ORD ( This is 3 1 Mike, Lima Mike ,Oscar Romeo Delta, Out ) 050317

ORD LO ( 030317)


It has been a really tough journey thus far. Many despise NS for countless reasons - politics , outfields, being a waste of time etc. - and I must say I am one of the many who wasnt really fond of NS. But after we take a moment, dig deep and think of how we've grown over these two years, then we will be able to find the benefit of NS:

BMT - Eagle
Being in a company led by commanders who truly believe in inspiring a company of commanders, I must say I am very fortunate to be in Eagle. We were treated like commanders, led each other, got fucked for things we did wrong and deserved - most of all, we were introduced to how commanders got treated way before I entered command school. (special thanks to PS Dom, P1Sectcomds, MSG Rahman and Encik)

SCS- Lima Foundation>Lima Pro

Lima Foundation term truly taught me more than Professional term. We were taught how section commanders got the most shit ( i.e punishments for men= x1 , punishments for LSC and above=x3).
We were treated like shit, we had the toughest life , but as MWO Freddie Soh explained - He was training us for the unit life , a shit place to be in , the only source of motivation and joy is ur buddies beside you and most of all , he will reward our efforts as best he can ( many believed he didnt but we had as many nights out as Kilo please XD ). Foundation term really engraved into my brain many unforgettable moments - High kneeling for 1h after a 4D3N camp ( which consisted of 3days of Fire and movement and  training ending at 9pm everyday) , heavy thunderstorm which lasted the full duration of the night on the first night, casevac-ing teammates over long distances etc.) and of course, bookout PT ( every week we had to do increasing reps of different exercises such as rowers, pullups and lunges). It was through this mental and physical resilience training that helped me through NS.

1SIR

" How am I going to put you guys in charge of 6 men under you next time? You think about it!" ~ MWO Mani. As I entered 1 SIR , I had this quote in my mind constantly which pushed me on.
We 2nd year commanders came into a hellhole- the battalion was constantly busy and it planned to stay like this till we ORDed. ROT 3a,b,c > ARSF > NDP > ROT 4> ROT 4.5 > ROT 5a > ATEC
It was a rollercoaster of emotions, there were arguments , fights , disagreements, politics , broken arms, hearts and many tasks thrown all over the place. But we managed to pull everything together and kept the gears of Charlie running. After ATEC and we had the talks, it dawned upon me that Im going to leave the section which I looked forward to seeing every week, the platoon which always made me laugh, the company which I had a sense of pride and identity in. I never regretted coming into this unit because the hardships, blood sweat and tears truly sculpted us into what I am today. 1SIR changed me as a person and forged so many friendships which will hopefully last.

ORDinary people, ExtraORDinary outcomes indeed.

Its 2 years of our lives, but its a 2 year life changing experience with results that takes excruciatingly long to unveil.(and its 2 more years to think about uni applications and the future too ) 

Current Physical status // Platoon IC reflection

 IPPT : TOTAL : 82        2.4km : 10.41 (fastest)
SOC : 3.52 ( fastest)


Now that i think about it, the 9 days of being Platoon IC in BMT really taught me so much that brought me to a much higher caliber.

It taught me hardship, responsibility and discipline.  It taught me that I shouldnt do things that would make me disappoint my men. It taught me that i CANNOT be weary in front of my men. It taught me that I MUST have infinite strength to do things which the men cant or wouldnt do, for this responsibility has been entrusted to me. The high keys - BIC , 16km , leave application and parade rehearsals and the many cock ups due to the 9 - 11 statuses, 5 aeromeds etc as they kept coming in and out , really created so many situations that I would never dream about LOL.

INF LDR ( TRAINEE) PRO TERM

 Well, that wasn't my last week of SCS, but just a hiatus from Lima - the apparently most shiong company in SCS.

When i received my posting , i was like WELL FUCK ME. and i was literally stunned , not knowing what to do for like 10 secs. The reason why i reacted this way is because : 1. Im the only one other than Azlan whom wasnt satisfied with the posting / didnt get what we expressed our interest for ( i expressed interest for artillery) 2. I realized that there really is nothing to be proud to be infantry about - everyone gets the CSB , almost everyone has two swords behind their formation badge, but we still train so hard for fuck!?

