Saturday, March 29, 2008
Okay I just booked out today, first weekend as a SISPEC trainee burnt already. In less than 24hours I will be booking in again. Argh
Probably it is due to the non-stop lectures session that is making me feel tired, mentally. Physical training is not so hiong in the first week, plus I think my coy is still going easy on us at the beginning. We shall see how the subsequent weeks go.
Getting to know new people in SISPEC is definitely harder than in BMT. Firstly, there are already established friendship from BMT (plus in the past 18 years of our lives). Furthermore, we are not forced to sit together in the cookhouse during our mealtime, so people tend to go back to their old friends instead of mingling around with the new friend. However, I believe such a situation should improve, when the training becomes tougher and field camps start kicking in.
On a side note, I failed my Training Safety Regulation test (TSR) along with many other platoon mates, and many many other company mates. One extra for us, woohoo.
Grrr
Probably it is due to the non-stop lectures session that is making me feel tired, mentally. Physical training is not so hiong in the first week, plus I think my coy is still going easy on us at the beginning. We shall see how the subsequent weeks go.
Getting to know new people in SISPEC is definitely harder than in BMT. Firstly, there are already established friendship from BMT (plus in the past 18 years of our lives). Furthermore, we are not forced to sit together in the cookhouse during our mealtime, so people tend to go back to their old friends instead of mingling around with the new friend. However, I believe such a situation should improve, when the training becomes tougher and field camps start kicking in.
On a side note, I failed my Training Safety Regulation test (TSR) along with many other platoon mates, and many many other company mates. One extra for us, woohoo.
Grrr
sharkfin fullstopped here
Friday, March 21, 2008
I hope I can be an influential, inspiring sergeant like some of my sergeant in BMT.
Nonetheless, as of now, I am just worried for the tough time ahead.
Nonetheless, as of now, I am just worried for the tough time ahead.
sharkfin fullstopped here
Monday, March 17, 2008
Hm.. what next?
sharkfin fullstopped here
Saturday, March 15, 2008
When the grandfather's clock strive 12 times in the night,
I can hear your soft voice
echoing.
Your words
loop inside my brain
like a broken CD player.
I look upon the wishing star,
only to hope
that day never ends.
I can hear your soft voice
echoing.
Your words
loop inside my brain
like a broken CD player.
I look upon the wishing star,
only to hope
that day never ends.
sharkfin fullstopped here
Thursday, March 13, 2008
I remember that before I enlisted, someone told me that BMT is so short that it will be over like tomorrow. Indeed, I do feel that I only enlisted yesterday and passed out one day after.
2 weeks of adjustment period, 1 week of fieldcamp, 1 week spent in POP mood, holidays now and then, 9 weeks of BMT is short, looking back now.
Of course, when you are going through all the shit during fieldcamp and in-camp training, you feel seconds are days and days are years. Talking about fieldcamp, I believe that it is the most memorable fieldcamp that all of my company mate in Cougar Coy will remember for life. I have done all the shit that I can expect from fieldcamp, and some unexpected ones like duck-walking plus sleeping in watery shellscrapes. While others can use their groundsheet to lay inside the shellscrape, I lost my groundsheet in the ARTI strike on the night of 31st January. So I have to sleep inside the wet hole with a ziplock back on my buttock while leaning on my fieldpack to sleep in order to get most of my body dry. My morale is way low during the two nights spent in the shellscrape, sleeping in the freezing night even with the jacket on, and my whole body aching due to imporper sleeping position and short sleeping time. Without my platoon mates, I think I would have long fallen out from the fieldcamp. During the digging, it is exactly the people who are around me, digging at the same time, that encouraged me to carry on. Even if they don't say a word, looking at them around me also make me feel motivated to carry on. If they can do it, so can I.
Nonetheless, there are many instances when we got really screwed for simple things like numbering off. Most of the screw ups are not due to the fact that it is in the night or we are shag. Our fieldcamp is as early as straight after the adjustment period. Many of us are still not used to numbering off and moving from platoon to section to bed level in a file. Naturally it took more time than what the sergeants expected of us. Therefore, we got screwed. Since we are outfield, there is almost no restriction on how the sergeants can punish us. Carrying fieldpack overhead to high kneel or duck walk, leopard crawling through puddles of mud, constant ARTI drills are examples of tekaning that can't be done in the BMT camp. Though I felt really fucked up when we were punished during the camp, I feel that it was a mental test to train ourselves mentally. To be able to withstand all kind of crap and not fall out is mentally taxing. I can still remember the joy when we went onto the tonner at RHC back to our own camp. To be get to eat cookhouse food, sleeping in bunk, clean water to use, feels just like how we envied CV life when we were in camp.
