A rather boring month

12th January, 2005

After 3 (short) days at home, I'm back at the base. Our conditions have suddenly changed:

Instead of 16/5 (16 days at the base, 5 days at home) it's going to be 11/3 with less soldiers to stay on weekends. That means that after each 8-9 hour roadblock each one of us has to guard 1.5-2 hours at the watchtower and that would leave us just about enough time to clean the base, eat dinner, take a shower and have some sleep.

No free time for reading books or watching DVDs.... yes, I've finally bought the DVD after scrubbing some more money from the battery. I bought a Vertex 312B for 500 NIS. Mahsanei Hashmal had only one remaining Vertex DVD for sale... the one that was on display! The guys didn't even agree to give me any discount, not even when I told them that it's being bought by soldiers' money and that the DVD is for the army.

I was really disappointed with that store, especially when we've discovered some malfunctioning.

Nevertheless, the DVD proved to be a success in the long term! Many soldiers watched movies and TV series after coming back from their guarding duties.

26th January, 2005

I was sent to the marksmen course in the Negev, back at the base where I had my basic training over a year ago.

I got sick 2 days ago and thought of going to the city officer (the one that gives soldiers the permission to stay at home if their problems are serious enough... or if they're good liars), but then I decided against it. As much as I wanted to miss the marksmen course, they've been planning on sending me here for over 2 months and I didn't want to disappoint them this way, even though I reaaaaaalllly hate this weapon!

When I arrived at the central station in Beer Sheva, I entered an electronics store to buy myself earphones for my mp3 cd player. That's where I met Vitaly. He was buying a beret in that shop.

He was my teammate when we were still in basic training. He used to be a pretty good marksman - he had this exact weapon and he's like never missed a targed. After passing the commanders course, he was assigned to be a shooting tutor back at the training base. I couldn't believe it, but my teammate was about to teach me how to become a marksman!

I can't believe I was given 500 bullets back in Qalqiliya to carry with me to the training base. It's a damn training base! They ought to have enough bullets, don't they? It smells like bureaucracy to me.

The training was only 1 week. We had a lot of time spent at the shooting range. There was another guy from B battery who was sent here to do the course. Only he was a young March '04 soldier. His name is Dor. He's a good, normal guy, unlike most of his 'zoo' battery.

We weren't only 2 soldiers in this course. We did it together with the rookies who've just joined the army - soldiers of Nov '04.

I expected to be treated with respect, but that wasn't the case. Above Vitaly and the other tutors stood a female officer of my age. She was July '03, I was August '03, yet she told me to do whatever all the rookies did - stand in formation, repeat the orders and so on. Yes, it was humiliating!

Lying down in the sand while shooting made us look as dirty and untidy as all the rookies.

There was one female rookie who started crying when she's missed her target. Poor girl, she shouldn't take it too seriously.

When we had to return to the base for lunch, 2 soldiers had to stay and guard all the eqipment. Nov '04 rookies demanded that either me or Dor stayed this time. There were 18 of them and only 2 of us. I'm sure not all of them had to volunteer and stay to guard.

But it was not my decision. Ehud was another tutor of ours. He was from March '02. He told us one of us should stay. "It's either you or him." Dor volunteered to stay, since he was a younger soldier than me. I was really angry at the decision! When I was a rookie, things were so much different...

We had a literal exam on the last day. I got 98 out of 100 and 86 was my final mark. In order to pass the course, you needed at least 70. Dor got 69, but they gave him a certificate anyway.

Taking a bus back to Beer Sheva wasn't an easy thing to do. There were like 80 soldiers waiting at the station. One bus came but didn't even stop as it was already full. Why did it bother coming here if he didn't even stop?

Another bus came. This time it was nearly empty. Everyone started pushing each other like animals, eager to get on that bus. All the desk-workers didn't have any heavy bags to put in the trunk so they were the first to occupy the seats.

It's usually the desk-workers who get first on the bus. The combat soldiers and whoever stays a long time at the base would sometimes have to wait for the next bus and hope to get on it for a change.

It was almost my turn to get on when I suddenly noticed that my beret was gone, thanks to all the pushing. I gave up my place in the queue and started looking for the beret, then I saw it stuck between two people who were on the bus. They didn't even notice that there's a beret between their bodies. I tried to get on the bus through the back door, but the bus was already full. The door closed right in front of me. It hit a soldier's leg and his magazine fell out of the weapon. The door reopened, but there wasn't a single millimeter where I could stand. I picked the magazine and gave it to him before the door closed again. The bus left and I had to wait for another one.

I tried to call Avi - he's one of the tutors who managed to get on the bus. He couldn't help me. He was on the other side of the bus and the bus was loaded with people. Shouting didn't help.

I got this beret from a 34km journey that marked the ending of basic training. Too bad I'd lost it so foolishly. Now I'll have to buy myself one. I remembered Vitaly buying a beret when I met him at the central station. I'll have to buy it, because if I get caught by the military police, I'll be punished.

An hour later there was another bus heading for Beer Sheva.

My commander had asked me to call him when I finish the course. He told me I'm heading to the home base in the Golan again for another week of guarding. I had to visit our base near Qalqiliya to pick my things before leaving for the Golan. At first I was in the center, then I was sent south and now I'm gonna head north.

