Becoming A Sniper Instructor

The Basics:

After finishing the course to become and infantry instructor 8 of us were placed as sniper instructors. In addition to the 8 of us girls, 3 guys joined us in the course to become certified as sniper instructors as well. The guys joined the course for different reasons. One could no longer be a combat soldier due to health issues, another requested the position after being unhappy with his placement after completing commanders training, and the third is a volunteer who requested the position as well.

Running the course was our Officer, Eshed. Working below him were three sniper instructors, Kelly, Naama, and Gal. The girls had been in the position long enough to now train us.

The course to become certified as sniper instructors is a total of two and a half months. The first month and a half we take the course at the level of a soldier. In other words, we take the course exactly as we will eventually teach it. At the end of the month and a half we are certified as snipers. The last month then prepares us to be instructors.

The Base:

The course takes place on a base called "Mitkan Adam." Most of the instructors remain on that base to certify soldiers as snipers. Some instructors move to one of 2 other bases to work with reserves.

Supposedly we arrived to the base at a good time because it is finally undergoing long overdue renovations. Living there however, in the midst of those renovations, I cannot say I felt those benefits.

Lets begin with the river running through the middle of the base, "Nahal Matof." Sure, like many of Israel's "rivers" Nahal Matof is for the most part a dried out indent in the ground. Still, once every ten or so years it rains hard enough to fill the river, causing some major problems on the base. That once every ten or so years turned out to be this year. 

It rained and stormed  and our little river carried the water from Jerusalem to the Ayalon. The base lost hot water and electricity. We won a few days at home in our warm beds.

A few nights at home in my room on the Kibbutz cannot even be compared to the tent we slept in on base. The 8 of us girls shared a tent throughout the course while the guys had a real room.

The cots in our tent drooped low, the sides of the tent flew up with the wind, we learned which areas of the tent flooded when it rained at night, and spent a good hour at least once a week pulling the corners of the tent tighter in a sad attempt to deal with all of these problems.

The one gem in this living arrangement was the bathroom. It was a convenient few steps from the tent, had enough sinks for each of us to have two, 4 bathroom stalls, and 5 showers. The downside (you knew there had to be one) was that 2 weeks into the course a plumbing issue caused years of toilet contents to somehow rise up through the plumbing in our showers. From then until the end of the course we had to make a trek in the cold with all of our shower supplies up the hill to other showers.

The list of logistical issues on the base goes on... 

The Course:

The Course, Week One: We sign off on all kinds of sniper gear from the M-24 sniper gun to telescopes and night vision equipment. We are officially absorbed at the base and have our first lessons on the basics of the gun and equipment.

The Course, Weeks Two, Three, and Four: We learn in depth about the M-24, about the job of the spotter, and are assigned partners who we work with throughout the entire course. We learn how to direct our partner to the target, how to shoot both in the open field and from inside a building. We learn how to measure both the distance to a target and the wind. We learn how to make the proper adjustments to the gun according to these measurements. We learn how to make corrections if the first shot doesn't hit the target, how to adjust when shooting a moving target, how to shoot not just lying down but standing using a tripod, sitting using a tripod, sitting using a table, lying on a table, and practiced with exercises of all this both during the day and at night. Each week begins with a few lessons in the classroom but is mostly made up of work in one of the various shooting ranges.

During those three weeks we have 2 exercises where we practiced as if in a real life situation instead of in the shooting range. We set out in the night with all of our equipment on our backs, our faces painted for camouflage, rehearsing every step from the start to entering the post, preparations, waiting for orders, shooting, packing up everything, and hurrying quietly away. 

We had "patience shooting" as well. Everyone is assigned a number and a corresponding target. We lie in a row in the shooting range waiting to hear our number, always ready and on our target. When your number is called you have 2 seconds to shoot. Time goes by in silence. Our Officer begins telling stories. The first number is called an hour and a half into us waiting. We finish after three hours.

The Course, Week Five: We begin learning about another sniper gun, the Barak. We learn about the gun itself and the equipment that goes along with it. We begin shooting with the gun both day and night. We learn different tactics of sniping with more than one gun and practice them in groups of four.

The Course, Week Six: We continue shooting with the Barak. We practice on moving targets and continue with more techniques of shooting. The majority of the week is spent in special shooting exercises. 

The Course, Weeks Seven and Eight: We begin the second half of the course to become instructors. Everyone is assigned lessons from the course to study and teach to the rest of the group. After every lesson we are then taught in depth on each topic. At the end of every week is a test on the new material. The course is cut 2 weeks short and we finish after 2 months instead of 2 and a half months. We have a ceremony marking the end of the course and our certification as sniper instructors. 

