Shmoneh where we came from and the massive low hovering rain clouds over the valley, yet below us. Once we finally made it through the clouds we got to our base where the weather is sunny, and obviously very muddy.
Cleaning the tank
On Tuesday we supposed to join everyone else in the field for another week, but they came back early because of the terrible conditions. Our first task once they arrived was to clean the tank. This was a nightmare because the tank was FULL of mud. It was the type of mud that was hard and had solidified, but it was soft and fresh mud. They split the word up over a day and a half so on the second day I helped the gunner clean the tread tightening system. Its job is to make sure that there is no slack on the treads. In order to clean it you have to first be able to see it. Having never cleaned it before I wasn't exactly sure what specific part needs to be cleaned. I was given the general instructions of start digging in this general area and remove all the mud. The best tools to use is a large metal pole to loosen up the mud, a screwdriver to get to the small corners and mainly your hands. In order to reach the difficult parts I have to reach in with my hand until my shoulder and dig away behind the nooks and crannies. Due to the positioning of my arm I can't even see what im doing otherwise my face will be inside the mud. After digging for over 3 hours I had completed the difficult work and the gunner came to finish off the cleaning. In addition to the cleaning outside the tank I did a fairly thorough cleaning of my sleeping quarters inside the tank (also known as the turret floor). There was a nice layer of mud caked on the floor. To clean it you get on your hands and knees and start scrubbing with a bucket of water and sponge.
Crappy food
In some upsetting news, the reserve soldiers that were on the base with us got switched to the same horrible peopel that were incapable of making and delivering us food. With the reservists there was no cook so we get to make breakfast and dinner for ourselves. Lunch was shipped in from a different base. Nobody had a real problem if we went into the kitchen and searched for something to eat. There was one reservist who happened to know how to cook well and they decided amongst themselves that they would all pic up his hours of guard duty so that he could become the cook. There was always plenty of tasty food to eat. But of course the fun had to end sometime.
Our first shabbat with the new old 'cook' did not go so well. (Here I use the term 'cook' in quotations so you don't get him confused with the reservist that was not a cook but knew how to). The army always seems to give people stupid job titles and tho has no idea what he is doing is misleading and cruel. idea what he is doing is misleading and cruel. We were stuck outside again for shabbat and when we saw what we received for dinner we were excited - chicken wings! When it actually became time to eat, that level of excitement turned to anger. Before I get to that I want to explain how we eat when we are in the field. We receive a container of food, a loaf a bread, forks (if we happen to be so lucky), and usually without a proper place to sit. We don't really have a place to sit, so we put the container on the ground and everyone huddles around it. Upon the arrival of food, 8 hungry soldiers who have anxiously been awaiting its arrival are notified of its presence. I don't really need to explain this any further, I think its quite clear how this plays out. So back to the Shabbat meal - when we sat down to eat the meal, we realized that there was only enough for one chicken wing per person! However, in the 'cook's' defense we also received a leathery piece of chicken breast that was only slightly larger than the size of the chicken wing. There seemed to be one living being that was pleased with the food that we got, and that was a cat who ate the scraps we threw it.
Lunch the next day was no success story either, in fact it was an embarrassment to food. There is typically a traditional Jewish dish cooked for shabbat lunch. Since cooking on shabbat is forbidden, the dish, called cholent or chamim is prepared before shabbat starts and is left for a long time to cook (rule of thumb - the longer the better). The dish typically includes meat, potatoes, beans, and/or rice. I am the last person who would be able to identify ingredients in a cooked dish or describe the process in how it was made, but I will now describe exactly how the 'cook' prepared the meal by sight smell and taste only:
1. Throughout the cooking of the dish do NOT add any seasoning
2. Salt is also forbidden
3. Boil whole potatoes
4. Boil beans
5. Put chicken breasts in the oven and cook them
6. Boil hot dogs
7. Take the potatoes, beans and chicken and add them to the pot of boiling hot dogs
8. This dish is now ready to be served!
I'm not sure if the food looked worse than it tasted or the other way around, but it was simply disgusting. Everything tasted gross and bland with a hint of hot dog water. It looked like boiled hot dogs were left sitting out for a week. People were laughing at us because we actually intended on eating it (only after seasoning the food). In between the 2 horrible meals it rained from 3AM-7AM while I was in the tank. I didn't get soaked because I half closed the hatch, nonetheless it was not fun. The highlight of the shabbat was after it had rained, we made a mud sculpture of a turtle. Yes, we have too much spare time.
Doing nothing
Sunday evening my tzevet was taken to a different base in order to do maintenance on a different tank because my commander had to go attend a 2 day course. We had to do more work than expected, but at least I got a good night sleep in a bed, and even managed to take an afternoon nap the first day. In the early evening we were told that we were returning to base because my commander's course finished early. This was very upsetting news because I was expecting another full nights' sleep and a second easy day. Back at base I was expecting to go back to work right away, but in the end it was decided that we would switch with the other tzevet in the morning. Before going to bed I got to relax and had time to watch the movie - 'the hangover'. After a good night sleep again we woke up only to find out that in the evening we would be making the switch! With only one task to do all day -arrange some equipment that took less than 2 hours I managed to go for a jog and watch 19 episodes of Family Guy!!! All this happened before 7PM when we left for the field to make the switch. I almost completed the entire season 8 of Family Guy in one day in the army. The fact that I was able to do that in the army instead of on my own time made me extremely happy. It is not very often that I can accomplish things in the army that I would normally do on my own time.
