Joining the students in the navy school, we hiked across the lush, northern part of Israel in our green army uniforms and spent sleepless freezing nights in tents waking up to encounter cows ready to greet us as we stepped out of the tent flaps. We suffered commanders shouting to close up the gaps in our long line of ‘soldiers’ trickling down the mountains. It was fascinating to come across other groups (as this is a very popular hike in Israel)and watch their reactions as they let us pass them, thinking they were stepping aside for what they thought were enlisted soldiers. I began to realize just how much the army is ingrained in Israeli society. Living in America, I myself never came across a soldier back from fighting in Iraq nor was I, fortunately and unfortunately, affected by the war in any significant way. Yet in Israel, army service begins the year after high school- 3 years for boys and 2 years for girls. In Israel, every teenager’s path to adulthood goes through military service as they guard borders and fight terrorists at the tender age of eighteen! If they choose not to defend their own country, their own lives, their own family, no one else will.