Lights Out!! Leo's one and only blog

By my SAR21 during a section flanking movement cuz while I was leading the section, the rifle hit a bush and bounced back to me and the barrel got into contact with my chest during my 4 days field camp in the "Gates Of Hell" and the medic said it will leave a scar(and it's still hurting lor). 4 days in the cold, rain and leopard crawling in the mud was miserable. Sleeping in the muddy and wet uniform is worse, and to make the already miserable coditions worse than it is, I was the light machine gunner which means my main weapon is a 7 kg weapon(when everyone else other another poor soul was carrying the SAR21) that I carry with me all the time during the fiel camp and I got 4 abrasions... Go figure.

The typical day starts off when you don't have the time to even brush your teeth! And so, for the duration of the camp, I didn't brush my teeth until I went back to camp and trust me, having clean teeth is one of the best feelings in the world. And when you bathe, you see black soap spots all over the wall because the soap washes all the crap all over your body. And at the end of 4 days, your hair will be stiff and sticky. But the thing about the camp is that compared to my bmt days, it was not as fun or should I say, not fun at all. The only thing I enjoyed was the fire movements esp flanking because I think it's the most useful fire movement... and I think i better not say too much lest I expose restricted info. It feels good to lead a section of men during fire drills. Will gladly do it anytime!

Oh and did I mentioned that I was confined? It was damned unlucky man. Before the camp, we were told to protect our maps and I did exactly that but some $%#^er didn't and we had to pass our maps to the officer for a signature. The twist is we used newspaper to wrap the map before passing it for the sig and when we got the map back, we didn't get back ours so I trusted that my map was protected until the 2nd day after much leopard crawling in the mud and rain etc that I found out it wasn't and when I was appointed section commander for the navigation exercise, I used my friend's map for plotting and planning the route to the check points(while my navigator would bring us to the check points after im done doing the briefing and will occasionally check with him whether we're going in the right direction which we did... haha evidence of a good leader and navigator!) and when the whole exercise was over and the officer checked the maps, I got confined because of the kiam chai map...

On the last day of the field camp, I was appointed as the ambush party. Basically just stand there and wait for people to come and fire on them. When I got back, my dad told me that during his OCS days, he was also the ambush party during his field camp! Only thing was that he was chosen because he was sleeping during lecture and when the instructor suddenly asked him a question he just hantam bolah anyhow say and the insturctor said: "Very good, very decisive. Joseph, you be the ambush party." As for me, I still don't know why I was chosen and I don't think I'll ever know. Guess it's fated.

Another Field camp in 2 weeks time!!! Hope it does NOT rain this time heh.

After being knocked it down 100(yes it's true... and shiok!) before booking out I can finally say that I've improved my timing to *drum rolls* 8:49 mins!!! I'm back with a vengence! Can be better because I re-did one of the stations but nevermind, I'll do better for the next one. Been raining this past week at SAFTI and our FORCED... err I mean fast march was cancelled due to that(much to everyone's relief). After 5 weeks here, everyone's spirits aren't very high due to the lack of sleep(try sleeping 5 hours or less everyday) and the impending field camp at the "gates of hell" but it's not the field camp but the inevitable rain that'll be plagueing us... what to do? Take it positively whether or not we like it lor.

Yesterday during our demolitions test my assistant platoon commander asked the platoon: "Who here feels you have alot of potential and want to take up wing appointment?". Obviously no one volunteered. Later when I was doing my test on safety fuses at his station and out of the 10 of us there he asked me: "Lionel, you want to be wing appointment holder or not?" I went: "No sir." He asked: "Why?" and I said: "Headache ah". Could see he was quite disappointed but what really went through my mind was: "Sir, What I need is experience, I'm not even cadet platoon commander yet. I don't know whether I can tackle the job yet." Maybe I can volunteer for a wing appointment during pro term... maybe. But wah lau I think I might still kana arrowed to be wing appointment holder lor, I always kana arrowed to do appointments when it's the most hectic periods eg. ncc camps, bmt etc. Can I take a break from all of these? Besides, I don't know whether I can maintain the standards set by the current wing appointment holders(they're solid people). I'm still wondering why he asked me... maybe because I look like I can be tekaned? haha.

It's late and I have to study for my signals test on monday... sleep inducing stuff *yawns* : "hullo goose, maverick requesting for backup on sleep over" get what I mean?

