Tagneed: the new me [Updated] التجنيد وأنا الجديد

/tagneed/: Arabic word that refers to the process of recruitment into armed forces / Being a soldier

Its rare that I write things about myself, but I thought it would be nice to share a bit. My expereince today excited me to express myself a bit, which is a good thing.

Backgrounder: Military service is compulsory for Egyptian males. The duration is determined by the level of education, the needs of the army and the post (either officer or soldier). Officers spend almost three years and soldiers spend about 14 months. Usually a number of the graduates of scientific majors such as engineering, medicine,....etc are recruited as officers while others are recruited as soldiers.  After accomplishing the service, the individual remains on call till the age of 30 or 32 (not sure), in case any military threats occurred.

well well well, from where to start?


In a long queue, waiting to give my mobile to the security, these two guys in front of me, talking and joking. The funky guy at some point talked very seriously about how this whole situation is nonsense, "the army should put the results on the internet, same as high school results instead of us lining up here" and the other replied while laughing loudly "or on the face (this renowned fucken abbreviation for facebook), army delivery, hahahaha".
ohhh fucken funny. as i look at them with my sleepy gonflee eyes, i just cant stop thinking, are new Egyptian generations 90% sissy or 92%???

after finally handing over the mobile, weeeeeew,  you join the gaaaaang bang.
you get under this huge iron umbrella and take a seat on one of the cold stony tiring benches. all these guys under the same roof, 3000 guys, 6000 eyes, balls and legs, all waiting for one hell of an important decision in their life,......are you going to spend one or three or zero years of your life in the army? are you leaving your family, putting all your professional, romantic, social, ....etc plans on hold and joining this whole new community for a part of your life? is it time to merge into this enormous institution and stop being yourself?
might seem a normal experience for you, but believe me you will unconsciously feel this suspense to know where exactly your life will be.

when you know its time for the army , your live turns grey because simply nothing is determined. everything is a 50%  chance. some take it too serious, some just revive this purely egyptian sense of destiny & god's will (kadaa wa kadar). i prefered the second option.
 
its one of the few moments in life where equality is alive and breathing. for hours, people from totally different backgrounds, all stuck together, waiting for long hours, and having the same chances of either to be recruited or not. you find guys from all types, all sitting there, guys whose confidence comes from their rayban glasses (although we arent sitting under the sun) and their style which reminds me with the guys who surrounded me while taking a brunch the day before at sequoya where everyone is posch and bling bling. but these same guys are currently  sitting side to side with guys who cant be except a reminder of how deep and miserable are the problems of this country.  contradictions are all around, or maybe its just the diversity of this country, black brown and white; rich, average and poor; adidas, abibos and abibas,....etc (in case you aren't egyptian, abibos is a chinese or a local replica of adidas, same lines and everything, just a d instead of a b)

while waiting for hours for any officer to come out and say anything you think a lot. well, you can speak alot but this implies that you have company, which wasnt my case. in fact, since i did my masters so this promo wasnt mine and knew no one who was applying for the army at the same time. well, anyway, i prefered to think, and mostly wonder about all those around me.
i wondered why we always distinguish between the people and the army, as if they are two different planets. it has been very flagrant after the revolution that we always point it out. arent they simply, me, my brother, my cousin, my friends? is the discipline they learn enough to make them new people, to give them new identity other than civilians? why is it they always look at us very angrily with their eyes, whose looks express disgust out of our disorder, attempts to steal places in the line, on our stupid questions, our desire to keep standing beside friends and not sit down, ...etc?? well, now i see why they are different, and actually i might feel like them in a few time.
but still, a major philosophical question is unanswered, is discipline enough to to give you a new identity? what gives you a new identity? what makes you categorized, a civilan not a military and vice versa, or any other categorization? are these categories even valid??

while sitting down, i also remembered my father's stories about the army. remembered when he was recruited as an officer then downgraded because of his history of political activity as a leader of a leftist radical underground students group. he described me that day when he and two other guys -amongst who was tarek el zomor, one of the guys who assasined sadat a couple of years later- where made soldiers instead of officers. remebered his story about the war reharsal they were having in the desert with live ammunition and when his tank got lost for 13 days till they found them, remembered his story about his tank named fatma, his story about the chemical war test,.... many stories actually.
anyway, as i remembered all these stuff, i kept thinking about the difference between the 70's which was a time of war and now. the stories of my friends about the army were hugely different, obviously they order food delivery in their units, they log on to the internet with their mobiles, they .......enough, they might be fucked up if any military personnel happened to read that.

