End of Deployment

As we are nearing the end of our deployment period I figured it would be a good time to sum up the last few months. Although we are still stationed in the same general area, we have switched bases. This base is much more fun because it is only our unit, no high ranking officers snooping around and yelling at us. There is a much better atmosphere, and it’s also a tiny bit warmer which is important. We have still been doing much of the same vehicle patrols, driving back and forth, protecting contractors who work on the fence and in the neighboring areas.

The best part about this switch of bases has been one of the assignments associated with the base. Every weekend that I stayed on base was spent at a place very close to a natural hot spring. The atmosphere is great there and it’s super relaxed. Besides smelling like hard boiled eggs for weeks on end (because of the sulfur in the water) it’s the best place ever.

In between all the patrols and guard shifts we did all sorts of things. There were many shooting drills, lots of runs, some basketball, movies, and lots and lots of backgammon. I’m still terrible but I can win a game here and there. We had many weeks where we had to make our own food, which is both good and bad. Good because you can decide what you want to eat, bad because your options are limited to pasta, rice, and couscous, with hotdogs or processed schnitzel. Occasionally we would try to upgrade our meals, for example coating chicken breast with cornflakes.

We had a week long exercise where they took one makhlaka/tzevet (company/team) from every battalion in the brigade, and it was a sort of competition. The focus of the week was combat in dense forest and shrubbery. We also had a paintball exercise where one team was in charge of protective a building while another team was charged with breaking into and taking over the building. We were about half as many as the team we were attacking. We decided the best method would to just charge at the door all at once guns blazing. It worked. It scared the shit out of the guards and we ran right by everyone, shooting them. At one point we were pinned behind a corner. my friend grabbed a broken down door, looked at me, and I understood immediately what he wanted to do. We crouched down, holding the door in front of us as a shield and slowly advanced, with the whole team behind us. We destroyed the other team, and all the others teams could talk about the whole week was how crazy we were.

But there is always bad news too. Because of a bunch of bullshit that my officers had tried to explain to me a thousand times, I am being moved to a different tzevet. After all I did to fight to get back to my original team, I am being moved again. Another one of my friends who was a commander of a younger team for eight months is also being moved with me. Our officers told us it is because “we are responsible, good, leading soldiers” and they want us to have a good impact on the younger team. As much as it sucks to leave the team again, I’ll try to make the most of it. For the new team I had to go to a short course this week, which meant I slept at home every night, which was awesome because I got to see my whole family.

When we move to the training period, the oldest tzevet will be released from the army, leaving us the oldest in the company. They have a big influence on the vibe of the unit. No doubt the atmosphere will change, but we will have to fill their roles and step up to the plate. I am looking forward to the training period because you get to go home almost every weekend, and there’s a great atmosphere always.  Here are some more random pictures from the past few months

Shaul