The night before we ordered pizza and celebrated with our staff.

Post Course:

Me and one of the other girls form the course, Shir, switch bases to work on Tzeilim. We will now be working with reserves for a week at a time, doing a refresher course with them and practicing everything they learned back in the course. Most of the reserves range from the age of 22-28. 

For the first 2 weeks me and Shir mostly observe the 2 instructors who are already there and start working ourselves in the third week. A typical week begins with us getting to the base by 1pm on Sunday. My kibbutz is 15 minutes away so I now have lunch every Sunday with my host mom on the kibbutz before going back to the army. Sunday the reserves arrive on base and need to "become soldiers" again. They sign off on uniforms and equipment. Sunday evening one of us teaches a lesson (about an hour and a half long) that goes over everything the snipers need to know, a sort of refresher lesson. Monday we ride out to the shooting range and practice everything they should know but usually need to work on. 

Tuesday is either more sniper shooting or a Targil a sort of exercise with the army imitating a combat situation. 

Wednesday is usually another exercise. We observe the snipers during the exercise so we can later give them tips and help them improve. Thursdays we almost always leave base in the morning to head home.

The base itself is huge. The Shekem which on most bases is a small stand where you can buy some junk food is literally the size of a grocery store. Because there are so few instructors our Mador is made up of different types of infantry instructors (some girls from my first course and others who have been in the army longer but passed through that course as well). 

Garin and Kibbutz Urim Stuff:

Every weekend on kibbutz at 5pm on Friday the Garin has Maagal Shabbat followed by our shortened version of Kabbalat Shabbat. We begin by going around in a circle giving everyone the chance to share what they did that week in the army. It was started by Ami, our Rakaz on kibbutz but has become a tradition that we all love.

Friday night dinner I always eat with my host family. After dinner and coffee I eventually head to the Kibbutz Pub with the two older boys in my host family, Tal and Shir, who have become two of my closest friends here on Kibbutz. 

About a month ago we celebrated Purim here on the Kibbutz which was a lot of fun. There was a Purim party in the pub and most of the Kibbutz came. 

Last weekend was our Garin Shabbat. Garin Tzabar ensures that on Garin Shabbat everyone is home from the army. My friend Ariel basically planned our entire schedule. Thursday night we all met in Beer Sheva at the VIP movie theater. There was a buffet dinner with wine and we saw the movie OZ in our own theater. 

Friday morning we started with a tour and explanation of the agricultural research facility of the Negev. This was something our Rakaz Ami really wanted us to do. It turned out to be really interesting and we got to taste some delicious strawberries. 

This was followed by an afternoon at the spa in all of the mineral pools. We ate Friday night dinner in the dinning hall with all of our families and set up a cafe outside with coffee and cakes for all of the Kibbutzniks. Of course there was pub Friday night. Saturday evening we held a potluck dinner for all of our host families thus concluding the weekend. 

I now have a break from the army for Passover. I spent Seder with our cousins in Jerusalem and now on kibbutz.

More to come . . .

The Last Two Weeks of the Course

The Course, Week 6:

On Sunday morning instead of going back to the base as we usually would, all 71 of us met at the central bus station in Tel Aviv. We spent the day touring other bases where depending on our job placements we could end up serving. On each base we heard from girls about one of the 14 different jobs.

When we returned to our base at around 9pm we stood in formation ready to be released for the night. Before being let go two girls were chosen to light the Hanukah candles. We all sang the blessings and a few other Hanukah songs with our arms around each other.

This week was the last week for us to be assigned weapons or equipment and give lessons. The object of this last round of lessons was to learn and practice dealing with difficult soldiers. Every lesson was 50 minutes long and the commanders and officers entered the lessons as if they were soldiers. Not one girl got through the basic introductory information of her lesson. The commanders climbed on the equipment (when it was a vehicle), sang and danced in the middle of the lesson, insisted on playing music from their phones, slept through lessons, and many more ridiculous stunts. In one of the lessons in my class, my commander actually locked herself in the vehicle, popped her head up through an opening on the top and screamed "save me" over and over again. This was truly the week with the most laughter and in the end we also learned a lot about how to deal with different kinds of soldiers.

Thursday night at 11pm  we were ready to be released for our hour before bed. We had woken up that morning at 5 to be able to watch a group of combat soldiers practicing with live ammunition. At 11pm Girls were literally falling asleep standing up when the commanders announced that it was Lilah Lavan (White Night). We wouldn't be going to sleep any time soon. White Night meant staying up all night to clean the Plooga (our living area). We carried all of the cubbies and bunk beds out of the rooms, scraped rust off the bathroom floor, and cleaned every inch of where we lived. All this was done with music to keep us going, and of course set amounts of time for each task until 4:15am when the head officer came to check all of the rooms. We stood at attention in our rooms while she made her rounds before releasing us for the night.