time goes on with me wondering. on the background there was two distinct voices, the noise you hear in a mall when everyone cant just stop his dam tongue, and the other voice was the music put on. OH MY GOD. nonstop nationalist patriotic 60's style music. cool when you know the song, but i only recognized two out of the hundred displayed. seems they have this internal production of propaganda stuff, or maybe its just tv that have been filtering the songs to air, thanks god it did. some of the songs in the camp seemed like bollywood songs with a very high pitched sharp woman voice coming from far, bizarre music and then u just discover after a few minutes she is singing in arabic. by the way, most of the new songs are simply rubbish, we can talk about this later. 
i started getting this feeling i just had the night before after watching the second act of verdi's ernani in the opera: dizzy head, starter of maigrane & a backache. shit, not again.

so quickly, i  try to get distracted by anything, you look around and here you go. who is this tasteless bastard who chooses the colour of the banners and posters?  and then came to my mind this new poster they have on the vehicles, who the hell designed it? there is this soldier carrying a kid, who is almost falling from between his hands, and from far always it makes u feel the soldier is a cannibal, or holding some dead rabbit in his hand or something.
seriously, they do need some loads of  pr, marketing and communication courses, because many of the problems that happened have been caused by serious misunderstanding, miscommunication or lack of precision an ...... well thats not the subject so lets get back to the topic.

now, you got two things to run away from, the music and the posters. one option was to simply go buy a snack to eat


one hilarious thing was this little sign put over the cantine (small snacks kiosque) : Buying is optional and not compulsory. looool. i figured out later, there was this very widespread rumor (apparently inherited by generations), that the name calling wont start unless we finish all the stuff in the store and that they keep us waiting to keep buying all the stock. well, obviously not bcz we were done like 6 hours after and the store was still full with stuff.

 the second option was listening to music. luckily, i had my mp3 with me. very naturally, i put on one of my favourite songs, deep purple's sail away and i just discover my instinct led me to the right song at the right time. the lyrics were too perfect for the moment

If you're driftin' on an empty ocean  
                      With no wind to fill your sail  
The future, your horizon It's like searchin' for the holy grail
                       You feel there's no tomorrow  
As you look into the water below It's only your reflection  
                       And you still ain't got no place to go
Time will show When, I don't know
                             Sail away tomorrow Sailin' far away
To find it steal or borrow  
                             I'll be there someday Yeah, yeah
Oh woman, I keep returnin'  
                               To sing the same old song  
The story's been told, now I'm gettin' old
                                Tell me, where do I belong?
Feel like I'm goin' to surrender  
                                 Hard times I've had enough  
If I could find a place to hide my face I believe, I could get back up

Time will show When, I don't know
 
Sail away tomorrow Sailin' far away To find it steal or borrow But I'll be there someday Yeah, yeah
Sail away tomorrow Sailin' far away To find it steal or borrow But I'll be there someday Yeah, yeah
Sail away tomorrow Sailin' far away To find it steal or borrow But I'll be there someday Yeah, yeah, yeah, 

yeah Yeah, yeah, yeah
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.

finally, someone gets in.
a high commander, probably a general speaks and as usual (for me at least), proves again how bad is the army men with talking or arguing. he tries to make things simple and explain the recruitment process based on random choice, with numbers and examples. at some point we just have all our mouth open and at this exact same point he asks : is it possible with all these divisions and equations that anyone interfere in the process?? huh??". and as no one answers a guy volunteers and speaks loudly no sir. luckily he didnt repeat this shit explanation.
but what surprised me again was how at a certain moment he managed to make the people clap for him, actually twice. he finally showed he understands a little bit of communication skills when he spoke away from all the rhetoric stigmatized school shit he had been repeating for over 20 minutes. it shows how although these army guys really need some serious learning, they do have this sense or common back ground with the vast majority of egyptians, and hence manage to make them deserve this mystic legendary image, again luckily.

