Many of you are totally confused as to what I actually do on a daily basis. so I’ll try to give you a little background first before I explain what’s going on: Some things you’ll just have to take on faith, others you won’t really be able to identify with because it’s army speak – my apologies, it’s already 12:48 am and I’ve been working on this for a few hours and I’m exhausted.
Also, this is super friended. This friends list is still being compiled so some names may be added/taken off. Please do not bring this discussion to my facebook page or to any other forum – including messengers.
Background
I’m a Sergeant and Non-Commissioned Officer/Specialist in the Israel Defense Forces.
I hold specializations in both Foreign Relations and Information Security. I am also the Information Security Compliance NCO for my branch.. I am based at the IDF Ground Forces Command.
In More Detail
I was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces on August 20, 2008. After completing basic training and a Hebrew language program at Camp Mechve Alon I requested to continue my service in the Education & Youth Corps.
The IDF Education & Youth Corps primarily works with at risk youth in Israel and is also responsible for educating prisoners and drop outs. This education also includes English as a Second Language.
Instead of receiving a position in the corps that I wanted, I was asked if I wanted to drive a truck, repair tanks or repair airplanes – and this was with a letter from my Platoon Commander requesting that the officer in charge of sorting soldiers send me to the Education & Youth Corps.
I fought their initial three offers and was sent to be a clerk at the IDF Ground Forces Command Foreign Relations Branch. I was made the Assistant to the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch, a Lt. Colonel.
Six months after being in the army I received an invitation to the Officers School. However, this was the Officers School for Human Resources.
There are two areas of the army that everyone hates unless they’re in them. They are the Human Resources Corps and the Manpower Division. I am positive that there’s a special place in hell for both of them.
I turned them down with thanks and notations that I was still interested in the Officers School…but for the Education & Youth Corps.
It was during that first year and a half, primarily due to boredom and desperation, that I drafted a proposal to build the ESL program for the Ground Forces.
I scheduled a meeting with my commander and the Chief of Staff for the Ground Forces Command (surprisingly easy since the CoS’s secretary was a student of mine at the time and I controlled my commander’s schedule).
After their meeting, I immediately received approval from the Chief of Staff to build and execute the program. I was later recognized with a Certificate of Excellence from the Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces for my work in this field.
During this time, the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch also fought to have the army give me the rank of Academic Officer – a rank I am overqualified for by the IDF’s own standards and their own admission.
I did not receive the rank – which would have seen me become an officer without having to first go to the officers school – because it would have meant that I would have to leave the Foreign Relations Branch because we don’t have a line budget item for an Academic Officer (…have I mentioned that I loathe the Human Resources Corps?).
During my initial year and a half in the branch I made it known to as many people as possible that it was my intention to leave and to go into the Education & Youth Corps. I wear their insignia on my beret, on my dog tags and on my cell phone holder. I have their flag hanging in my office.
After a year and a half I was putting ever increasing pressure on my commander to assist me in my efforts to leave the branch. Instead I was sent on the Non-Commissioned Officer Course for Foreign Relations by my commander.
This was not, as he has told many people, a ‘present’ for my good work. This was because he knew how hard I was trying to move out of the branch and once the army invests a great deal of money to make someone a Non-Commissioned Officer it becomes next to impossible to move out of the army profession that they’ve given you.
It also meant that my dreams of becoming an officer – due to a bureaucratic mess of ‘who has a bigger penis’ – were virtually destroyed. Take it as fact that NCO’s in Foreign Relations who work at the Ground Forces Command cannot enter the Officers School for Foreign Relations for reasons that have nothing to do with us and everything to do with petty egos of people who have long since left the army.
I completed the course successfully and came back to the branch as a Non-Commissioned Officer. I immediately requested the opportunity to sign Keva (Contract which would keep me working in the branch) in the hopes that we could once again shoot for Academic Officership and maybe force the army to give us the budget item.