The weekend was our last on the base all together. We spent a lot of time as a class (12 girls in each class) and got together gifts for our commander to give her after the ceremony. After Shabbat all that was left was "breaking distance" (after 2 months of knowing only our commander's name we would finally get to know her and talk to her on a more personal level) and the ceremony.

The Course, Week 7: 

Most of the last week of the course was spent returning equipment, cleaning up, and of course finally getting to know our commanders and officers (the night before the ceremony we "broke distance"). 

Wednesday afternoon was the day of the ceremony. Families came with food and found space in our plooga to sit and eat before the ceremony began. 

My mom flew in from America just to be here for this day. She came to the ceremony with our family friend, my Tanta Rena. 

My host family from the Kibbutz came as well as one of my best friends Aviva Mandell. At the ceremony I received a green lanyard worn around my arm, marking my job as an instructor. I also received two stripes to be worn on the side of my arm, usually given to girls after 8 months of service. We however received this at the end of the course in order to give us more authority over the soldiers we would be teaching.

The day after the ceremony, Thursday, was Yom Shibutzim (Job Placement Day). They chose to wait until the day after the ceremony to tell all the girls where they would be placed to avoid girls being unhappy during the ceremony. All 71 of us stood outside a classroom waiting to be called in. Behind us girls stood cheering. Girls had come from the various jobs to welcome us into their Mador (department).

Starting with the first class, one by one girls were called into the classroom. In the classroom sat a row of commanders and officers. They gave a drumroll before shouting out your job. They would then stand with you by the door, open the door to the faces of your friends waiting to hear where you had been placed, and again shout out your job, this time for everyone to hear.

Girls came out of that room crying. Some were tears of joy and some of disappointment. Mine were tears of pure joy. I was placed as a sniper instructor, the job I most wanted. Nine of us would be moving bases to a base in the center of the country where we would be joined by 4 boys who had for one reason or another fallen from their combat positions to take a 2 and a half month course before beginning our job teaching soldiers to become snipers. 

That afternoon after meeting with the Officer in charge of my new course I went home to the Kibbutz for the weekend. So many of my friends from my Garin were home from the army for the weekend. We had Kabbalat Shabbat together as we did every Friday night when we were home and shared a little of each of our experiences. Of course we all went to the Kibbutz pub friday night as well.

Sunday morning I travelled to my new army base, signed some papers, and was released for a week off! The 9 of us girls starting the course together had lunch in Tel Aviv before setting off for a relaxing week.

I am spending my week mostly relaxing on the Kibbutz, meeting with friends in Tel Aviv, and traveling up North to visit my friend Barri at her dance program on Kibbutz Gaaton!

More to come . . .

Snippets of my Army Experience

Starting with the basics:

I drafted into a course to become an instructor of infantry soldiers. I began with 2 and a half weeks of basic training which lead into a month and a half long course. This is the portion I am in now. On December 19th I'll have a ceremony marking the end of this course. The following day I'll receive my placement into one of the specific jobs falling under the umbrella of "infantry instructor." 

This could include: shooting instructor, sniping instructor, instructor for one of the various army vehicles, missiles, navigation, and much more. Once placed into a specific job I'll have another course before beginning to teach the combat soldiers.

There are 72 girls in total going through the course together now. Together we are a plooga. The plooga is broken down into 2 machlakot of 36 girls in each. The machlakot are each broken down into 3 classes with 12 girls in each class. 

The day of my Giyus (drafting)

October 17th, Two Weeks of Basic Training:

My first day in the army, after hours spent being "processed" by the army, moving through stations for shots, fingerprints, Id, uniform, and much more, we finally arrived at our base (near Yerucham in Southern Israel). We were met by orders to go through more stations, logistics stuff on the base. Tired from the long day my attention span for Hebrew was fading. 

"YOU!" a large bellied officer calls as he points at me. "COME HERE!" I hurry quickly over. "Whats your name?" he demands. "Sarah." "Sarah, do you know how to put on a belt?" "What?" I wonder if I am understanding his Hebrew right. "Do you know how to put on a belt?!" he repeats. "Yes," I respond confused. "Are you sure?" "Yes," I answer unsure. He points to my belt loop where my belt wasn't threaded through, "fix yourself." 

I returned from the bathroom where I fixed my belt and stood in line at one of the stations. "Sarah!" I heard the large bellied officer yell again. I turned around. "Did you learn how to put on a belt?" I checked myself quickly. "Did you learn how to put on a belt?!" he demanded again. This time I had missed a loop in the back.

