My son got an “invitation” to apply for a position in the army’s computer division. The letter contained statements including: “This is your last opportunity to influence your position in the army” and “Renunciation of this course/position may occur only on the day of the selection, and not afterward. Failure to appear for the selection will be considered renunciation.” The army called today to make sure he got the invitation. They sent an email too. My son asked the soldier about the warnings, and she said not to worry about them. They were just there to “scare” people who are not really interested in the position but want to go through the selection anyway. If he gets a better offer later on, he can take it. She also said that if he’s accepted for the course, he can postpone it and stay in yeshiva as long as he wants. I think my son may be planning to stay in yeshiva for a while if a good army job is waiting for him afterward (I have no idea what they might offer him).
At any rate, he is not eligible for combat despite his good health. The army said he doesn’t weigh enough.
Twitter links powered by Tweet This v1.7.1, a WordPress plugin for Twitter.
Doesn’t weigh enough? That sounds strange…. are you sure? I have a son who is a string bean, 5′ 7″ or so and I doubt he is much over 120 lbs., who just finished mandatory army service in a combat unit. There are all these skinny kids in combat units… are they saying he’s malnourished? I would be insulted as a Jewish mother
He’s not malnourished, just very thin. I was the same. He’s about 5’11″ and I don’t know what he weighs, but it’s hard to find him a belt. He knows people who went on weight-gaining diets to get in.
a Jewish mom and you do not stuff him with food at every opportunity?
an offer he can’t refuse?
It’s best you don’t push him to eat, or when he’s older and the metabolism changes, he may end up heavy.
Yes, it happens.
Interesting. My friend was 6’6, 135 (?) when he got into the army, so he wasn’t eligible for much. Of course, they stuffed him into a tank… (!)
He weighed 53kg at the induction.