Upon requesting contract I was immediately transfered from being the Assistant to the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch to a Non-Commissioned Officer in the Overseas Office of the Foreign Relations Branch in preparation for me taking over as the Deputy Commander of the Overseas Office so I would be trained and could start as the Deputy Commander the day that I would be eligible to sign contract, which happens to be the last day of my service. This is a position that they reserve for a Warrant Officer.
I was then sent on the Non-Commissioned Officer Course for Information Security which I passed with flying colors, making me a specialist in Information Security and the branch Compliance Officer.
Upon completion of the course I returned to the Foreign Relations Branch and began working in the Overseas Office.
Immediately upon my return to the branch I picked up with my students where we left off. I also finally received a call from the Head of the Education & Youth Corps for the IDF Ground Forces Command saying that he finally was willing to start ESL classes with me (something he had been putting off for close to a year).
Problems With The Head of the Branch
The head of the branch and I are incredibly close – we have been working with each other for close to two years, and we know each other well. I do think, at the end of the day, that he’s a good person.
However, much like I’ve told anyone who asks me about a new soldier when I say “wait and see” and they reply “but they’re NICE!” is that “Nice and Good doesn’t matter to me…what matters to me, in a professional environment, is how well someone does their job.”
I think my biggest problems with him are that he tries to use things like emotional blackmail as a management technique, that he overestimates how much he means to me and to other soldiers, that he is a wonderful person but totally unprofessional, childish and immature.
It also bothers me that he regularly places the needs of himself before the needs of the branch and before the needs of the Ground Forces Command and, ultimately, before the needs of the IDF.
I am also now positive that he has been actively working against my efforts to become an officer for some time now only – and I mean this seriously – because he enjoys working with me. This is after discussing my situation with numerous people that know him, some of whom have approached him over the past two years asking him to send me to any Officers Course that he could and pressing him on the issue on their own initiative.
It also bothers me that soldiers in our branch put in more hours and do more hours of guard duty than in any other area of our base…and unlike those other soldiers – some of whom come in at 10:00 and leave at 14:00 – we don’t get time in the gym, we don’t go on trips, we don’t get backpacks or t-shirts (which I know sounds stupid, but it’s incredibly frustrating to see soldiers who do nothing constantly be showered with gifts).
We are treated like robots and when a soldier breaks down, they’re unceremoniously thrown out and another cog comes in to replace them. This flies in the face of my personal philosophy, the philosophy of the Education & Youth Corps, the philosophy of the Ground Forces Command and the philosophy of the IDF.
All of the above goes against everything that we were asked to swear to uphold in our oath. Every officer in the IDF is required to work towards building the Officers Corps. Every one must think about if they’re giving the best service they can possibly give to the IDF and our first mission is to the IDF and the State and the Knesset. After, we work to build our Corps, and then our Branch.
Don’t get me wrong, I know why he wants to keep me. There is no one else who can replace the work that I do in the branch as far as the ESL program goes (and this course brings us a lot of respect and other benefits from various areas in the Ground Forces).
However, I built that course and that program comes with me when I leave. He also has no one with my level of English in the branch (though considering I’m seeing cross eyed at the moment and I’m quite ready to pass out this post may not be the best representation of my work).
However, my ESL program is not a reason for keeping me stuck in the branch since that’s an additional job I took on myself. My daily job is to be an NCO in the Overseas Office – where we work strictly in Hebrew – which means my level of English isn’t allowed to factor in as well.
He has stated more times than I can count that he’d like me to finish out my service with him in five years and that he’d rather chain me to my desk then let me leave.
He has repeatedly dangled different officers schools in front of me, saying he knows people who can get me into the Officers School for Intelligence, for Medics, etc…and of course, nothing ever comes from it…he very much likes to think he’s leading me on.
Also, this is super friended. This friends list is still being compiled so some names may be added/taken off. Please do not bring this discussion to my facebook page or to any other forum – including messengers.</B>
<font size=”+1″>Background</font>
I’m a Sergeant and Non-Commissioned Officer/Specialist in the Israel Defense Forces.