(I wrote the following on some scrap paper in the midst of my last week of basic training before beginning the course:)

I sit facing the cardboard targets after shooting with my M16 for the first time during training. I am waiting for the other girls to finish shooting. These are some of the only free minutes I've had since starting basic training aside from the 1 hour a night to shower, make my bed, and use my phone.

These 2 weeks of basic training have been challenging to say the least. Always short periods of time to move from place to place, always somewhere to be, someone to listen to, standing, sitting, saluting in the right way at the right time to the right people. A lot of us being yelled at. 

Still, after finally getting used to the maximum 6 hours of sleep a night and strict discipline, I find myself enjoying this challenge.

My first picture in uniform

November 1st, Oath Ceremony Marking the End of Basic Training:

We finished basic training with a masa (journey) lead by our commander. Each class of 12 girls has their own masa lead by their personal commander. 

We finished the masa at 12:30 am. We stood at the top of a sand dune overlooking the lights of our base. Our commander read us a short piece reflecting on our experience. What stuck out most to me was this idea that we bring hardship on ourselves and call it a challenge. 

At the end of the reading our commander called us up one by one and replaced the yellow tags worn on our shoulders (representing basic training) with green and white tags (representing our course).

We met up with the entire plooga of 72 girls and began cheering, each of us for our own class. We cheered our way down a path of glowing candles to a spot marked by the flags of our base and the Israeli flag. We "graduated" basic training in the middle of the desert, under the stars, singing the Hatikvah, and declaring an oath to the IDF.

The Course, Week 1, November 4th:

The first day of the course we went on an educational trip to Jerusalem. We went to Har Herzl, a cemetery for fallen soldiers. We stopped at different graves and heard stories of bravery. Before leaving we stopped at one last grave. Yuval, one of the girls in my class stood by this grave and in tears told us about the death of her older brother 6 years before in the Second Lebanon War. I had been to Har Herzl many times before on different trips but never experienced it like this before. I walked through the cemetery this time in uniform as a proud soldier in the IDF.

The rest of the week was an introduction the basics of instruction. We learned what is expected of us as instructors from the qualities we need to display in class to the way we should deal with various types of soldiers and questions. Each girl have a 10 minutes lesson on a topic of choice to her class.

The only difference between the course and basic training in terms of discipline and our relationship to the commanders was at the end of our hour to ourselves when the commander typically knocked on our door giving us 40 seconds to put our guns under our pillows and get into bed before turning off our light and slamming the door shut. Instead, the commander now knocked on our door giving us 40 seconds to put our guns under our pillows and get into bed before turning off our light. Instead of simply slamming the door shut, the commander now said, "goodnight room 8," we yelled back, "goodnight commander," and then she slammed the door shut.

The Course, Week 2:

The second week of the course we began Ramah Alef. One girl from each class learned about a specific weapon or piece of equipment and then gave a 30 minute lesson on it to her class. At the end of the week we took a test on all 12 pieces of equipment that had been taught by each girl in the class. I was assigned a piece of night vision equipment that gets attached to one of the army vehicles. The information was really interesting and I got good feedback after my lesson.

We were closed on the base for the weekend as the mess with Gaza erupted. Being on base for the weekend usually means a lot of free time to bond with the girls. Because of the circumstances we had extra responsibilities although still plenty of down time. 

The Course, Week 3:

The third week of the course was Ramah Bet. Everyone was again signed a weapon or piece of equipment though this time the lesson had to be 40 minutes long. We were given slideshows to use for the lesson, and during the actual lessons commanders entered and fired questions in the different styles we had learned about during our first week of the course in order to test our ability to handle the questions correctly. 

For example there are "backwards questions," questions that refer to something already answered earlier in the lesson. With this type of question we are expected to redirect the question to the class in order to determine whether the one soldier didn't pay attention or if the explanation was unclear to the entire class. Another type of question is a personal question. With personal questions we are expected to forcefully say that the question is relevant and move on with the lesson. 

This time I was assigned to learn and present on the hand grenade. I read the information and worked with my group (made up of one girl from each class) on our lesson plan. In the afternoon, right before meeting with a commander to go over the information with us and make sure we understand everything correctly my commander called me and another girl in my class over. "You two are switching topics," my commander announced nonchalantly. "Can I ask why?" I tried. "No." 

In the end I learned about a camouflage material used to build a stand in the field for either protection, shooting, surveillance, or waiting. My lesson went well and I had a greater sense of pride having switched topics halfway through the preparation process.

Because of the circumstances in the country we had to stay on the base for a second weekend in a row, closing 21 days.