ARTI night is crazy, for those who don't have that during FC, pity you =)
Now that I have POP-ed, I am starting to miss my sergeants. Of all, I miss Sergeant BM the most. Though he has been a bastard (oops) all these while, he is one of the people whom I respect from the bottom of my heart. I remember the whole platoon used to sigh whenever he is the DI for the next day. His standard remained high, throughout the 9 weeks in BMT. He will screw us for the slightest mistake we make like falling in on time in the morning. Thanks to that, we were always the first platoon to fall in in the company and the only platoon that finished what we need to do (like reporting strength, water parade) before 0545. Other than falling in, he also punished us for not marching properly, talking/moving in file, etc. Basically, he will screw us for every nitty-gritty things that you can think of. Sometimes he is so harsh that the first bed of platoon 4 actually felt so fortunate because he missed platoon by one bed. However, due to his strict discipine, I can confidently and proudly say that platoon 3 is the best platoon in the whole of cougar coy, in terms of discipline as a whole. Of course, this would not have been possible without the other sergeants helping out in other ways too. There is one friendly sergeant who is always there to encourage us after getting a spanking from sergeant BM. There is another sergeant who always crack lame jokes which are really not funny, but it helped to break the monotamous army life. One classic joke that he said was, "What do you call a person who carries the Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW)?"
While we have answers like law gunner, lawman, the answer is...
Lawyer
ha ha ha
Serious, my platoon sergeants rock. Whoever is the next batch in cougar platoon 3 is really fortunate.
Then again, sometimes I really felt sad for myself. While the other platoon can slack in their bunks during admin time, we had to do night PT. When the other platoon are enjoying aircon in the Annex room, we are training for IPPT. That is the trademark of platoon 3. We are the platoon with the least welfare among the company which has one of the least welfare in the whole BMTC school 1. Everytime after RO is given, we have to stayback while the others go up to their bunks because the sergeants want to talk to us. Therefore, I was quite used to admin time that was about 20minutes. What to do? OTOT after lights out or wake up as early as 430 to wash our laundry and do other stuffs.
It is okay, it is alright, we managed to pull through in the end.
24KM route march is another event that I cannot forget. Even though there is rest point every 4K, the marching just get more and more boring especially towards the 16-20km march. At one point of time I totally spaced out and my body moved on its own, according to the "left and right" given by the timer. We sang and sang, even pokemon theme song came out, and other pop songs by linkin park and westlife. I was the so-called route march IC for 12-20KM. Got screwed by sergeant BM for not ensuring that everyone walked in step and close up as much as possible. Oh ya, I was scolded for giving the wrong command (I forgot to sediyah the platoon before giving the open order). But it was more interesting then just march in the line, at least I can move up and down the "line of march". After the march, we actually got complimented by sergeant BM. He told us that he was very proud of us (maybe because platoon 4 Platoon Sergeant was so jealous of the standard of our RM). The sense of achievement is really beyond description by my limited vocabulary.
I hope the sergeants can maintain their standards and lead the next batch of recruits (who enliested today) the way they did for us. I am really grateful for their guidance and the tough trainings they give.
Not forgetting my platoon mates. Without them, I would have quitted long ago. They are the one behind my back when I feel really low. They are the ones who shared iyr happy time together. They are the ones who undergo the seemingly endless punishments everyday. 9 weeks is short to forge real friendship, but I guess the tough trainings really got us all together. Still, I hoped I could have known some of them better.
There is so much I have learnt through BMT.
Thank you sergeants, platoon mates, section mates, my buddies, for making me a stronger person mentally and physically.
...
...
I guess there are some things that just cannot be described by words
PTE Y T CHI, out.
2 weeks of adjustment period, 1 week of fieldcamp, 1 week spent in POP mood, holidays now and then, 9 weeks of BMT is short, looking back now.
