By Avi Kahn, former Tzevet Mikey instructor & current Board Member of The Lone Soldier Empowerment Foundation
When you draft and begin your training in an IDF combat unit you quickly realize that your success (and in actual combat, your survival) doesn’t depend only on you. It depends on the people beside you. Yes, you have your own strengths to utilize, and weaknesses to overcome, but day in and day out it is your teammates carrying your extra gear when you’re exhausted, sharing the last sips of water and the last bites of tuna with you when you’re famished, protecting you with suppressing fire as you’re sprinting to the next cover, carrying you on the stretcher if you’re injured, covering your shmira (guard duty) when you’re tired, and so much more. In turn, they will expect the same from you.
But what does it actually mean to be a good teammate in an army setting? Well, it isn’t simply about being the toughest, the fastest, or the bravest. You may be the one who can take more weight in your backpack, and your teammates are always passing the spare food and ammo to you, but when your buddy asks you to switch him an hour early on shmira (guard duty) so he can talk to his girlfriend before she goes to bed, are you saying yes? When your commander asks for a volunteer to do a crap job, are you raising your hand? Being a good fighter can be about toughness and strength. Being a good teammate is about attitude, reliability, and how you carry yourself and others when things get hard.
In this article, we’ll go over four integral things to keep in mind when part of a team, and especially in combat. In addition, I’ll be giving you some tips, both general and specific, on how to be the person that your fellow teammates can rely on, look up to, and respect; all of which goes into being the best soldier that you can be.
MINDSET:
Listing the actions of a good teammate- covering for a friend, helping when you don’t have to, volunteering so others won’t need to- is easy. Just behaving like a good teammate doesn’t make you one. The root of those actions is the mindset of a good teammate. If you don’t truly understand and internalize why those actions are important, you won’t appreciate what you’re doing or what others are doing for you and more importantly- you won’t be able to maintain those patterns of behavior indefinitely. There’s a reason that Israelis in the army are always saying “Hakol Barosh”- it’s all in your head. It’s because it’s true: The way you think shapes how you show up – for yourself and for your team. With the proper mindset, you can accomplish not only extremely difficult physical tasks, but also otherwise insurmountable mental ones. So before we talk about what to do, let’s go over the Four Tenets of Teamwork:
1. You’re a part of something bigger than yourself.
Before drafting you probably trained for Yom Sayarot and Gibushim, right? Which are all about being the best and outperforming everyone else. Well, this is not that. Now that you’re actually part of a unit, it’s about making your team the best. In real life combat you’ll see that there’s no Rambo or Jason Bourne dominating and saving everyone around them. Everyone looks out for each other, fights as one, and you succeed or you fail together. The same is true in training, and in any and every task or mission you perform throughout your service. Realize that you are here to be a powerhouse for your team and the army as a whole, and not for yourself, and you’ll become a source of strength and reliability for the entire unit.
2. Leave your pride at the gate.
Years later and I still remember the first time I had to ask a kid younger than me if I could go make a poopie. And yeah my Hebrew was also crap (pun fully intended), so it was even more embarrassing than it was supposed to be. Get over it, and fast. This connects to the first tenet- There’s no room for pride in a team. No one cares about the kind of gear you have, or how much shooting you used to do back home, or how many pull-ups you can do. The only thing that matters is: Can we rely on you?
You’re going to screw up, you’re going to be told what to do by people younger than you, and you have A LOT to learn, so take my advice: Drop the ego, stay teachable, and your team and commanders will quickly learn to trust you, respect you, and rely on you.
3. Embrace the suck together.
I’ll let you in on a secret: You have a lot of suck coming your way.
Good. It’s what you signed up for, and someone has to get through it, because when Jews get lazy- we die. It’s as simple as that. There will be cold, hard nights. There will be crappy food, and at times you’ll miss that crappy food. You’ll be sleep deprived. You’ll be walking so long you’ll lose your sense of time, and your body will scream at you to drop the weight on your back and pass out in the dirt.
Lean into your brother/sisterhood. Everyone next to you is going through the exact same things you are. No one ever said you have to go through it alone. Laugh through the pain. Crack a joke to your friend as you huddle for warmth in your 5 minutes of rest before putting your pack back on and continue walking again. Choosing to suffer together will build your resilience, ease your struggle, and will promote bonding between you and your teammates; something very worthwhile to invest in.
4. It’s always harder for your buddy
This is the last and the most important tenet. Remembering this can quite literally get you through your service. It goes like this:
If you look at everything difficult you have to do in the army through the lens of knowing that the friend/teammate next to you is having a harder time than you, you can get through anything. Not only will you be able to accomplish more yourself, but you will be able to give more of yourself to your teammates.
