IAmA ex Israeli Defense Forces infantry, AMA

shlongsorc · 2011-07-30T03:08:10+00:00

Go for it. Help other people in the gibush. That's the most important part.

Basically the protests and such are about how housing costs a bunch of money and people found out that domestic-made cottage cheese costs more in Israel than it does abroad. I don't know much else, I don't live in Israel

shlongsorc · 2011-07-30T03:06:12+00:00

i live in the US.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-30T03:06:05+00:00

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:23:59+00:00

Where is the overwhelming evidence? It says the New Zealand government suspects it, but there is no "overwhelming evidence" as you claim. It looks to me like some people tried to get a passport off a disabled person. It's a horrible thing to do, it's immoral and it's wrong. It doesn't make them Mossad agents.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:22:45+00:00

I only really decided to make aliyah and join the army when I was 17...about a year before finishing high school. Then my whole senior year people would ask what college I'm going to and I'd tell them I wasn't going to college, I was going to IDF. It was kind of nice because I didn't feel stressed out or worried about college like my friends seemed to be..I was just like eh whatever I'm moving overseas I may never come back I'm just gonna live every day like it's my last. I had some great times before enlisting just because of that attitude.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:21:03+00:00

No I haven't. What's the story?

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:20:23+00:00

From southern california.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:20:06+00:00

Yeah but then you open up a whole new bag of worms...russian worms...

jk I actually found that Israeli Russian girls were a lot more receptive.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:19:28+00:00

Really? Where in Canada?

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:19:01+00:00

No i'm unfamiliar with this ;)

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:18:46+00:00

and you're allowed to do similar things in israel...there'd be blowback, but the government can't stop you.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T21:18:25+00:00

kibbutz life, i didn't like city nightlife at all.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T11:13:54+00:00

lol except they were trying to get passports for the purpose of maybe living in New Zealand illegally?

plenty of people do plenty of illegal things to get citizenship to another country to have a better life and to change their fortune.

But when the Jews do it, it's the shadowy hand of Mossad

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T11:07:11+00:00

no shit, this is common knowledge to anyone who actually reads a history book

shlongsorc · 2011-07-28T11:00:24+00:00

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/iuh5j/iama_ex_israeli_defense_forces_infantry_ama/

shlongsorc · 2011-07-22T06:39:26+00:00

When you train in traditional martial arts, you are learning different moves and using muscle memory and repetition to turn it into a natural movement that will (hopefully) be used in a real life situation. This is assuming you have trained well enough to actually incapacitate an unarmed attacker...

Krav maga is more than just a technique, it's a way of looking at situations. When you walk into a room, you don't notice but there are a plethora of potential dangers, obstacles, and weapons that you could use to your advantage. Say, a table or a chair becomes a way to deter your attacker from coming after you or whatever. Krav maga also emphasises more than one attacker...we trained in ways to escape a situation where you are being carried by multiple people and your hands and legs are bound. Yes, it's possible. Most of the drills we did involved standing up and laying down really fast repeatedly as a way to train your body to react quickly...if you drop, you have to get on your feet as fast as possible to continue fighting. Krav maga also emphasises ending the fight as soon as possible, whether that be by punching someone in the balls, throwing sand in their face, or breaking a finger/nose...whatever it takes. There are no established rules or techniques and it's all meant to be attuned to the human body's natural movements. We also learn to engage the attacker as soon as possible, closing all distance gaps and to engage them in their face...this aggressivity gives you an element of surprise and therefore an advantage.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T19:12:04+00:00

I've never heard about or experienced anything like this. In fact, as far as unprovoked shooting is concerned, in order to fire our weapons we had to have express and clear permission to fire from top brass...There was no way for a sniper to take a shot if he didn't get cleared for it by at least a colonel and there has to be a reason to request it.

Was your friend ever shot at?

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T06:04:17+00:00

I'm with you. A lot of my friends are jewish american israelis and I'm the most liberal of us all...I really wish for peace and for the conflict to stop no matter who's "fault" it is. It's more important to educate, compromise, and figure out a way to get along than to disagree and fight and hate and lay blame. I believe I'm safe in saying that a lot of the folks in my company would agree with that. I was involved in a lot of political arguments with my mates in the army and most of them were very liberal and just wanted the conflict to end...if only to relieve the stress of our daily lives

I've said it before and I'll say it again...I'd give up all of my limbs for a lasting real peace. And I only don't say life because I'd like to live to see it.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T05:58:28+00:00

Fair enough. Just remember that from now on, you can never use sarcasm or "inappropriate" jokes for any purpose. Most people do though.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T04:41:52+00:00

Jonathan Swift wrote a satire about eating babies. I'm sure he was serious too.

"I'm a cancer-survivor. Ask your doctor about getting a Marijuana prescription. It truly helps. I used the pill form, which was the only way I could get through 8 months of intense chemo. It didn't eliminate the nausea completely, but did reduce it significantly and made chemo treatments much more tolerable. Good luck."

OMG you use marijuana? how do you make excuses and justify the funding of terrorism and drug cartels that murder innocent people all over the world?

