back in green

lunch!

too tired to blog, so i'll just slap on this short pr piece i had to write for my battalion newsletter:

I’m not going to lie and say I was looking forward to coming back for this latest in-camp training. However, I think it would be safe to assume that most of my battalionmates shared my feelings of relief (that it was a low key, 5 day in-camp), frustration (that it clashed with the many things we needed to do out in the ‘real world’) and last minute panic (“Do I have everything I need? Where the hell are my boots? Must remember to bring phone charger!” and of course the perennial “SIAO LIAO! Can pass IPPT or not?!?”) We all know the crap that we go through during ICT (in camp training), so instead of bemoaning over it’s bad points, let me try to think of things that made it worthwhile for me.

My first introduction to 6*7 singapore infantry regiment during the last high key in-camp in 2004 was bewildering to say the least. Having gone abroad to study and work after my ORD (operationally ready date) from the 7th mono intake of 6SIR, it was strange to come back and be around people who were familiar in so many ways, and yet so different. I have to give props to the people at SP Coy (support company) for making it easy to return and face the culture shock of the SAF after being away for eight years.

This ICT was a far cry from the last. Faces once unknown were welcoming and familiar, and the strangers I was once surrounded by were quickly beginning to resemble a large extended family. It was nice to continue where we had left off; the previously girlfriendless armskote man finally found a significant other at work, the medic has changed his job for a better paying one and the entrepreneur had traded in his beemer for a new car. Even the discovery that one of my bunkmates has never held the hand of a girl, was reason enough to keep us up for hours as we devised schemes for him to get over his shyness and find that special someone.

Most of the specialists, many whom I met for the first time, had just graduated from university and returned, boosting the strength of the company and restoring leadership to the ranks. Also candidly noted, was the blurring of the line between specialists, officers and men during the downtime after training. Not from the loss of respect, but more from the bond that has continued to develop after ORD and into reservist training.

Three years done and ten more to go. The apprehension that I once had has long since disappeared. I won’t stop griping about how much of a hassle ICT is, neither will I look forward to it, but having a new family in 6*7 will definitely make the next 10 years easier to bear.