The Course, Week 4:

The fourth week of the course we went on an educational trip up North. 

At some point during the course every girl receives an extra responsibility, some job that involves giving extra lessons. I received my extra job for the fourth week. It was my responsibility to make sure our machlaka of 36 girls was ready on time standing in a ח shape, ready to "receive" the commanders with the appropriate words, with a list of the girls who weren't there and where they were. In addition I had to choose a topic for the week and give a 30 minute lesson in front of all 36 girls. I chose to teach about trust and built a lesson involving a lot of games helping us understand the importance of building trust in our group and how to do so. 

The week involved a lot of hiking and learning about the North of Israel, its wars, and discussions about Zionism today. 

At the end of the week I went home to the Kibbutz for the first time in 3 weeks. The feeling of coming home was just incredible.

The Course, Week 5:

This past week was the fifth week in the course. This week was a week in the field. We built our campsite, slept in tents in the rain and ate boxed meals. Each class of 12 girls sat in a circle and shared the canned corn, tuna, pickles, fruit, and beans for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We were tired, hungry, and cold, still for every moment we though we couldn't take anymore, there was something to lift our spirits.

The pakalim (the push-ups and sit-ups we do everyday before lunch and dinner) for example were different this week. Before each meal different commanders lead them and instead of the usual which is them yelling counting out the push-ups and us repeating, each time something different was yelled. One lunch for example all of the commanders of the classes lead the pakalim. Instead of calling out "1" as they lowered for their first push up, one of the commanders yelled out "nagmashim!" (the type of vehicle she was an instructor of before becoming our commander). Each of the commanders took their turn yelling out what they instructed instead of a number as we followed them in push-ups, repeating every word they yelled. 

Throughout the week we learned from our Samal, the commander in charge of discipline for the whole machlaka what it means to be an infantry soldier. We practiced everything he taught us, imitating how to capture a peek from the enemy, how to walk silently, the different styles of crawling, and much more. Our second day we got to shoot with two different weapons we had previously learned about. It is almost impossible to explain to someone who wasn't there exactly what we did this week. It was a week full of energy and pride in the job we will soon be doing.

Our last day in the field was completed with another masa (journey). We walked back to the base, something like 6km in 2 lines following the commander of our machlaka. When we finally made it back to the base the commander of our machlaka spoke to us about the progress we have made in the course, the meaning of this base as our home for this time, and the pride we should each feel in what we have accomplished. She then presented us one by one with the tag of the base which every soldier wears on their left shoulder.

I am now home on the Kibbutz for the weekend for the last time before the ceremony ending the course. I came home with an invitation for my ceremony and excitement for the last week and half I have left.

The tag of my base

More to come . . . 

Today, Wednesday, October 10th:

I will write briefly about today before returning to sequential order because I received both exciting and nerve racking news today. I received the job I wanted in the army, Madrichat Chir (Instructor for Foot Soldiers which at the end of basic training and courses could mean shooting instructor and such). The more shocking part of the news is that I go into the army on October 17th, just a week from today. I will be the first of my Garin to draft and hopefully they will be able to come see me off.

Thursday, September 27th:

Our Garin travelled to Tel Aviv for a "culture day" with all of the Garin Tzabar program. We listened to a lecture on the connection between Israeli music and Israel's wars, saw a play, and took a tour through Neve Tzedek.

Already in the Mercaz (Center of Israel) area, I spent the weekend in Herziliyah with my mom's cousin Deena. I got to spend nice time with the family and met up with people from my Garin staying in the Mercaz as well. We returned to the Kibbutz on Sunday where most of the girls were met by their Manila (the official list of jobs the army thinks you are fit for based on all of the testing). We had to rank our top 3 choices from the list to be sent back to the army.

Friday, October 5th:

Our Garin woke up at 4am for a short hike with some of the Kibbutz kids around our age to see a hot air balloon festival. We arrived at the top of a small mountain where we had a bonfire and snacks.

Around 6am after the sun had come up, we were able to watch the hot air balloons rise from Eshkol Park.

We returned to the Kibbutz to make it to breakfast at around 7:30 before boarding the bus for Yom Sport (a day of sport competitions). Four other Garin Tzabar groups, all living on Kibbutzim in the area, met up at a sports facility to compete in races, soccer, volleyball, and a few other sports. Our Garin took home the most wins of course!

Tuesday, October 9th:

Our Garin left the Kibbutz at around 9am for a bike trip.

We biked from the Kibbutz through the nearby Wadi to Park Eshkol where we had a barbecue.

We took a break in the middle of the trip to walk up a hill with a gorgeous view and take a group photograph.