That was the question 1WO Dragon asked me and I said that it was abit difficult to believe till he showed me his 11B(army I/C), Gerrard Terrence Dragon. And I was the first person he arrowed! Anyway, 1WO Dragon or rather, DRAGON as we call him is one of the most effective instructors I've had the privilege to have(and dirtiest). A SME(subject matter expert) of demolitions, his lectures are always filled with (blowjobs)laughs and even the officers there cannot contain themselves and end up laughing. Setting off an explosive means a Blowjob and touch WOOD is touching the men's "sundial"(ya know what I mean).

My radio communications instructor is 1sg Sathia aka Sa Tiao(3 pieces in dialect) aka HBK(Heart Break Kid). He was once a Chinese till one day he held on to an antenna, got struck by lightning, turned dark and now sports a moustache. Thus, changing his name to Sathia. Talking cock in his lesson is how we learn. Always laying the smack down on us is what he does best! During breaks, he treats us to drinks and the breaks are usually long(enough for us to gain some shut eye too). We're always looking forward to both his and Dragon's lectures and interacting with them. 2 of the most effective instructors of the SAF!

Today, I finally got to fire the Matador(anti-tank weapon) and M203(Grenade launcher). It was difficult man! BOBO all the way! But nevermind, familiarisation shoot only. Next time aim higher! The matador was shiok man! The blast and the force you feel when the round goes off was indescribable... Ok we only fired the sub-caliber(not the real round) but the blast was powerful enough(especially when you're the assistant, not the firer). Witnessing the firing
of the live round was really great though. You see the actual firepower of the weapon. The whole place is filled with smoke and the explosion rocks the ground.

Now, I'm a qualified SAW(light machine gun) firer. Firing the weapon at night is the best! You are issued the NVG(Night Vision Goggles) and when you fire, you can see the rounds flying all around like what you see in movies and CNN! So don't mess with me, I can fill anyone up with lead using 5.56mm bullets, 40mm grenades or an anti tank weapon.

One quote from Dragon: "you see those bastards(points at our officers officers)... C*** B** and want to blow them up. Ah and you know they're always playing scrabble in the instructors office, you place some charges there one day and set the detonator off and give them a good BLOW job."

20 over years ago my dad was there, now I'm there.....
Wow, 3 weeks down another 35 more to go! 1 bar gone, promoted to another one! Honestly speaking, the time spent at safti made me home sick because I miss home... I miss the TS too(I have a pic of us in camp leh. Team spirit!). And yes, towards the end of the second week of the 3 weeks there, thinking of my family(I'm a very family orientated person) and friends made me cry. YES I cried(I'm human OK). During one of my lectures with my wing commander, he said being an officer, a military leader means making sacrifices which is very true because you sacrifice your time spent with family and friends. Not only to the nation but to your men. You give your time to them to train them, to nuture them, to guide them and from there you also learn the value of the nation's freedom, your family, friends and not to take it for granted. That means spending the confinement period together with them and that's what he did. A true leader who leads by example!
My first day there I felt very proud because I was to be an officer cadet training to be an officer but on the second day onwards everyone got that "sian" feeling because we would be confined for 3 weeks! Although each day passed by quickly, everyone was counting the down the days to book out day and that made matters worse because it was an excruciatingly long count down!
Anyway, this is what OCS is like. Running all the time and very little personal admin time for yourself except on weekends. Lessons all the way in the lecture theatres and the training shed and the highlight for the first 3 weeks? Leadership field camp especially during both the day and night navigation exercises because you basicaly get hor-lan all the way haha. Oh and did I mention that you have to do a casevac(casualty evacuation) at the end of field camp(and that's done after a little surprise)? We also learn about heavier weapons but's that's the boring part! You heard about tear gas? I got my first taste of it during chemical defense lesson. We had to enter a room where they burn the pallet to release tear gas and the mask wasn't very effective in protecting us from the gas. The worse part was I was the first person to take out the mask(when the room was still very concentrated with the tear gas). My face was burning, eyes tearing, my mouth was dry, the throat felt like I drank vomit and nasal cavity irritated. I had to run out of the room after completing the required SOP(without the mask) in there. All in all, it was quite a fun exercise and oh it was at the old OCS camp and that's where my dad was when he was a cadet. What's even more surprising is that my dad used to be in Alpha Wing and that's where I am now albeit his camp was in pasir lebar and mine's in SAFTI MI(the new one).
Next week, SAR21 live firing! I wanna fire the M203, Matador and SAW soon!!!! Oh shucks, that reminds me, book in tomorrow and the end of my one day of "freedom". Well, in the words of my wing com: "Being an officer, a leader, you have to make sacrifices".