Of course, when you are going through all the shit during fieldcamp and in-camp training, you feel seconds are days and days are years. Talking about fieldcamp, I believe that it is the most memorable fieldcamp that all of my company mate in Cougar Coy will remember for life. I have done all the shit that I can expect from fieldcamp, and some unexpected ones like duck-walking plus sleeping in watery shellscrapes. While others can use their groundsheet to lay inside the shellscrape, I lost my groundsheet in the ARTI strike on the night of 31st January. So I have to sleep inside the wet hole with a ziplock back on my buttock while leaning on my fieldpack to sleep in order to get most of my body dry. My morale is way low during the two nights spent in the shellscrape, sleeping in the freezing night even with the jacket on, and my whole body aching due to imporper sleeping position and short sleeping time. Without my platoon mates, I think I would have long fallen out from the fieldcamp. During the digging, it is exactly the people who are around me, digging at the same time, that encouraged me to carry on. Even if they don't say a word, looking at them around me also make me feel motivated to carry on. If they can do it, so can I.
Nonetheless, there are many instances when we got really screwed for simple things like numbering off. Most of the screw ups are not due to the fact that it is in the night or we are shag. Our fieldcamp is as early as straight after the adjustment period. Many of us are still not used to numbering off and moving from platoon to section to bed level in a file. Naturally it took more time than what the sergeants expected of us. Therefore, we got screwed. Since we are outfield, there is almost no restriction on how the sergeants can punish us. Carrying fieldpack overhead to high kneel or duck walk, leopard crawling through puddles of mud, constant ARTI drills are examples of tekaning that can't be done in the BMT camp. Though I felt really fucked up when we were punished during the camp, I feel that it was a mental test to train ourselves mentally. To be able to withstand all kind of crap and not fall out is mentally taxing. I can still remember the joy when we went onto the tonner at RHC back to our own camp. To be get to eat cookhouse food, sleeping in bunk, clean water to use, feels just like how we envied CV life when we were in camp.
ARTI night is crazy, for those who don't have that during FC, pity you =)
Now that I have POP-ed, I am starting to miss my sergeants. Of all, I miss Sergeant BM the most. Though he has been a bastard (oops) all these while, he is one of the people whom I respect from the bottom of my heart. I remember the whole platoon used to sigh whenever he is the DI for the next day. His standard remained high, throughout the 9 weeks in BMT. He will screw us for the slightest mistake we make like falling in on time in the morning. Thanks to that, we were always the first platoon to fall in in the company and the only platoon that finished what we need to do (like reporting strength, water parade) before 0545. Other than falling in, he also punished us for not marching properly, talking/moving in file, etc. Basically, he will screw us for every nitty-gritty things that you can think of. Sometimes he is so harsh that the first bed of platoon 4 actually felt so fortunate because he missed platoon by one bed. However, due to his strict discipine, I can confidently and proudly say that platoon 3 is the best platoon in the whole of cougar coy, in terms of discipline as a whole. Of course, this would not have been possible without the other sergeants helping out in other ways too. There is one friendly sergeant who is always there to encourage us after getting a spanking from sergeant BM. There is another sergeant who always crack lame jokes which are really not funny, but it helped to break the monotamous army life. One classic joke that he said was, "What do you call a person who carries the Light Anti-tank Weapon (LAW)?"
While we have answers like law gunner, lawman, the answer is...
Lawyer
ha ha ha
Serious, my platoon sergeants rock. Whoever is the next batch in cougar platoon 3 is really fortunate.
Then again, sometimes I really felt sad for myself. While the other platoon can slack in their bunks during admin time, we had to do night PT. When the other platoon are enjoying aircon in the Annex room, we are training for IPPT. That is the trademark of platoon 3. We are the platoon with the least welfare among the company which has one of the least welfare in the whole BMTC school 1. Everytime after RO is given, we have to stayback while the others go up to their bunks because the sergeants want to talk to us. Therefore, I was quite used to admin time that was about 20minutes. What to do? OTOT after lights out or wake up as early as 430 to wash our laundry and do other stuffs.
It is okay, it is alright, we managed to pull through in the end.