Also , I do not know why but I was just fucking jealous of everyone else who had something special / different. To make things worse, most of the cadets got artillery - something i wanted to do so as to follow in my brother's footsteps. I just had this feeling of hopelessness and being lost as it was the first time (i guess) I actually missed someone whom I love - my section . Jia Le , Gideon , Azlan, Jared etc. Who was gonna complain about me not bathing ? Who was gonna be as enthu about US army life as I am ? I dont know. But after 8 weeks of Lima , Im gonna fucking pull my socks high and pull through this pro term. The only thing i have in these 12 weeks are the new people beside me (whom I hope are competent) and the drive i have to fucking chiong sua.

With Pride we Lead , Specialists ! Super Chiong Sua!


Btw, the posts before these were all weekly reflections , and i really hope they continue this in Lima so that i can actually update this blog! There is a reason why its not so candid and so serious XD.
So yea, Ill really need a fistful of determination and a strong body to push through infantry and OTOT training man. Hope I do better than the rest , HU rah!

SCS WEEK 8

The last week of SCS. AS I reflect upon my 8 weeks here, i realize how much we have grown as a person and a soldier; the time flew by too quickly and I didn’t even get to know everybody.

The most important event this week was the 24km route march. As it was my first 24 km, I was a bit scared yet excited, but as I looked at my peers around me and their presence gave me the motivation to carry on. The first 8 km and we already had our first fallout - a serious one which required him to be sent to the A & E (leg, stomach cramp, fading in and out). The 20km also had its many fallouts as it was definitely more than 4km. However at the end of the 24 km, I felt happy and relieved that foundation term was essentially over! But when I reflected before we went to sleep, I realized that this is just a small step into NS and a taste of the life ahead of us. The march reminded me that we have to motivate and encourage our peers to press on but yet manage to stay strong ourselves. As the week comes to a close , a nostalgic feeling creeps in as the days of Lima are coming to an end(If I do not stay in infantry) – the tough times we all shared together, the joyous moments we had will be remembered fondly. Thus the things I will take away from my term in Lima is that: WE must be strong in the face of adversity. WE must encourage others to help each other out. WE must not be selfish and work as an individual, but a team. And last but not least, it is only through tough times will we learn the most precious lessons.

SCS WEEK 7

Week 7 – a “slack” week with 2 nights out !

Other than all the lessons we had , the prominent activities we had were : CFA , SOC TEST and MATADOR/M203 live firing.

CFA 6 was a really tiring but reminded us of how as a platoon, we must be cohesive and strong in order to overcome the many challenges ahead.

The SOC test was a big surprise for us, because from the 30 failures of low rope, we all managed to lower it all the way down to 9 failures! A tremendous improvement which I wasn’t even aware of until Encik mentioned it. I then realized that the hardwork we put in that isn’t seen ( ie doing the right thing when no one is watching)  - although the results are subtle, in the long run, we will be rewarded in one way or another ( nights out ! ) .

Then came the MATADOR and M203 live firing at the end of the week. It was a shocking and amazing experience! As I walked past the live firing area, the sheer amount of space needed for the firing was amazing and the scenery was quite breathtaking. As everyone was in a relatively better mood than most days , we managed to breeze through the live firing with smiles on our faces and a sense of achievement. At Chevron’s , I also learnt about the hardship and amount of hardwork our pioneers put in to build up our 3G army of today. It is only through the hardwork of previous generations can we benefit the future generations.

WHAT DOES SG50 MEAN TO YOU ?

Well , it is a really special and memorable year. SG50 to me represents Singapore – her culture, her people, her racial harmony and peace that she attained. SG50 is just a celebration of the hardwork put in by our pioneers that set the pathway to our success today. After the many events that happened – the queuing up to visit Lee Kuan Yew , the rail breakdown etc. -  The Singapore spirit truly showed. People helping each other , passing water and food around and letting the needy board the public transport – allthese shows how cohesive Singapore is and how generations are able to come together to help each other out. All these events really makes SG50 very special and means a lot to me as it shows how Singapore managed to withstand the trials and tribulations over the 50 years and yet managed to excel above the rest.

WHAT DOES SAF50 MEAN TO YOU ?

Although it has only been 3 months as a soldier, to me, SAF 50 represents the great achievement of attaining a sustainable and reliable defence system in such a small country . It shows that even though we have limited resources and have a much smaller population compared to other countires, our SAF is still well-respected amongst other nations and is one of the top few countries in terms of defence. SAF50 together to help each other out. All these events really makes SG50 very special and means a lot to me as it shows how Singapore managed to withstand the trials and tribulations over the 50 years and yet managed to excel above the rest.

WHAT DOES SAF50 MEAN TO YOU ?

