warriors pin סיכת לוחם

Thursday I had my end of training ceremony. There ceremony was for the 380 new lochamim (fighters/warriors) like myself that have just completed the same 7 months of training as I have. In addition to us there were 150 additional soldiers that have just completed the 4 month tank commanders course who participated in the joint ceremony.

We have been practicing for the ceremony for a week now - just about every day we would stand out in the desert sun for about an hour to an hour and a half and practice standing, marching and transitioning from one standing position to another. This was the worst part of each day - so much so that

everyone was arguing as to who would go do guard duty so they could miss the practice.

On the day of the ceremony I had to show up at Latrun by 9AM. From then until 130PM we were practicing. During that time we had 3 breaks where we were able to go drink and sit down to rest our feet. The only positive thing about practicing was that the sun was beating down on top of us and not directly in our faces, which was the case as the sun began to start setting at 5Pm - the start of the ceremony. The ceremony was an hour and a half and it was HOT! So much so that one guy in my company passed out due to dehydration (he was fine afterwards, and this is a regular occurrence at such ceremonies).

Invitations to the ceremony were given out a few weeks ago and it said that vi

sitors were able to come at 130 and that hte ceremony started at 5. Everyone was falsely misled because we thought that we would have free time to spend with the visitors during that time. I figured that we would have to start standing and waiting in our positions well before the ceremony started (4:20). What nobody expected was that directly after we finished practicing at 130, everyone had to go and do paperwork and register to the new battalion. This is where I finally found out where I would be going and when. The first thing I learned was at I had the weekend off and that I could actually go home after the ceremony (something that was still unknown). The second thing I learned was that I also get off next Thursday - 2 weekends in a row!!! I then found out what new company I will be going to: its name is ze'evim (wolves). Like the other companies in the battalion all are up guarding the lebanese border. I also found out that a fair amount of good people from my company are also going to ze'evim, so I will have friends there. Other than that I don' know much else.

After all the paperwork, I finally had an hour of free time. By 4 we had a quick platoon meeting before we had to line up for the start of the ceremony. So within that free time I finally got to ea

t lunch at 3PM, change uniforms, shine my boots and meet up with my cousins that came for the ceremony. In addition to my cousins, a friend from Toronto who was visiting in Jerusalem managed to make it out to the ceremony.

So after 7 months of training and a full day of standing out in the sun without shade what di I get besides a sunburn? I get my sicat lochem (warriors pin) which every combat soldier receives after finishing training. Below is the pin for the armored corps. As part of the ceremony, the commanders distribute the pins and pin them on our shirts. I wasn't just given a pin, but the company commander removed HIS pin from his shirt and pinned it onto mine. Definitely a huge sign of respect from the leader of the entire company.