24KM route march is another event that I cannot forget. Even though there is rest point every 4K, the marching just get more and more boring especially towards the 16-20km march. At one point of time I totally spaced out and my body moved on its own, according to the "left and right" given by the timer. We sang and sang, even pokemon theme song came out, and other pop songs by linkin park and westlife. I was the so-called route march IC for 12-20KM. Got screwed by sergeant BM for not ensuring that everyone walked in step and close up as much as possible. Oh ya, I was scolded for giving the wrong command (I forgot to sediyah the platoon before giving the open order). But it was more interesting then just march in the line, at least I can move up and down the "line of march". After the march, we actually got complimented by sergeant BM. He told us that he was very proud of us (maybe because platoon 4 Platoon Sergeant was so jealous of the standard of our RM). The sense of achievement is really beyond description by my limited vocabulary.
I hope the sergeants can maintain their standards and lead the next batch of recruits (who enliested today) the way they did for us. I am really grateful for their guidance and the tough trainings they give.
Not forgetting my platoon mates. Without them, I would have quitted long ago. They are the one behind my back when I feel really low. They are the ones who shared iyr happy time together. They are the ones who undergo the seemingly endless punishments everyday. 9 weeks is short to forge real friendship, but I guess the tough trainings really got us all together. Still, I hoped I could have known some of them better.
There is so much I have learnt through BMT.
Thank you sergeants, platoon mates, section mates, my buddies, for making me a stronger person mentally and physically.
...
...
I guess there are some things that just cannot be described by words
PTE Y T CHI, out.
sharkfin fullstopped here
Saturday, March 08, 2008
It is a huge boulder off my shoulder, one that has been pressuring me for months. It has finally been lifted.
All that is left is choices, making really tough choices.
Looking on the bright side, I should have ample time to do my homework and make the best decision there is, during the block leave.
Yeah, POP LOH!
In 3 days time.
All that is left is choices, making really tough choices.
Looking on the bright side, I should have ample time to do my homework and make the best decision there is, during the block leave.
Yeah, POP LOH!
In 3 days time.
sharkfin fullstopped here
Saturday, March 01, 2008
Before I know it, POP is just around the corner!
Finished most of the major event as a recruit, only left the 24k march on tuesday with the whole of school 1. I think it is gonna be very exciting! Hopefully it would be a more relaxed march. Though there are other coy that is definitely more hiong than us, I think 30min/4k is quite a fast pace already. Also, BM will be joining us for the 24k too, how nice, expect the unexpected.
The past week has actually been quite smooth going and relaxing. I passed the day live range without much difficulty, but night shoot is horrible. At least, I still passed in the end.. so as IPPT, which I thought I am not going to make it through. Oh, and I ran my fastest ever 2.4k timing, lol. It is not below 10 la, so nothing much to brag about anyway =X
Sometimes the thought of going command school struck me, down and hard. I thought of it as a challenge, a mission that completely defies what I thought I would be able to do. I never really perceived myself as a leader, more so a obedient follower. But I think it is a very good chance to really test out my capabilities. The training would be tough, yes. THere will be lots of politics, definitely. Yet, it is an experience that none other place can offer. blah blah, it is not like i have been offered the place to go SISPEC/OCS anyway, boo.
There is someone whom I really feel like complaining about in my blog, but for the purity and the innocence of my readers, I shall leave that out.
=)
P.S. The new song is so cute, lol
Finished most of the major event as a recruit, only left the 24k march on tuesday with the whole of school 1. I think it is gonna be very exciting! Hopefully it would be a more relaxed march. Though there are other coy that is definitely more hiong than us, I think 30min/4k is quite a fast pace already. Also, BM will be joining us for the 24k too, how nice, expect the unexpected.
The past week has actually been quite smooth going and relaxing. I passed the day live range without much difficulty, but night shoot is horrible. At least, I still passed in the end.. so as IPPT, which I thought I am not going to make it through. Oh, and I ran my fastest ever 2.4k timing, lol. It is not below 10 la, so nothing much to brag about anyway =X
Sometimes the thought of going command school struck me, down and hard. I thought of it as a challenge, a mission that completely defies what I thought I would be able to do. I never really perceived myself as a leader, more so a obedient follower. But I think it is a very good chance to really test out my capabilities. The training would be tough, yes. THere will be lots of politics, definitely. Yet, it is an experience that none other place can offer. blah blah, it is not like i have been offered the place to go SISPEC/OCS anyway, boo.
There is someone whom I really feel like complaining about in my blog, but for the purity and the innocence of my readers, I shall leave that out.
=)
P.S. The new song is so cute, lol
sharkfin fullstopped here