A moral army

When armies begin to train combat soldiers, the main focus is on providing them with the skills necessary to fight the enemy. Soldiers are taught to shoot, run in formation, and treat wounded comrades. In this respect, the IDF is no different than any other army in the world. What separates this army from the rest is the moral emphasis placed on our training.

During my three months in the army, I have sat in multiple classes dealing with the humanitarian and moral aspects of military service. The IDF teaches its soldiers that there are certain orders that must be refused. Needlessly causing lasting physical harm to civilians is one such example. "Just following orders" is an unacceptable answer here.

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The mental challenges

It took two months, but I finally finished tironut (basic training).  If there's anything that this first period in the army has taught me, it's just how much the key to success is mental. You learn to deal with the physical challenges fairly quickly. Eating rations for weeks on end, sleeping with someone else in a ditch, waking up to guard a couple of times a night, long marches with equipment and the many training exercises are all things that most people can handle.

The real test is whether or not you can live with the constant pressure placed on you by your commanders, the other guys in your unit and the general army environment.  Everything you do, from going to the bathroom to setting up targets for a firing range, must be completed in the amount of time allotted by the commander. A simple misstep by you, might lead not only to your own punishment, but to that of the entire group. Overnight, you cease to be an individual living in a modern Western democracy, and instead become a soldier with essentially no personal freedom. The stark differences between army and civilian life are highlighted by visits home, and it is often difficult to regain your balance when moving between these opposite worlds.

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Israeli teenagers to Israeli soldiers

I've been in the army for three weeks now, and I must say that I've been working hard. I've fired countless rounds in target practice, marched outside of the base with a bunch equipment on me, and learned about first aid and many other facets of soldiering. 

But all of that is what a soldier does, not what a soldier is. First and foremost, a soldier is someone who puts the good of someone else before his own.

Our commanders have expended much of our energy while trying to instill a sense of camraderie. For instance, when we are given time to perform a task, if even one person is only one second late, we are all punished. At meals no one is allowed to eat until everyone is seated with food.

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New recruit

There are a few milestones in a person's life that serve as markers, separating that person's life before and after that event. A wedding, the birth of a firstborn immediately spring to mind. I am currently on the verge of such a milestone event.
 
In approximately 7 days, I will take my place amongst the proud generations of Jews, who since the founding of the modern State of Israel, have had the right to join the Israel Defense Force and so defend the Jewish People and their land. The knowledge that I will now share in the burden of defending the State carries with it no small responsibility.

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