Weeks 28 + 29 – שבוע מלחמה + מסע קומטא

Where to even begin. The end of the training, the final challenge, the last push in this crazy 7 month journey. It’s easier writing this now in hindsight, knowing how difficult Shavua milchama actually was as opposed to what I thought it would be. I’ll go into everything we did throughout the 10 days, but that was the main takeaway: we all hyped it up too much in our minds. It ended up being very manageable. There were definitely difficult moments, and you’re not sleeping or eating well throughout (there were stretches of 45 hours where I slept 2 hours), but after a few days you get used to your reality in the shetach and it all becomes doable. 

It started Saturday night at 3 AM. We woke up, surprisingly of our own accord and not with a hakpatza, and after a quick misdar of our tziud, waited around in the pluga before leaving on a tiyulit to the shetach.

As soon as we disembarked from the bus, we got into two lines for the start of the first drill. No time wasted. But, before we started walking in formation, the car of the Machat (Mefaked Chativa) pulled up, and through a rolled down window, he shouted “AZAR!” (The acronym for Oyev Zorek Rimon, in other words, a grenade was just thrown at you). We all scattered and took cover. When we got up, he shouted “Welcome to Shavua Milchama” and drove off. Starting off with a bang.

Funnily enough, in the first drill, we actually did start off with a bang… and we weren’t supposed to. Every drill starts first with a dry run and then a wet (with live bullets) run. During this drill, the very first of 10 days of nonstop drilling, one of the soldiers in my machlaka fired a live explosive. Thankfully, it was early on in the drill and no soldiers were near the target, but still a really bad mistake. We had to stop the drill and had a safety talk from the מ״פ instead of continuing. Tzahal takes drill safety very seriously.

We marched 1 kilometer to a strip of fake buildings for the next drill. We thought it was a normal drill but after a few minutes a “terrorist” came and shot at multiple people leaving 10 injured. We quickly scrambled into rescue mode, working to evacuate the injured and running through the whole procedure for dealing with this sort of situation.

We then marched 7 km to do a maarav chafuz (lookout circle) at the next stop. We waited there for nightfall to start the next drill, switching between guarding and relaxing every 7 minutes. While we waited, the chopel told the group of guys next to me the entire schedule for the next 10 days. This would become a common theme throughout shavua milchama: trying to get as much information as possible about everything we’d be doing. Where were we sleeping, what drills were next, how long of a march would we be doing that day. We wanted to know as much as we could to mitigate and diminish the mental factor.

During that first nighttime drill, we had another mishap. After the “wet” drill, we convened at the bottom of the hill to do a headcount before continuing onto the next location. We got to #24 and heard no response. We called out for him. Who had seen him last? Who was his partner during the drill? One minute passed. Two minutes. We sent out his mefaked and a few guys to the hill where we did the drill to search for him. Turns out, he had fallen asleep while in a lying down position. How he was already that tired on only the first day of shavua milchama, I dont know. But the gravity of what he’d done couldn’t be forsaken and as punishment, the mefaked machlaka made us carry him on a stretched for the first kilometer of our next nesigah. Thats the army’s approach – punishing your friends for something you did will make you less likely to do it again than just punishing you.

We walked 7 km back to the strip of buildings for a night drill and afterwards walked 9 km to a nap area. After being awake for 24 hours, we were given 2 hours to nap (from 4:30-6:30 AM). All in all, we walked 33 km during the first day of shavua milchama.

————————
Monday
We started right away, after the two hour nap, understandably very tired. Important to note also that for the entirety of the 10 days, we’re not allowed to take our equipment off. That means, even while sleeping, we keep our vests and knee pads on (helmets we can take off)

Before Shavua milchama I was worried about the cold. That was the hardest part of the shvuot shetach before: the rain and wind and cold. I bought thermal gear, brought heating pads, and was mentally preparing myself for 10 days of torture. You can imagine my surprise when, Monday midday, we had a severe heat warning.

The mefakdim told us it was chadal chom 2, which I thought meant we wouldn’t be doing anything for a bit, but I guess not. We continued drilling as normal, they just made sure we drank water.