When your legs are screaming in pain after walking 50 kilometers, when your shoulders hurt from the weight of the stretcher, when your hands and core are verging on collapse from being in pushup position for minutes at a time, or when you’re on base for an unusually long period of time and haven’t seen home in a while, you’ll naturally start focusing on how hard this is and how much it hurts. Part of your brain will probably be telling you that this activity is harder for you than for the rest of the team because of [insert a million excuses here]. At that point, it is super easy to give up, or complain, or both. The result? You have become a taker, not a giver. Instead of picking up slack for your teammates, you are creating the slack.
The solution is not to do more quad exercises when you’re home; it’s to hit that switch in your brain and force yourself to change the way you think about these situations. Yes, stuff hurts. But do you know who’s really hurting? Your buddy next to you, who hasn’t been sleeping so well the past few nights, is still recovering from an old knee injury, and is also [insert a million excuses for him here]. Get it?
It’s impressive that he’s here at all, yet he’s here getting through it. So you can do it, too. And not only can you get through it, but you can do whatever you can to make it easier for the person next to you, and for the rest of your team. Put this in your mind, dwell on it, and nothing will be able to stop you or your team.
A QUICK LIST OF DAY-TO-DAY TEAMWORK PROMOTING BEHAVIORS:
As previously stated, having the mindset of a good teammate is what matters. Unless you came out of the womb as a self-absorbed, egotistical bum who never matured, you’ll naturally notice ways throughout your service in which you can help out the team and do right by your fellow soldiers. Nevertheless- a few honorable mentions for actions that everyone appreciates. These are some “easy-wins” for you to consider adopting in your daily routine (note that most are food and/or guard duty related):
- Maintain a clean, organized personal space, and help others organize their own.
- Help out with/take responsibility for the guard duty (shmira) schedule.
- NEVER be late to switch someone on shmira if you can help it, and even arrive 5 minutes early if you’re able to. 100% of people appreciate this.
- Sitting and chilling with your friends while they’re on shmira to help pass the time and/or keep them awake is super nice and helpful.
- Save food for whoever is on shmira before eating yourself (and/or bring it to them if possible).
- Make coffee, a מנה חמה (instant noodles) or just about anything else for the people on shmira.
- When eating מנ”קים (army rations, literally: “battle meals”), be one of the people who open the cans for the whole team before starting to eat yourself. It means that anyone who shows up can just grab something and start eating instead of having to open the can themselves.
- When things need to be set up (usually in the field like tarps, tents, mattresses, tables, etc), make sure you’re helping out and not sitting around watching other people work.
- If your pack feels light, throw in some extra stuff for the team. Could be toilet paper, wipes, snacks, sauces, etc. If your pack is heavy, still try packing more in if you can.
-There will be a lot of opportunities to volunteer. For example: When the Sarsap (logistics commander) asks for someone to go refill the Thermocan (water cooler). You don’t have to be the one to volunteer for every annoying job every time, but make sure you’re raising your hand often.
- Make sure you aren’t sitting on the side or conveniently getting some water when range day is over and everyone is cleaning up ejection shells and shlepping the targets back and forth. This happens a lot.
- If you see someone slowing down, slap a hand on their back and push them forward. This applies literally, like when on a Masa (long march), but also figuratively; If you notice someone’s mood is down they will most likely appreciate a smile and some words of encouragement.
Of course there are infinitely more ways than these to get involved. Look for them, notice them, and make it a habit to apply them whenever and wherever you can. Strive to be where your people need you.
To summarize: As we’ve said, being a great teammate isn’t about being the loudest, strongest, or the smartest. It’s about being the person who shows up, again and again, when it counts. My friend Jacob and I have often discussed the difference between a good Lochem (combat operative) and a good Chayal (soldier). You can be the American dude who shows up with all the cool gear and all the tactical knowledge; you know how to clear your corners and you do super well on the range- you’re a great Lochem. But being a great Chayal is much more than that, and most of the time, putting in the effort to get to the point where your comrades-in-arms know they can rely on you, every single time, is much harder than having amazing trigger work.
Respect in a combat unit isn’t handed out. It’s earned- Mostly quietly, through small actions repeated over time. It’s earned when your teammates look at you and know: if anything happens, I want him next to me.
So wherever you are in your army journey; pre-draft, during, or even entering Miluim, you should ask yourself:
“Am I THAT person?”
And
“Am I the one my team counts on? Or the one they carry?”
I wish you tons of success in your military service, God knows we need good soldiers like you these days.
Read more of Avi’s articles on his Times of Israel blog.
Tzevet Mikey - צוות מייקי 