Chameleon on a rope

A formation story of colonel Dror Weinberg

 This was written in memory of my venerable commander, Colonel Dror Weinberg, God rest his soul, a legend in his life and his death

Amatzia, a clerk in the patrol formation

“Have you seen how this little one is

climbing the rope like a chameleon 

We were watching the boys who arrived as nominees for the patrol. It is one of our favorite parts in the reserves. Training the young boys and see who fits the patrol and who does not

I was watching the new group. Most of them are impressive; they are all making an effort. Especially three short men. Everyone called them “dwarfs” who do not let their height be a shortcoming. In our unit, being short was never a shortcoming. The best commanders in our unit went under the ladder with a straight back

The three dwarfs drew my attention, even though one of them was not physically fit. He did not come first in any of the drills and he was not outstanding in any of the trainings. However, he was the best at climbing rope, just like a cat

“Did you see how he reached the top in a

?” few seconds

The other clerk took one look and said

“.not bad but not good enough”

Once in a few days we had a “Wing Parade”. There, we inform everyone whether they continue with us or not. Young boys with shattered dreams, first disappointments. Say goodbye with a “fly young bird” greeting. The decision was not always easy. Some of the men were highly motivated but I would not count on them with my shopping list. Some of the men are physically fit but they do not have any social skills

Over the years, I have learned to identify people’s characters and behavior and I can predict right away, what will be their destiny in the end of the formation. Some of them are harder to crack, complex and I am not certain about them until the end of the formation

Dror, for example, was like that. He was highly motivated but he was not physically fit

I realized he was training for the formation. He was training so hard that he ruined his knees. He had pain in his knees but he decided to ignore the pain. That kind of behavior granted him with points for determination but I was not sure he would be able to survive real time combat. I heard his friends joking that bad knees will not stop Dror and he will accomplish the mission he has set for himself: commando unit stage 1 and officers’ course stage 2. Moreover, a few more stages on his way of becoming a commander of chief. Now I am the one who should decide whether to stop him on the first stage or not 

We have decided to take a break from the physical effort and move to group assignments

Kraus, the formation commander, took upon himself the responsibility for that day, and I knew he was going to do some nonsense. I know him from former formations

“Who wants to take a hike?” He was asking and I saw that everyone was afraid to answer. They knew that any reply would fail them. “Great, I can see that all of you want to go, but you don’t dare asking. Kraus was smiling and then he said: “I knew you would love to go so I ordered a special chopper that would take all the outstanding soldiers for a trip

You will soon hear its propeller. With a sealed face, he told the men to lift an electric pole that was standing in the end of the court. All the soldiers lined up at the two ends of the pole and barely lifted it with joined forces. Then he asked them to run around with the pole and said: “here is your propeller, run faster and maybe it will rise up eventually.”   

Then he asked them to make the noise of a chopper. “I told you the chopper is coming. Kraus ran around them, encouraging them to go on

Although I did not like Krause’s nonsense, watching the way they were organized was significant. I could not ignore the efforts the dwarfs were making. I noted to myself that although it was harder for them, they did not quit and tried to hold the pole as high as everyone else did. They all got a perfect 10 for Determination 

“Thirty seconds move”, Kraus was shouting in full throat. The men were asked to move all their personal equipment bags that were piled next to a hill, to a pallet near the shack

It could have been an easy mission if the shack was not located on top of a hill. Everyone jumped forward carrying a bag on their shoulders, reaching the top of the hill and go back. After taking the second bag, they ran slower and you could hear them breath heavily. When they went down the hill for the second time, it became obvious that not all of them will get the third bag because there were not enough bags for everyone. They all came down the hill slowly and they were not sure they wanted to take the third bag. Dror was different. He wanted to get the third bag and he made sure he was one of the three people to climb up the hill for the fourth time and the hell with the knees. Dror received again perfect ten for Group Responsibility

The role of the “hiding observer” is one of my favorites. Along the navigating track, we spread around the field, making sure the boys do not use shortcuts. Every now and then, I appear when one of the men opens a map during solitary navigation, where they should not open a map, or catch them when they try to take a nap on the way. Once I heard two of them talking, without revealing myself, they were discussing the possibility of catching a ride in order to get first and score points. They did not know that once I heard that, they lost all points

