The Final March Is 75 Miles in 3 Days
Every combat unit in the IDF has a masa kumta — a final beret march that serves as the culminating event of basic training. For some units, this means marching 40 to 120 kilometers (roughly 25 to 75 miles) over two to three days, carrying full combat gear, weapons, and stretchers loaded with sandbags. It's a tradition that has remained virtually unchanged for decades, and it's the same distance for women as it is for men.
The final march is as much a psychological test as a physical one. By the second day, every muscle screams for relief and blisters have turned feet into raw wounds. Soldiers push through on willpower, unit cohesion, and the knowledge that the beret waiting at the finish line represents something that can never be taken away. Women who complete the march describe it as the most difficult and most meaningful physical achievement of their lives — harder than any workout program, marathon, or civilian endurance event they'll ever face.