anyway,  the explanation he did seemed to be a part of a new transparency policy. at the beginning of the day they called about 250 candidates who went inside the building and assisted in the whole process, video conference meeting with the high commander head of the department to choose the needed specialization, determine the dates, check on the random i don't know what, ....etc not much for me but still cool

after that, all i remember are lists and lists of names, specializations, birth dates, sit down, stop talking, shut the hell up, no questions now, any questions, noise, laughs, congrats, disgusted looks, tired eyes, sweating faces, and wondering eyes.........etc

well, it was time to know whether i am in and out.
Year 1988
If you arent any of the suspended cases mentioned before, then you shut up and listen. The following dates are to be given a postponement of the service
1 january 1988 till 12 january 1988
19 february 1988 till 25 february 1988
21 april til.......
may....
well thats it, he gave no suspension for the june dudes. i am in. starting april, i will be officially an egyptian army personnel serving a service of 14 months.
Army Army, here I come. 


They always say, you get to be a new person after that experience, will i?? probably yes. how will i be? I don't know.

Wikileaks- Cairo Cables: DASD Kahl Meeting with Egyptian Military Al Assar

DASD Kahl Meeting with Egyptian Military Officials

VZCZCXYZ0000
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0257/01 0591345
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 281345Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0433
INFO RHEHAAA/NATIONAL SECURITY COUNCIL WASHINGTON DC
RHMFISS/HQ USCENTCOM MACDILL AFB FL
RHMFISS/JOINT STAFF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHEG/AMEMBASSY CAIRO
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC C O N F I D E N T I A L CAIRO 000257

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 2020/02/28
TAGS:
SUBJECT: DASD Kahl Meeting with Egyptian Military Officials

CLASSIFIED BY: Donald A. Blome, Minister Counselor, DOS, ECPO;
REASON: 1.4(B), (D)

1. (C) Key Points:



-- On January 31, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for the
Middle East Dr. Colin Kahl met with Major General Mohammad
al-Assar, Assistant to the Minister of Defense, Major General Ahmad
Moataz, Chief of the American Relations Branch, and Major General
Fouad Arafa, Consultant to the Military Intelligence Department.



-- During the meeting, Kahl discussed the need to incorporate a
military strategy that included symmetrical and asymmetrical
capabilities, pursuing a capabilities-based approach to security
assistance, FMF issues, balance of power in the region, nuclear
weapons in the Middle East, current U.S. policy towards Iran,
Egyptian efforts to counter-smuggling and interdict illicit weapons
destined for Gaza, and the release of advanced weapons systems.



-- The Egyptian defense officials continued to stress that the
threats facing the United States were different from Egypt's, and
Egypt needs to maintain a strong conventional military to counter
other armies in the region.



--------------------------------------------- ----------------------
--------------

Egypt's Current Security Concerns and National Defense Policy

--------------------------------------------- ----------------------
---------------



2. (C) During the 31 January 2010 meeting, al-Assar
constantly referred to the numerous unstable security situations in
the Middle East that influenced Egyptian military doctrine to
include: Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon/Hezbollah,
Palestine/HAMAS, Yemen, Sudan/Darfur, Somalia, Eritrea, Piracy
issues, Algeria, and al-Qaida. Al-Assar emphasized that ethnic
conflict throughout the region and border issues could have a
negative impact on Egyptian sovereignty at any time. al-Assar
commented that he did not expect any of these security situations
to resolve in the near future; instead, he believed the list would
grow even larger.



3. (C) al-Assar outlined Egypt's National Defense Policy
which he stated was based on a defensive, capabilities-based
strategy instead of threat-based. The number one priority is the
defense of Egyptian land and the Suez Canal. Other goals include:
preparedness for unexpected threats such as terrorism; the
achievement of regional stability; interoperability with Egypt's
military partners; and a leading role for Egypt in the region.
Al-Assar provided the Egyptian military's list of regional
threats/concerns such as Nile Basin water rights and the conflicts
in Darfur and southern Sudan. He commented that one never knows
what Libya might do and that it was essential that Egypt maintain
the balance of power on its eastern border. He reiterated the fact
that Israel possesses unconventional weapons and sophisticated
conventional weapons, which creates a regional imbalance and
contributes to instability. He noted that stability in the region
cannot be attained without balance of power. He stated that the
Egyptian military doctrine did not intend to gain an edge on any
other country in the region or cause offense to anyone.