I hold specializations in both Foreign Relations and Information Security. I am also the Information Security Compliance NCO for my branch.. I am based at the IDF Ground Forces Command.
<font size=”+1″>In More Detail</font>
I was drafted into the Israel Defense Forces on August 20, 2008. After completing basic training and a Hebrew language program at Camp Mechve Alon I requested to continue my service in the Education & Youth Corps.
The IDF Education & Youth Corps primarily works with at risk youth in Israel and is also responsible for educating prisoners and drop outs. This education also includes English as a Second Language.
Instead of receiving a position in the corps that I wanted, I was asked if I wanted to drive a truck, repair tanks or repair airplanes – and this was with a letter from my Platoon Commander requesting that the officer in charge of sorting soldiers send me to the Education & Youth Corps.
I fought their initial three offers and was sent to be a clerk at the IDF Ground Forces Command Foreign Relations Branch. I was made the Assistant to the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch, a Lt. Colonel.
Six months after being in the army I received an invitation to the Officers School. However, this was the Officers School for Human Resources.
There are two areas of the army that everyone hates unless they’re in them. They are the Human Resources Corps and the Manpower Division. I am positive that there’s a special place in hell for both of them.
I turned them down with thanks and notations that I was still interested in the Officers School…but for the Education & Youth Corps.
It was during that first year and a half, primarily due to boredom and desperation, that I drafted a proposal to build the ESL program for the Ground Forces.
I scheduled a meeting with my commander and the Chief of Staff for the Ground Forces Command (surprisingly easy since the CoS’s secretary was a student of mine at the time and I controlled my commander’s schedule).
After their meeting, I immediately received approval from the Chief of Staff to build and execute the program. I was later recognized with a Certificate of Excellence from the Chief of Staff of the Ground Forces for my work in this field.
During this time, the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch also fought to have the army give me the rank of Academic Officer – a rank I am <a href=”http://www.nomadmatan.net/786351.html”>overqualified</a> for by the IDF’s own standards and their own admission.
I did not receive the rank – which would have seen me become an officer without having to first go to the officers school – because it would have meant that I would have to leave the Foreign Relations Branch because we don’t have a line budget item for an Academic Officer (…have I mentioned that I loathe the Human Resources Corps?).
During my initial year and a half in the branch I made it known to as many people as possible that it was my intention to leave and to go into the Education & Youth Corps. I wear their insignia on my beret, on my dog tags and on my cell phone holder. I have their flag hanging in my office.
After a year and a half I was putting ever increasing pressure on my commander to assist me in my efforts to leave the branch. Instead I was sent on the Non-Commissioned Officer Course for Foreign Relations by my commander.
This was not, as he has told many people, a ‘present’ for my good work. This was because he knew how hard I was trying to move out of the branch and once the army invests a great deal of money to make someone a Non-Commissioned Officer it becomes next to impossible to move out of the army profession that they’ve given you.
It also meant that my dreams of becoming an officer – due to a bureaucratic mess of ‘who has a bigger penis’ – were virtually destroyed. Take it as fact that NCO’s in Foreign Relations who work at the Ground Forces Command cannot enter the Officers School for Foreign Relations for reasons that have nothing to do with us and everything to do with petty egos of people who have long since left the army.
I completed the course successfully and came back to the branch as a Non-Commissioned Officer. I immediately requested the opportunity to sign Keva (Contract which would keep me working in the branch) in the hopes that we could once again shoot for Academic Officership and maybe force the army to give us the budget item.
Upon requesting contract I was immediately transfered from being the Assistant to the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch to a Non-Commissioned Officer in the Overseas Office of the Foreign Relations Branch in preparation for me taking over as the Deputy Commander of the Overseas Office so I would be trained and could start as the Deputy Commander the day that I would be eligible to sign contract, which happens to be the last day of my service. This is a position that they reserve for a Warrant Officer.
I was then sent on the Non-Commissioned Officer Course for Information Security which I passed with flying colors, making me a specialist in Information Security and the branch Compliance Officer.
