“It is really exciting to see [Rotem] here today; she passed a very difficult period but she was really determined to continue and here you have it, today she has finished her course,” said Rotem’s father, Nisin Chiprut, after the ceremony marking the end of Rotem’s studies to become an officer.
After receiving her new rank, Rotem was greeted by her father and brother who traveled from the United States to show their pride. “There was no chance I would miss this day,” stated Nisin.
Tomer Chiprut, Rotem’s brother, is also joining the IDF and was set to draft to the Golani Brigade just a few days after Rotem’s ceremony.
“If you ask my brother why he decided to join the army he would say, ‘Because of my sister,’” Rotem surmises. “He listened to my experience and saw how I spoke about the army – how much I love it – and he looked at himself and said, ‘I also want to do what she’s doing.’”
After four months of training at Bahad Echad – the IDF Officer Training School – Rotem can officially call herself an officer in the IDF. But she is not a regular officer. Rotem’s job is to be a commander of the army’s basic training commanders.
“I love my position and I think it is the most important job for girls in the army,” Rotem happily states. “When new soldiers come to the army, the first thing they see is you. You represent the army for them. You are their teacher 24/7, their mother, their father, their psychologist.
I just want to live in the moment and do the best I can in the army. My life has taught me that in a second everything can be turned on its head and you never know what can happen. So I learned to simply be the best I can in this moment.”
Rotem will serve as a platoon commander, responsible for 60 soldiers and will be the head of six basic training commanders. “I can use my job not only to motivate the soldiers, but also to motivate the commanders of those soldiers,” she explains.