Although it has only been 3 months as a soldier, to me, SAF 50 represents the great achievement of attaining a sustainable and reliable defence system in such a small country . It shows that even though we have limited resources and have a much smaller population compared to other countires, our SAF is still well-respected amongst other nations and is one of the top few countries in terms of defence. SAF50 is merely a milestone we achieved in defence and that we must press on to improve, innovate and sustain our standards in order to beat our competition and keep our nation free and strong. 

SCS WEEK 6

Week 6. An excruciatingly long week for me especially. Being a COS during off-in-lieu was quite demoralising , but that “ordeal” in itself was quite enriching! I had to double confirm the medics’ and drivers’ particulars for Encik , the tonners and safety OUV for Urban Ops.

Tuesday and we were off ! When we reached the urban ops area, I was stunned – such a place existed in Singapore !? I was surprised how well equipped the area was and how all our drills could be applied there. For both the days , we practiced the room clearing, window clearing and team movement drills repeatedly till we executed the drill almost perfectly. Thanks to the amount of rounds we had ( around 90 , but I had 140+) and the amount we could only expend in one room , I can safely say it could be muscle memory to execute the drills already. However, not everyone practiced the drills as much as the others. They just passed their rounds over to the rest and continued resting. This taught me that we should persevere and not be lazy in training – when its crunch time, we do our drills seriously , but when its rest time , we really know how to relax. I really enjoyed UO overall , and discovered how smooth the drills can be executed even with an additional team behind.

Other then the lessons and SOC time trial on Thursday, the most important day was Friday – section live firing. It was really fun , being able to see the section moving as one across a field , trying to overrun the enemy and applying all that we learnt to this live firing. When shooting the live rounds, I realized how difficult it was to keep the section integrity – to ensure all were in line and no one lagging behind – and at the same time , to be able to combat zero and hit the target. During the night, I felt it was the coolest. The sky lighted up with our tracers like a laser show and the challenge of hitting the target kept my adrenaline pumping. I learnt that sometimes at night, our focus will be off as we try really hard to figure out whether or section is In line or not, whilst trying to figure out where our bullets are landing – a tough feat which gave a lot of pressure to the section commander.

All in all, week 6 was quite a great week as all we learnt could be applied to real scenarios  and the ability to fire rounds injected that little bit of fun to it. 

SCS WEEK 5

Week 5 : Field Camp week – something most cadets can safely say they dread.

However, for me , albeit I dreaded the experience, but I still took whatever I learnt and tried to apply it the best I could. The first day was harbouring ; Encik explained really thoroughly why we do harbouring and why we need the all round defence and why arc of fires are needed. This reason WHY and not WHAT helped me understand the reason why we go outfield more too. After that, we had the tripflare demo and practice, which was kind of cool because we managed to try out things we played with back at company line! As I did not setup my tripflare properly, I had to redo it and this taught me how to be more precise when doing things instead of doing it for the sake of things

From then on , it was all the practice of Section drills – a very tiring experience but enriching. As a section commander , I did pretty okay as I managed to control my men under me. However when my trainer pointed out my mistakes , I reflected and it gave me a deeper understanding of why we ICE , SPIDER and ORANGE.  Together with heat rash , the discomforting experience of doing fire and movement was excruciating but I pushed on as I knew if I didn’t do so, my section would be let down. Especially when we did the sniper drill – at one point, because of my foolishness trying to help the casualty and “medic” , there was a moment whereby we had to retreat , but I had to carry back the important equipment before retreating – the MATADOR , M203 , SAW and the SAR-21. This was the most defining moment of my SCS life. When I reflect upon that moment – running 20m with all 4 weapons – I knew that : 1.  The section commander’s mistakes can be amplified when the section is discombobulated. 2. The failure of a person in the section can delay movement and smoothness in drills 3. Determination and the motivation to not let the section down is something really important as we aren’t individuals, but a team. 

On the last day, it was where we saw the dark side of many. After a tiring 3 days and painful heat rash all over, people started shouting at each other  and the integrity of the platoon started breaking down. But somehow, after the 45min under the hot sun and a few casualties , our platoon started taking the initiative to help others in need – something that really touched my heart. Then I realized that once a team has suffered together, worked hard together and played together , will they start building that special bond and trust between each other.

When we reached the Tekong ferry terminal, it was a great way to relax in those few hours. Reminiscing the days of BMT , talking to our previous SGTs and just sharing with each other experiences gave us a great sense of relief and comfort. During this period , I reflected on how the field camp went – and I found out that I really didn’t like disappointing my men – section commander and men alike – and through field camp I really wanted to be a good sergeant so that I didn’t need my men to suffer next time.