My first trip to Israel was on the summer of ’72 when my father sent me there as a Bar Mitzvah present. A lot of things happened and I remember it well.
The American Zionist Youth Foundation ran the trip, which was a Conservative organization. The name of the tour was Israel Summer Happening. From what I remember I was in ISH 9 or 12. I think that Birthright Israel is a modern day outgrowth or replacement of the AZYF.
They made us bring our tefillin (which I never used before the trip and someone actually stole my phylacteries during the trip) and they assigned a mentor we had to call Rebbe to be our “guiding light.” I found it to be very alien to the way I was brought up. I didn’t cotton much to this way of doing business and I felt I had enough rigor and structure from my father and also from public school. (Later on I had to deal with a mashpiah when I was in Chabad and my mentor there was Rabbi Shea Hecht.)
Now we were pretty wild kids. We certainly weren’t demure yeshiva bochrim (“seminary students”) and I was a marital arts practitioner. I used to spar with some of the people and one of the counselors didn’t like it. He actually challenged me to a fistfight. But someone who was a purple belt in Karate challenged that counselor to a fight and well karma has away of getting back to you.
One day, we were over in the Old City by the Jaffa Gate and a friend of mine and I who were both weightlifters, wore tight shirts and an Arab looked at both of us, grabbed us under the armpits and threw both of us around. I was dumbfounded and so was he. I was afraid of getting killed by the Arabs.
We did a tour of Gadna, which is Israel’s military training program for children too young to be in the regular army or Tzahal. We had to wake up around 4 AM to go to this.
One day, I almost fell asleep on my feet and the leader of the unit asked me, “What for are you waiting, Richard?” to which I replied “Mashaich!” He laughed and said, “Yes!” And I actually like the program. I was a physical kid and it enhanced my marital arts background.
During my next trip in ’74, we had a chance to have an exchange program and deal with local Israelis. I saw this pretty girl and said to myself, “I hope I get her!” I did and we corresponded for some years after until I lost track of her.
When I came back from Israel, my father asked me questions about the trip and he got mad at me for some reason and he said, “No, I wanted you to come back a changed person,” or words to that effect. So, in his eyes the trip was a failure.
I went back to Israel 4 more times. I have discussed the rest of the trips already except my 2nd trip.

It seems to me that the Reform movement has the funds to start programs to send young Jews to Israel and it could be done in a the way that the travelers could be shielded from these so called "outreach workers".

Sound like any typical American-like ROTC. There isnt anything unusual here.