4. (C) Al-Assar complained that the Egyptian military
sometimes felt pressured by the United States to reform its
doctrine and capabilities to counter asymmetric threats. He
emphasized that the threats faced by the United States were
different from Egypt's. He commented that tanks and aircraft were
necessary to fight asymmetrical threats as well. He referred to
General Patreaus' Sadr City battle plan against extremists and
noted that this plan depended on the use of tanks and aircraft in
Iraq. He called on Dr. Kahl to educate Congress about Egypt's
military needs and not put limits on the numbers of aircraft and
tanks. He noted that the Egyptian military preferred to purchase

its weapons and armaments from the United States, but that Egypt's
national security was a red line and they could go elsewhere if
they had to.



--------------------------------------------- ----

Security Assistance and Modernization

--------------------------------------------- ----



5. (C) Dr. Kahl commented that the U.S. military had learned
some hard lessons about the promises and limits of technology
during the first years of the war in Iraq. Kahl stated that there
are no longer any purely conventional military conflicts in the
world and the last large conventional war was the First Gulf War.
The current challenge for modern armies is to find the right
balance between conventional and irregular forces and doctrines to
fight what Secretary Gates refers to as "hybrid wars." Kahl
commented that the U.S. lost more tanks in Iraq to roadside bombs
than in battles with Iraqi tanks. He also noted that information
technology in the modern war was just as valuable as military
equipment in order to have the ability to rapidly communicate and
assess the environment.



6. (C) Dr. Kahl reiterated that a modern military should rely
on quality equipment rather than a large quantity of outdated
armaments, and should place a greater emphasis on the scope of its
aggregate capabilities vice number of high-end weapons platforms.



7. (C) Major General Fouad Arafa interjected during the
discussion to note that the spirit of the Camp David accord was
that there would be a 2:3 balance between Egypt and Israel's
security assistance. Egypt's role was to keep a certain balance of
power in the region that would not allow other parties to go to
war. Egypt had fulfilled this role faithfully for the last 30
years. al-Assar added that the current ratio of 2:5 was a
violation of the Camp David ratio.



--------------------------------------------- --------

Yemen, Iran, and the Weapons Free Zone

--------------------------------------------- ---------





8. (C) al-Assar noted that Iran effectively interfered in
the internal affairs of Lebanon, Palestine, and Iraq. He commented
that Iran's nuclear ambitions would significantly change the
balance of power in the region and was contributing to further
regional instability and intensifying the conflicts. Al-Assar
stated that Egypt views Iran as a threat to the region and its
conventional and unconventional weapons would only increase the
instability in the region. Al-Assar commented that if Iran was
successful in obtaining nuclear weapons, it would only encourage
other countries in the Middle East to pursue the same path.



9. (C) Al-Assar brought up President Obama's pledge to
pursue a Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East. He
called on the United States to not ignore the Israeli nuclear
program. He stated that Israel's nuclear program only gave Iran
justification for creating its own nuclear weapons. If Iran
obtained nuclear weapons, it would only embolden Iran to use
Hezbollah and HAMAS with impunity.



10. (C) Dr. Kahl stated that ultimate goal for the United States
was the creation of a NWFZ in the Middle East. However, it was not
possible to draw strict parallels between Iran's acquisition of
nuclear weapons and other Middle Eastern countries. Iran is the

only country in the world that was currently threatening to wipe an
entire country off the map, and Tehran reinforced this message
through destabilizing activities pursued by its proxies in the
region. The goal of a NWFZ in the Middle East could take 10-20
years to achieve; however, the international community could not
wait 20 years to address Iran's nuclear program and needed to
figure out ways to slow down the clock on the Iran's nuclear
ambitions.



