We were so amazed by the spirit and dedication of these young soldiers who greeted us with open arms. Seeing these young men (many as young as 18) made one realize why Israel's defense was in good hands.
Located close to the borders of Lebanon and Syria, the base command is helping to train troops as one of the country's first defenses against Israel's enemies.
Avi, a project manager for Connections Israel which connects visitors to Israel with the IDF and a former IDF soldier himself, introduced us to a 20-year old young man from Brooklyn, NY, who volunteered to enlist in the Israeli Army. He explained many aspects of the camp, including how his particular battalion goes through a rotation of training every 3 months -- moving onto another camp to learn new skills.
However, even in this tense situation, these men, who were at first a little standoffish, soon became our friends and were eager to take take photos and chat with us about their experiences.
One of the highlights of the evening was when several of the troops gave us a demonstration of some of the weaponry they used -- from the M16 rifle to grenade launchers. They even allowed several of us to hold the weapons so that we could see how they felt. As things lightened up, they even draped some ammunition around my shoulders as I held several weapons. They even began calling me "Rambo."
We then just "hung out" with them for awhile while a couple of the troops grilled hamburgers and kebabs for our dinner.
We truly enjoyed this stop on our journey.
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