In this observation, I was watching Dror who was carrying his injured friend. From a distance it looked like he was carrying two men but when they came closer, I saw he was carrying Yischayek, who was called Pooh. The friends called him Pooh because he was as big as a bear and he weighed like a bear. He was the partner of one of the dwarfs

“Dror put me down” Pooh was shouting but Dror ignored him. Maybe he could not talk. Pooh waved his legs. “Put me down before you kill yourself, you little dwarf.” “What am I going to tell your mom? I will

.”have to go and console her, not you

Dror did not reply and Pooh was angry. A few steps ahead and Pooh threw himself to the ground. On the way, he brought Dror down to the ground too. All their big bags fell as well

“What are you doing?” Dror said quietly. If we rest, we might get last.” He sat down exhausted on the ground. Pooh took out water and watered Dror. “The last thing I need is you dying on me now.” “Because

.”of you I will not be accepted to the unit

“How will they accept the one who killed

?” his partner

“We must go on.” Dror insisted. “And you must recover”. Pooh took out a chocolate cube from a hidden pocket and gave it to Dror. “Listen, it’s impossible to carry me. I know….”

There is no such thing!” Dror got upset. “There is no impossible mission“, don’t you know? There is no such thing!”

“Ok, ok” Pooh stopped him. “Don’t start

.”with all your military philosophy now 

“Now it’s my turn to take you, let’s make it clear. I am carrying you to the end of the track. You are so light that I will hardly feel that I am carrying someone. Dror got upset again. “The mission is half you and half me and I am going to do it, even if it means that I will get there crawling on the ground

“Dror come on! We will get there tomorrow. Don’t you want us to come

?” first

“I do…”

“Me too. Therefore, I will carry you to the

end of the track. No one will know

.”Dror was quiet

“You are right.”  Dror said quietly. “No one will know…except the two of us…and

.” that’s too much

At the finish point, everyone stood and clapped their hands when this couple arrived, quit late. Dror could barely walk. He was breathing heavily, he was sweating and Pooh was on his back, swearing the three steaks he had eaten in the last month

I welcomed the two of them just like everyone else, and I did not reveal what I heard. Without really knowing, it was clear to everyone that they had argued on the way

I granted one of them with ten plus points for Credibility

In the end of the formation the list was shorter

With broken knees, reasonable fitness, high motivation, navigation capability and very good team integration, Dror was among them

Crew Nir was on its way

On the last day, before everyone was turning their way, everyone was sitting on their bags and they were waiting for their rides. I heard them talking

“How did the religious guy passed the

“. formation is beyond my understanding

I recognized Yossi’s voice

“Yes” said the other person. “Religious, a dwarf and not physically fit.”  “He also came from the city.” Said another man

I knew that most of the men on the crew came from kibbutzim or moshavim

Ein Harod, Maabarot, Gaash. Most of them came after a year of service in the kibbutzim, after working in the fields, driving tractors when they were fourteen

Dror, on the other hand, was a pale city boy.” An irritating little boy this Dror person”, said Yossi. “We should educate

“. him

“He will not be a kibbutznik, that’s for

“.sure

“He won’t be religious too. There aren’t

“.many religious men in our unit

I think they are wrong about him. He will not give up easily. They are not getting the right picture

“Where does he live?” “Kfar Saba”

“Where is this kibbutz? Is it a moshav?”

 “No”.?” “Interesting

“Do you think they train for the unit there?” “It looks as if he trained his whole

“.life for this formation

“I agree”

“Say Yossi, where is Dror?”

“How should I know?”  “He was here a

“.minute ago

“Leave me alone, let me rest. I am dead. He probably went to the toilet

I did not tell them I saw him going aside to pray

From the book And You Called Dror by Ronit Levinstein- Melts, Yediot Books 2010

The book was written in the loving memory of Colonel Dror Weinberg, God rest his soul, who was the Judah brigade commander, the most senior officer who was killed in the second Intifada, while he was fighting in the head of the force against the terrorists attack. He sacrificed himself in order to protect all the people who came to pray and went back to their homes after Shabbat prayers, (November 15 2002) from Cave of Machpela to Kiryat Arba through the worshipers way

Dror implemented in his last action the holy imperative of every commander in IDF “From me you will see and you will“. (From the book of judges, chapter 7)

In Blessed Memory of Dror Weinberg