Upon completion of the course I returned to the Foreign Relations Branch and began working in the Overseas Office.
Immediately upon my return to the branch I picked up with my students where we left off. I also finally received a call from the Head of the Education & Youth Corps for the IDF Ground Forces Command saying that he finally was willing to start ESL classes with me (something he had been putting off for close to a year).
<font size=”+1″>Problems With The Head of the Branch</font>
The head of the branch and I are incredibly close – we have been working with each other for close to two years, and we know each other well. I do think, at the end of the day, that he’s a good person.
However, much like I’ve told anyone who asks me about a new soldier when I say “wait and see” and they reply “but they’re NICE!” is that “Nice and Good doesn’t matter to me…what matters to me, in a professional environment, is how well someone does their job.”
I think my biggest problems with him are that he tries to use things like emotional blackmail as a management technique, that he overestimates how much he means to me and to other soldiers, that he is a wonderful person but totally unprofessional, childish and immature.
It also bothers me that he regularly places the needs of himself before the needs of the branch and before the needs of the Ground Forces Command and, ultimately, before the needs of the IDF.
I am also now positive that he has been actively working against my efforts to become an officer for some time now only – and I mean this seriously – because he enjoys working with me. This is after discussing my situation with numerous people that know him, some of whom have approached him over the past two years asking him to send me to any Officers Course that he could and pressing him on the issue on their own initiative.
It also bothers me that soldiers in our branch put in more hours and do more hours of guard duty than in any other area of our base…and unlike those other soldiers – some of whom come in at 10:00 and leave at 14:00 – we don’t get time in the gym, we don’t go on trips, we don’t get backpacks or t-shirts (which I know sounds stupid, but it’s incredibly frustrating to see soldiers who do nothing constantly be showered with gifts).
We are treated like robots and when a soldier breaks down, they’re unceremoniously thrown out and another cog comes in to replace them. This flies in the face of my personal philosophy, the philosophy of the Education & Youth Corps, the philosophy of the Ground Forces Command and the philosophy of the IDF.
All of the above goes against everything that we were asked to swear to uphold in our oath. Every officer in the IDF is required to work towards building the Officers Corps. Every one must think about if they’re giving the best service they can possibly give to the IDF and our first mission is to the IDF and the State and the Knesset. After, we work to build our Corps, and then our Branch.
Don’t get me wrong, I know why he wants to keep me. There is no one else who can replace the work that I do in the branch as far as the ESL program goes (and this course brings us a lot of respect and other benefits from various areas in the Ground Forces).
However, I built that course and that program comes with me when I leave. He also has no one with my level of English in the branch (though considering I’m seeing cross eyed at the moment and I’m quite ready to pass out this post may not be the best representation of my work).
However, my ESL program is not a reason for keeping me stuck in the branch since that’s an additional job I took on myself. My daily job is to be an NCO in the Overseas Office – where we work strictly in Hebrew – which means my level of English isn’t allowed to factor in as well.
He has stated more times than I can count that he’d like me to finish out my service with him in five years and that he’d rather chain me to my desk then let me leave.
He has repeatedly dangled different officers schools in front of me, saying he knows people who can get me into the Officers School for Intelligence, for Medics, etc…and of course, nothing ever comes from it…he very much likes to think he’s leading me on.
<font size=”+1>”I rock a lawsuit when I’m going to court, a white suite when I’m getting divorced, a black suite at the funeral home and my birthday suit when I’m home alone…” – G.C.</font>
To anyone who knew me from Long Island or Buffalo, they would call my behavior in the Foreign Relations Branch demure. I have been as gentle as a lamb comparative to my take-over-the-streets attitude that I had at the University.
Though those in my branch would swear that I’m a hard ass…I have been incredibly well behaved.
I have a blemish free record – the only punishment I ever earned was twenty push ups,.once…during basic training.