A friend of mine in the Machlaka had already not been feeling well since the start, but insisted on continuing to drill. We all saw how the heat was already exacerbating his weariness and overall state and urged him not to. We didn’t want him to get a makat chom and have to leave. He stayed as maazin during the drill, still standing in the heat though. After the drill, as we walked back to do a chet, he collapsed. We rushed into the protocol, removing his clothes and dumping water on him. The Chopel arrived quickly, dealt with him, and evacuated him to the base.

We walked a couple of kilometers to an area where we set up our tziud and sleeping mats in a chet and then went to sleep for 8 hours at 4 pm. I couldn’t fall asleep, so I listened to music on my mp3 for a bit. I ended up sleeping only 2 and a half hours.

So. A quick recap. In the first two days, I walked about 45 kilometers and slept 4. Someone fired a live round during a sterile drill, another person fell asleep during a live fire drill, and another person got heat stroke and collapsed. We were off to a great start.

Every day of Shavua milchama was jam packed, so I’ll run quickly through what happened and share thoughts overall on the week.

Tuesday:
– Midnight wake up to drill in the freezing cold
– Took a tiyulit (shocking during Shavua milchama where walking is part of the program) 18 km to another location for a drill with smoke grenades
– I haven’t shot a bullet during any of the drills and had a feeling I wouldn’t since my class was always in the back of the attack formation
– walked 4 km to another drill where we spent 4 hours, first running through the dry run multiple times and then doing live fire
– Our Mefaked realized the dry run had our class sit in a ditch for about an hour before our turn to move, so during the live fire run, he smoked with some of the guys
– Our Mefaked was also fed up that our class didn’t really have a tafkid during any drill so far and complained to the מ”מ. The מ”מ spoke to us about how kita bets job is to follow behind kita alephs attack and that yes, it means we wouldn’t be doing as much, but it’s still important
– we walked 7 km to the next drill – capturing a hill in the forest
– the drill became a huge פינוי פצועים with the מ”מ and two מכי”ם falling injured. We had to train how to take command when the commanders fall.

Wednesday:
– the start of תרפ”לים: תרגיל פלוגתי
– we knew these would take longer since it’s the entire pluga doing a drill – more time waiting around for your turn
– waited around two hours in maarav chafuz before even starting the drill while the ktzinim did a walkthrough of the drill (I think for safety/understanding)
– The dry/wet run went from 9 AM to 4 PM – Tarpalim burn through the whole day
– waited for nightfall and then did the same drill dry/wet at night. It’s so freezing outside

Thursday:
– took a tiyulit back to base and got on buses to go to Tzeelim (mini Gaza)
– the nap during the 2 hour ride on a warm bus was one of the sweetest naps I’ve ever had
– as soon as we disembarked, we started marching towards tzeelim, 5k, as the start of a tarpal
– section where we waited a long time during the dilugim and everyone fell asleep
– drill took 8 hours – capturing different houses throughout
– during the lunch break, staked out in a room, a “terrorist” ran by the window and yelled RPG
– we sprang into action, dealing with a lot of injured
– went to bed at 5 since we’d be doing a Tarpal Layla

Friday:
– woke up at 1:45 to do the Tarpal of capturing 3 houses (freezing cold)
– after the drill, walked two kilometers to another location for a targil machlakti
– nearly a week into Shavua Milchama, and I still haven’t fired a bullet because of the tafkid of my kita/Machlaka
– walked 1 Km to an area nearby where a whole camp had been set up for the entire chativat tzanchanim for shabbat
– there were tents, porta potties, cots – it was 10x better than the conditions of the past week
– we were given BBQ for lunch and bags of snacks for Shabbat

Shabbat:
– Slept a TON
– motzei shabbat packed up camp and headed back to mini-Gaza for another Tarpal Layla of capturing a building that took 8 hours

Sunday:
– Bayit Vehagana (staying in a house and protecting it with shmirot) on the building we captured Saturday night
– 2 hours into this shmira schedule, someone shouts ” Mechabel” and we all, groggily wake up from our mini cat naps
– we deal with the Mechabel then walk back to the shabbat base camp to help completely pack up
– we take a bus back to an area 1km outside of Bach Tzanchanim and start a drill to walk back to an area in the shetach to sleep

