March 5
“Here, David. Take this,” the general of our platoon said. “You were chosen to represent us on this march in this way.” He handed me a giant Israeli flag, one that I was supposed to raise and carry with me, with us, for our 22 kilometer march. This was the march of all marches for every fighter in the Israeli army – the march for the new beret.
Every soldier along their path starts with a pretty ugly beret the color of olive/throw-up green and at some point most earn a new color specific to their unit. It’s a very monumental moment for most fighters because it means (for everyone but the tanks unit) that they are finishing advanced training. For us, it meant we were about to move on to advanced training, and 22 kilometers was more than enough for me.
We all covered ourselves in war paint on our faces and were told this one was to be done with no help from lights (with no moon) and with the last five kilometers with someone on the stretcher. At this point one might be thinking the same thing I somewhat did at this moment: who wants to go and march (with a good amount of running) 22 kilometers, five of them being with a stretcher…all for a black beret?!? Well, for all of us, we somehow found the motivation, albeit the weather was 50 degrees with wind on the night of the masa (Hebrew for journey or march). Maybe it was brotherhood. Maybe it was friendship. Maybe it was Israel. No matter what it was, we found it and we were all going to do this together. It didn’t matter if we had stress fractures in our legs like yours truly or the flu – we were going to arrive back at the base ready to receive our new berets together.
As always for me, the beginnings of the marches are the hardest part. I don’t really know why, but there is a point in the march where the pain just goes away and you say to yourself, “I’ve already done this much what’s another 15 kilometers or so?” At each rest stop, I didn’t find myself searching for water but rather for a place to stretch my legs. It would be one thing if we just went for 22 kilometers – but you do it with a vest on, 116 bullets, helmet, water, one’s gun, and any extra additions (such as a flag, water jug, stretcher, and communication box). However, we arrived to the last stop with only the five kilometers of stretcher carrying remaining and I felt a second wind. That’s when I really knew that I wasn’t going to just finish, but do so in a vigorous style.
As we continuously screamed to re-motivate ourselves up the final hills, a smile filled my face. This was really one of the things the army is all about – coming together as a group to accomplish a task or mission. We were doing it, and when we arrived at the steps where the ceremony was taking place, we started yelling in song, proud of who we are, what we have become, and who we will be soon as a unit. We had done it, and it was reaffirmed that we really could do anything when it came down to it.
The weeks leading up to this big march were probably the hardest I had encountered so far in the army. One week saw most of the drivers leave to do guarding at a relatively nice tank base and finish their training while myself and three others were left to help run exercises in the fields for the shooters of the tanks. That meant sitting four hours straight in a tank one day and seven straight the next. It then was followed with a week filled with many hours of guarding in the middle of the night in fairly cold weather, something that causes you to become sick and think a lot. I like time to think, but sometimes this can make someone think negative thoughts, especially when one doesn’t feel well. This is when it takes some serious mental strength to make it through these times, knowing that just making it through that day may be a struggle but that a new day is on the horizon. And you know what? I did make it through and now I feel ready for situations like that in the future…and I am sure I will stumble upon them again.
The next step in my journey is advanced training, a very demanding and tiring three month stretch that includes many nights in the fields and sleeping even in the tanks. But in the meantime, my life is moving along nicely and I’m enjoying myself while accomplishing many things. I recently passed my Israeli driver’s license test and now can drive alongside the other crazy drivers in this country. In addition, along with finishing this part of the training, I received a tank driver’s license. This may sound odd but it is actually legitimate and I can drive the tank at my leisure if I so choose. That is something I would have never thought I would hold in my possession. But that is what makes this experience so great – it’s a wild ride with new opportunities that when put all together, it equals the education necessary to help defend this country and its people. In the end, that is what it comes down to, and that notion of the Jewish nation is worth continuing to strive for.