11. (C) Major General Fouad Arafa joined the conversation stating
that Iran was using the various Middle East conflicts for its own
ambitions and was gaining power because of its interference in the
internal affairs of the Middle Eastern countries. It was essential
to cut Iran's connections and influence in the regional conflicts
in Lebanon, Israel, and Palestine in order to decrease the level of
influence Iran enjoyed in the region. Iran was effectively using
Arab public opinion to advance its goals. Dr. Kahl agreed and
reinforced the need for continued Arab engagement on this issue to
ensure a "unified front" on the part of the international
community.



12. (C) Kahl stated that the United States had reached out to
Iran in 2009 through unconditional talks and that this was meant as
a test of Iran's willingness to prove that its nuclear program was
for peaceful civilian use. Iran, however, had not seized this
opportunity to resolve international concerns. Kahl speculated
that European countries and even Russia, which would not have
supported the sanctions in the past, were now ready to increase
pressure on Iran.



-------------------------

Counter-smuggling

-------------------------



13. (C) Dr. Kahl extended his appreciation for Egypt's enhanced
counter-smuggling efforts in the past year, but expressed concern
over recent increases in smuggling activity into the Gaza strip and
HAMAS' efforts to rearm. Dr. Kahl emphasized that the United
States understands that this is an especially sensitive political
issue internally in Egypt, as well as in the region. Dr. Kahl
noted that the United States was looking forward to the positive
completion of the BTADs project and thanked the Egyptian Military
for its agreement-in-principle to sign a follow -on statement for
future BTADs support as this provided an opportunity for further
cooperation on counter-smuggling and border security. He also
underscored the importance of targeting smuggling networks and
their financiers in Sudan and the Sinai-not just their activities.



14. (C) Dr. Kahl renewed Secretary of Defense Gate's offer to
assist the Egyptian military in expanding its counter-smuggling
efforts on the Sudanese border and the Red Sea region.



15. (C) Al-Assar stated that the smuggling tunnels threatened the
national security of Egypt (highlighting HAMAS specifically) and
that "terror" could come to Egypt via these tunnels. Egypt has
spent approximately $40 million to purchase the steel for the
underground wall on the Gaza border, and Egypt was paying the cost
of this wall in terms of public opinion both within Egypt and the
region. He noted that once the wall was in place, the time would
come to pressure Israel to take responsibility for the humanitarian
situation in Gaza. Dr. Kahl reaffirmed that in all of engagements
with Israel, the U.S. officials strongly encourage Israel to open
crossings into Gaza to allow humanitarian goods to cross, and that
Egypt's focus must be affixed on thwarting the movement of illicit
weapons into the strip.



-------------

Homework

-------------



16. (C) Dr. Kahl encouraged Egypt to sign a Communications
Electronics Security Agreement (CESA aka CISMOA) with the Unites
States, which would pave the way for the transfer of advanced
technology to Egypt and greatly increase interoperability.
Al-Assar stated that Egypt had "its reasons to delay a decision on
a CISMOA." He noted that thousands of Egyptian military officers
have participated in training and education programs in the United
States and learned about U.S. technology and strategy. He
commented that the younger officers are frustrated with the delay
in obtaining political release for more advanced U.S. technology.
Specifically, al-Assar referred to TOW2B and JAVELIN, which he
commented had already been released to other countries. Al-Assar
noted that a CISMOA was not a condition for obtaining these
systems, but instead they were held up due to a "third party".



17. (C) Al-Assar commented that Egypt was in negotiations with
Iraq to supply the Iraqi military with approximately 140 tanks,
which are manufactured at the FMF tank facility. He noted that the
Egyptian Ministry of Defense was awaiting the United States
positive response to its request for approval of the transfer. Dr.
Kahl noted that the U.S. was considering this request and would
provide a response soon.



18. (C) Al-Assar encouraged Dr. Kahl to convince the U.S.
Congress that Egypt was worth more than $1.3 billion a year. Dr.
Kahl mentioned that Egypt receives the second largest amount of
assistance in the world, and that during these difficult financial
times in the United States, it was unlikely that annual flow of FMF
would increase. He did however reassure the Egyptian officials
that the USG would continue to advocate for current levels of FMF
and push back on any attempts to condition those funds.
SCOBEY
http://dazzlepod.com/cable/10CAIRO257/