Among my students (current and former), I count the the Head of the Education & Youth Corps for the Ground Forces (Lt. Col.), The Ground Forces TRADOC Representative to the U.S. Marine Corps (Lt. Col.), The Ground Forces Attaché in Washington (Col.), The Chief of the Artillery Corps (Brigadier General) and The Chief of the IDF Ground Forces Command (Major General)…I also teach Privates and Corporals and Sergeants and Staff Sergeants and Warrant Officers and any soldier, regardless of their position in the army, so long as they want to learn…because it is my belief that anyone who wants to learn should be taught.
There are few officers in the Ground Forces who do not know me or who have not heard of me. I have built a reputation on getting to my office on base early and leaving late and coming in on my days off. I have never shirked guard duty or security detail, including when I had gastroenteritis.
It is also important to note that according to Israeli law all I had to serve was six months (based on the age that I made Aliyah to Israel). I volunteered for a full three years of mandatory service (which means less than $200.00 a month of pay and a shit ton of debt) because I felt it was the right thing to do. I still hold that belief.
I have been an outstanding soldier, despite not receiving the position that I wanted. I turned the positions that I received into positions that would at least make me happy while I fulfilled them to the best of my ability, according to the oath that I took when I swore in.
<font size=”+1″>Which Leads Us To…</font>
So last Tuesday I met with the head of the Education & Youth Corps before his lesson. I handed him a letter requesting his assistance. I gave him a letter stating – in professional, militaryese – that with only nine months of service left I was still craving, still fighting to get into the Education & Youth Corps…that I wanted to sign contract with the Education & Youth Corps and that I wanted his assistance in getting into their Officers School. I included my CV with the letter.
He asked me to email it to him, and I did.
Yesterday (Sunday), he asked me to put it together as a packet. I had it professionally bound. The first page is my letter, the second page is the letter from my Platoon Commander which I saved from Basic Training more than two years ago. Then my C.V. in Hebrew followed by my C.V. in English, followed by a certificate that says that the State of Israel recognizes my degree in Linguistics, followed by copies of my degree, teaching certification, other certifications and awards.
Today (Monday) he is going to (hopefully) pass on these packets to two incredibly important people – which he told me was his plan yesterday. The first, and most important person on his list to receive a packet is the Chief of the Education & Youth Corps – the Brigadier General in charge of the Corps where my heart lives.
He told me that he will do his best to convince the Chief of the Education & Youth Corps to give me an interview, personally, and that he is more than happy and more than willing to go to bat for me and fight for me…he wants me to be an officer and he wants me to be an officer in the Education & Youth Corps and it is beyond crystal clear that he isn’t paying me lip service.
To put this in perspective, it would be as if Albus Dumbledore came up to you and said “Oh, muggle…what’s that? You want to go to Hogwarts? Sure, I’ll go talk to the Minister of Magic and see what I can do for you”…and not only that, he said it with emotion, feeling and he seriously means it.
What this means is that tomorrow I must meet with my direct commander (now a Captain since I’m in the Overseas Office and no long directly report to the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch). I will not work behind her back, and the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch should know me well enough by now to know that I meant it when I said I’d start working on getting into the Education & Youth Corps.
After my meeting tomorrow the information will no doubt be immediately passed on to the Head of the Foreign Relations Branch. If he chooses to tell me that under no circumstances will he allow me to have such a meeting (because he can try and ban me from going) or that he will do everything in his power to ensure that such a meeting does not take place or end successfully – and this is totally in the realm of immediate and realistic possibilities, I’ve seen it happen to others before – than I hope he knows me well enough to know that he’ll be loosing me regardless…because if he is delusional enough to think that I would still sign a contract to stay on in his branch after he would intentionally interfere and sabotage my chances at getting my dream position in the army, then he’s got another thing coming.
And so the outcome of the next couple of days will determine if I sign on contract, and – if so – where, whether or not I’ll get into the Officers School of my choice – if at all – and whether or not Head of the Branch will be on speaking terms with me by the afternoon…and a lot of other things.
I really hope this explains what’s been going on…it’s 1:12am…if anything isn’t clear, I’ll clear it up tomorrow night.
G’night all (and wish me luck/say a prayer!).
~ Sarge
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