– incredibly cold and I only had a thin blanket

Monday:
– woke up and immediately walked 500 meters to start the Tarpal
– the fact that it’s the last day hasn’t hit me yet
– there are rumors of a hakpatza tonight, and we were given food bags for 36 hours, so it makes sense
– didn’t do anything during the Tarpal, and then was given 2 hours to nap, which means we won’t be sleeping tonight
– walked back to the pluga (weird to be back on base after all this time) and did a couple of hours of practice for the tekes after the masa kumta
– “hakpatza” to shomriya – a drill to simulate oct. 7 where terrorists were taking over a kfar
– as soon as we got there, after a 2 hour march, my kita was selected to wait back outside of the kfar and guard the bags. We didn’t take part in the drill
– of course, the night was freezing and it rained for the first time throughout Shavua milchama

Tuesday
– Marched 5 km in the freezing rain to tents that were set up in the shetach
– we got there at 3 am and were told we were waking up at 6 for a drill – ppl didn’t have changes of clothes or sleeping bags and were freezing throughout the 3 hour nap
– at 6 AM started the drill; some people were kicked out of the drill because they were wearing a jacket and nothing underneath, since their shirts were still soaked from the rain march the night before
– I finally shot my first bullet during the absolute last drill of Shavua milchama
– after the drill, 5k walk back to the pluga with stretchers, as the final act of Shavua milchama
– there were rumors we’d be sleeping again out in the shetach – thank gd, as soon as we got back to the pluga, those rumors were discarded. We’d be sleeping well the night before the masa kumta. We actually got 8 hours of sleep, in a nice warm room with a bed. What a dream

And just like that, Shavua Milchama was done. It didn’t feel real. We had built it up in our minds for so long, had conjured fears and worries for it, that for it to be behind us felt like we had escaped something. I had tricked this week into passing by quickly. Now there was only one challenge remaining: the masa kumta.

I didn’t feel worried about the masa kumta at all; it was just time walking. But every kilometer you progress, every step you take, you’re that much closer to finishing. Not just the masa kumta, but all of training. All the hardships and difficulties and the mindset and conditions of a trainee – you’ve finished with. You get to be in the gdud, where you finally feel more human.

The masa kumta went well. We all reduced the weight in our packs, the mefakdim knew this and went along with it. It was cold, of course, but the only real challenge was the time. 14 hours of walking. Breaks about every hour; We snacked on candy and sweets throughout.

After the stretcher portion, carrying 80 kilo 4 kilometers, we stopped. There were 2 kilometers left of the masa and we were entering Jerusalem. I started to cry, thinking about the reunion with my family who I hadn’t seen in half a year. I couldn’t wait to hug them, to finish this crazy march and crazy 7 months walking hand in hand with them.

As we marched, and I saw other families embrace, the excitement grew. Finally, in the distance, I saw my family.  My little sister, Ariella, flew in to surprise me. I was exhausted and leaned on them throughout the end. There’s no feeling like it, finishing this crazy experience with your family by your side. One of the greatest nights of my life – I’ll never forget it.

We got to givat hatachmoshet for the final ceremony. I was asked to speak at a small chayal boded thing and then the ceremony started. The מ”פ surprised me by giving me the beret off his shoulder, a sign of respect. I couldn’t believe it.

I’s surreal to see us all with the red beret we worked so hard for.  I can’t believe it.

In a weird way, it hasn’t even hit me that I’m in the army yet. I think it’s because I’ve been in survival mode for the past 7 months: get back to base and get through this morning, this day, this week, until you get back home to your real life on the outside. Like the army was always a bad dream or a crazy experience but not something that was actually real. Let’s see if being in the gdud changes that. With more time to breathe, more personal freedoms, more of a life being lived and not just running from place to place without time to stop and breathe.

After the tekes, I took a NICE shower, and headed to modiin for a family BBQ.

I had a great sleep back in my Jerusalem apartment and on Friday I met up with a friend for breakfast and went to a Spa in Jerusalem with cousins. I got a message and spent some time in the wet sauna, dry sauna, and ice bath doing everything I could to bring my body back to normal and ease away the fatigue and soreness of the past two weeks. 

We headed to Modiin for what we thought would be a restful Shabbat. Little did we know, the US and Israel would attack Iran. I got one day of rest, I guess. I’m a fully fledged צנחן in צה”ל. The real work starts now.