When I visited the base, I asked if someone could borrow me a normal beret that I could use. (berets that you buy in shops are too embarrassing to wear. you need to shave them and wash them a lot to make the look normal.)

Michael, my officer, gave me his own and asked me to take a good care of it, because he received this beret from his commander as a sign of excellence after the last, 34km-long journey.

I said: "Don't worry, I had mine from basic training and I've never lost it." "but now you DID lose it." Yeah. I guess he's right. I love Michael for his good sense of humor and his positive attitude. He's really a great guy!

6th February, 2005

It's Sunday. Desk-workers came back from home.

10:40am - my cellphone wakes me up.
12:30pm - I go to the dining room for lunch.
01:00pm - Uh oh! No cellphone!

It was nowhere to be found. There were no doubts that it was stolen.

I suspect Kobi. He's a guy from B battery. I know him from basic training. He's the criminal type... stealing things, hitting people. The funniest thing about him is that he pretends to be friendly.

He once told us that one of his parents is in jail, that he used to take drugs...

He was in his room during lunch. I remember how he warned me & the others to keep our room and bags locked at all times because he doesn't trust the desk-workers who reside with us.

Ron, a new guy from my battery decided to help me. He decided to search Kobi's bags when he wasn't around. Then he and I unlocked 2 rooms of desk-workers and took a look around. I decided not to search their bags though.

I told the commander about the theft and about Kobi being a suspect. I asked him not to let Kobi know about it, but he told him anyway. I later found out that Kobi was trying to help me by searching for my cellphone, but then he stopped when he found out I was suspecting him. But maybe that was just another lie, to make him look less of a suspect.

Ariel, our regiment's discipline commander wanted to call a special interrogation agency that deals with theft and criminal offenses in the army, but they told him they don't deal with cases like that in which the stolen property is less than 5,000 NIS worth.

The cellphone was never found. It was kind of old anyway - A Samsung 624. It had a partially broken display. The thing is it wasn't insured and my mom still had to pay 700 NIS for it.

* * * * *

The bunker is a large field, surrounded by fence. There are trenches with ammunition all around it. It's perfectly fine to guard over there during daylight, but as the night falls, it becomes a perfect spot to shoot a horror movie.

Foxes walk around, their eyes gleaming in the moonlight. Their howls send a chill down your spine. There is absolutely no light, so you can't see anything unless you bring a flashlight with you. You can only hear strange noises, some movement around you, but you can't see what it is. You're all alone and everybody eslse is asleep.

Soldiers don't dare going to the bunker at nights, especially when you have guard there alone. One visit there was enough for me to decide, once and for all, to never go over there again.

Monday night... Instead of guarding at the bunker, people go to some empty room to sleep, hoping they wouldn't get caught, that no one would visit the bunker at night.

I went to C battery's barracks. They're the closest to the bunker. It's a U-shaped corridor of 12 rooms, most of them are locked.

I entered the 4th room on the left side of the corridor. There's light, there are 4 double beds to sit on. I put the weapon aside, put my vest on the floor and take out Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code" from the pouch inside the vest.

I sit there and read Da Vinci's code, letting my guarding time pass by. I sit by the window. It's slightly open so I could hear if anyone's coming. The door is closed.

Suddenly, I hear some talking... footsteps... it gets closer! Someone's in the corridor! 2 guys.

I sit quietly, trying not to move at all. The room is empty and so every move makes a lot of noise.

I can hear them twisting the handle of one of the doors in the corridor. They're going from the right side. Locked. Locked. Locked. Another one locked... I go for the weapon, helplessly trying to wear the vest before they catch me here.

I see the door handle move. That's it! The guy twists the handle, but the door won't open!!! He keeps trying over and over again. My heart beats like never before! Then he leaves the handle and moves on to the next door.

Within a minute they were gone. Phew! Even then, I kept standing there for a couple of minutes, not capable of comprehending what had just happened.

A few minutes later, I opened the door and realized why the door didn't open: there was no handle on the other side of the door! There was only a metallic cylinder showing out. When I entered this room, the door was already open. I closed it from inside, when there's a handle, but no one could open it from outside. Phew! That was lucky!

After about an hour, I saw a car passing near the barracks. It could've been on its way to the bunker. What if they're looking for me?

I decided to go to the bunker to see if the car headed that way. As I approached the entrance gate, I saw a heavy cloud of dense mist, blocking my sight. I couldn't even see the bushes a feet away, it was crazy! I might not find my way back to the base. I changed my mind and went back to the barracks.

I still remember how once a fox chased me out of the bunker's watchtower. It was protecting its baby-foxes who were kept warm inside the watchtower. I could still hear its howl, getting louder with ever moment, giving me goosebumps. I could not see it, but I could hear it coming closer, howling louder.

People say that Guy Hever, a soldier who mysteriously disappeared and had never been found since, was guarding at this exact bunker the day he disappeared back in 1997.

10th February, 2005

It's thursday morning. I finished guarding and got dressed, ready to go home. Something's missing..... oh, no! Not the beret again! The beret?! It can't be! I've hid it deep inside my bag. I've looked for it everywhere, but I couldn't find it.

I had to borrow a beret again from a guy who came here to replace me. Michael wasn't happy to know I'd lost his, yet he kept smiling. I really felt bad about it. He found himself a different one and I later found myself one as well. Still, I couldn't help feeling really bad about it.