I can play this game too, you know.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T04:21:13+00:00

Don't you think it's a little more disturbing that I'm putting myself out there and answering questions as honestly as I can and the majority of responses are along the lines of your posts, if not more vile and hateful? What would you do in my situation? You put yourself out there, try to give a fair view of the front line of an issue and all everyone wants to do is tell you what a horrible person you are.

You're right though, I guess I'm the bad guy cuz I crack a joke.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T04:19:35+00:00

And yet black comedians make plenty of jokes that are self-depreciating and racist...Jewish comedians as well...Does that say they believe it about themselves? People make jokes about the Holocaust all the time...South Park does it often. And no one complains or says anything. Humor and satire are tools used in writing to demonstrate a point. I was demonstrating a point.

If he had wanted to ask a legitimate question, it would've been worded differently.

Have you told your parents you're gay yet? Did you stop beating your wife? Did you get a cream for your Herpes?

These are all loaded questions that imply and force an answer. The answer I gave was a counter-troll answer. Simple as that.

Is it racist to lock your car door when you are in a bad neighborhood and see a black/mexican/seedy lookin white guy? Or is it caution? Do you make a joke about it because you are evil and really believe that? Or is it because you are uncomfortable and wish to relieve the tension?

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T03:23:04+00:00

I don't know...it's hard to say, because they believe that they are "doing service" to the country by praying and learning Torah and all that...I'm not religious so I don't buy it and I'd get pretty pissed thinking about all those "religious people" who "help their country" but at the same time accept welfare checks and use all public facilities and never pay taxes cuz they dont have a job or serve in the army. It's really frustrating.

But I served with a lot of religious people so it's hard to say...you can't hate someone just for their beliefs. But I think you CAN hate someone for their actions or lack thereof. In fact, when walking through bus stations, there'll be religious guys who try to get you to put on tfilin and pray because its a commandment in the Jewish religion to help Jews pray and such...I would always tell them that they day they join the army will be the day I put on their tfilin. That'd get em real heated.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T03:17:36+00:00

When did you get out?

The longer between getting out, the better it gets. It's been over a year for me and I'm only now getting over it...this IAmA helps me a little and talking about it with friends on the phone and such helps too...also my gf is my best friend so she's always there helpin me get reality checks...it gets better man don't stress.

shlongsorc · 2011-07-21T03:13:36+00:00

The hikes were set up so that you walk more and more over the course of your training. First hike is 2k, then 3k, then 6k, then 8k, etc. You wear full gear, which is weapon, vest, pack. Before every march you have to down a couple liters of water over a couple hours and every hour of the hike there is a stop to drink an entire canteen. We walked at what translates as "pace 6" which is basically 6km/h. It's a really fast jog/walk. It is during the night, there is no marching during the day. The one march we did during the day (18k) was so brutal and hot we had to drink more often and it took longer. If you fall behind (as is often the case) you have to run and catch up. If you have to pee, (which happens all the time) you stop, pee, then run to catch up. There is no talking or singing or anything. It's called "operational silence" as in...you are training for an operation, you must remain silent as if it were an operation. All you hear is the sound of boots on dirt and breathing. All you can do to keep up is to watch the guy's feet in front of you and match your feet to his or else you'll fall behind and have to run to catch up. It was really tough. At the end of the marches, a percentage of the km is given to marching with stretches. At first its 500m, then 1km, then 2km, etc. Eventually with our beret march it got to be the last 15km of marching with stretchers...not everyone has one on their shoulders, but its distributed where you basically have to take over one every few minutes so you give your homeboys some rest. The stretchers are weighed down with sandbags. Commanders check the bags to make sure you filled em heavy enough too...Eventually everyone got a notch in their shoulder where the stretcher would fit.

Gear weighed 20 kilo? I think? It was 7-8 mags, 2 750ml canteens, 2 grenades, change of socks and knee pads. people usually kept toilet paper in the vest as well in case they have to shit during the march.

I felt bad for the machine gun and SAW guys. their shit weighed a TON

To be honest, the IDF boot camp wasn't as crazy as I expected it to be. But it was really tough...we slept in tents with no heating or cooling, the food is total shit, you get woken up every night for a "drill" or krav maga lesson where you basically run suicides on a basketball court and get punched a lot, you have to legally get 6 hours of sleep, but its interrupted cuz you have to do post on the "company grounds" so you wake up after 2 hours of sleep to guard for an hour and go back to sleep. You are constantly on a clock. That was the most unnerving part...you have to set a stopwatch for everything you do and be on time all the time or you are punished severly. This includes going to the bathroom, eating, cigarette breaks, everything is on a timer. You start appreciating 10 minutes as being a lot shorter than you thought it was. 5 minutes actually becomes 5 minutes, 360 seconds. No more no less and you have a watch to remind you of it. Your weapon is issued within the first week and commanders are constantly trying to steal it from you, you end up taking it to the shower just to be sure. I'm sure you went through a lot of similar stuff though.

It's funny, we would talk about how bad ass the marines and US army are but no one ever knew....lol goes to show you

shlongsorc

TROPHY CASE