More food problems
After those 2 refreshing days we headed back to the shetach for another cold week. While in the field we are supposed to get one meal a day (lunch) from these idiots. I'm not going to get into any elaborate stories, but here is the bullshit we had to deal with:
- One day they did not have enough disposable food trays for us so everyone received the equivalent of half a meal
- the next day we received lunch at 430PM because after running out of food they had to make lunch again specifically for us and then they couldn't be bothered to make a trip specifically to bring us our food
- For saturday lunch they brought us chamim that was more disgusting than last week's - i didn't think it was possible!
This past week, on the 20th of December, I got promoted to the rank of sergeant! One might be surprised to find out that it really isn't that big of a deal to get this promotion. I didn't do anything noteworthy, per se and I wasn't recommended for the promotion either. It just happens.After a year and 4 months in the army, everyone gets promoted to sergeant. Practically, what does it mean? On my uniform that I wear in public I get to sew on the 3 strip patch on the sleeve of my upper arm indicating my rank. In addition to that I get a pay raise! Hold onto your hats, because this pay raise is really going to shock you. I get a raise of 2 shekels (about 60 cents).... a month!
The End!!!
After a cold and windy week in the shetach I finally finished my last guarding mission on the Lebanese border!!!! Once I return from my weekend at home at the start of 2011 we will start preparing for 2 months of training in the Golan Heights, which will take me to the end of my service. On wednesday I was supposed to be picked up at 730AM to be driven back to the base so I can prepare to go home. I had thought that the bus comes by the base at 930, so I would have plenty of time to shower, organize my things, and relax a bit. Well, I wasn't picked up from the shetach until 805, and returned to the base at 815. I was then told that the bus was at 830, and not 930. SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!!! If I were to miss this bus, I would have to wait until 1130 for the next one. Lets just say after 17 days on base, one can get ready to go home quite quickly. The bus ended up being a few minutes late, but nonetheless I still would have been on time.
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Chanukah
One thing about the army that I extremely dislike is stupid people, stupid orders, stupid people who give stupid orders, and stupid orders carried out by yours truly. So this week started with a mission that takes stupid to a whole new level. Unfortunately I can't describe the mission in detail, but to say it was stupid would be naive. Not only was it a waste of time, and not productive, but I would classify it as being counterproductive. Additionally, doing something for the sake of doing something is just plain stupid. It got to the point that when we started I looked at my commander and without saying anything we just started laughing hysterically for approximately 5 minutes without saying anything. This was the kind of mission that you want to get the commanding officer to come down and do it himself. Afterward I want him to look me in the eyes with a straight face and tell me that this mission is not a complete waste of time and that some good came out of it.
This week was Chanukah - the festival of lights (or as I called it this year, the festival of sufganiyot). Sufganiyot are the traditional jelly donuts eaten on the holiday. It seemed that every day of the holiday (8 days) we got a shipment of sufganiyot from somewhere. Assuming that we would not be getting sufganiyot every day we enjoyed (devoured) them the instant they came. With this procedure repeating itself every day I seemed to have lost track of how many sufganiyot I ate over the holiday. An estimate conducted after the holiday shows that I probably had in excess of 25 sufganiyot over an 8 day period. The only down part of the holiday was that despite the near endless flow of sufganiyot I was not able to choose different flavours - I had to eat what was delivered :-( I was not lucky enough to get off base and to a bakery in time to be able to choose my flavour of sufganiya.
It rained again - this time as we were cleaning the tanks. simply not fun at all - rain, and lots of mud. But one thing I do have to be thankful for was my weekend break when it came. This past weekend the sky finally opened up and it simply poured all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evening. Saturday there was also hail and winds up to 100km/hr. Sunday at about 1PM the sky turned pitch black as if it were 10PM and the sky opened up again. All this time I was very thankful to be inside, and nowhere near tanks. I hope that the rain will stop by the time I get back to base.
Sorry for the fairly boring blog post, but at this time my life is just like the blog post - fairly boring. Nothing too interesting to report. Coming up to 6 months while guarding the border with Lebanon its hard to find new and interesting blog material.
This week was Chanukah - the festival of lights (or as I called it this year, the festival of sufganiyot). Sufganiyot are the traditional jelly donuts eaten on the holiday. It seemed that every day of the holiday (8 days) we got a shipment of sufganiyot from somewhere. Assuming that we would not be getting sufganiyot every day we enjoyed (devoured) them the instant they came. With this procedure repeating itself every day I seemed to have lost track of how many sufganiyot I ate over the holiday. An estimate conducted after the holiday shows that I probably had in excess of 25 sufganiyot over an 8 day period. The only down part of the holiday was that despite the near endless flow of sufganiyot I was not able to choose different flavours - I had to eat what was delivered :-( I was not lucky enough to get off base and to a bakery in time to be able to choose my flavour of sufganiya.
It rained again - this time as we were cleaning the tanks. simply not fun at all - rain, and lots of mud. But one thing I do have to be thankful for was my weekend break when it came. This past weekend the sky finally opened up and it simply poured all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon and evening. Saturday there was also hail and winds up to 100km/hr. Sunday at about 1PM the sky turned pitch black as if it were 10PM and the sky opened up again. All this time I was very thankful to be inside, and nowhere near tanks. I hope that the rain will stop by the time I get back to base.
Sorry for the fairly boring blog post, but at this time my life is just like the blog post - fairly boring. Nothing too interesting to report. Coming up to 6 months while guarding the border with Lebanon its hard to find new and interesting blog material.
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