Alice in Wonderland: June 2006

ARMY (yet again)

Well, i was on my way home from candy's place and waiting for the bus reminds me of the countless times i waited for cabs at the same very place b4 i book in to my "beloved" kranji camp.

I left off my blog regarding my BMT a few months ago . Suddenly, i felt a desire to blog about my 41 SAR days. So just skip SISPEC n SOA for now eh.

After POP-ing from Gedong , the new specialist posted to 41 have this finale event where we have to run from Sungei Gedong camp to kranjie camp. The event took place at night and it was still vivid in my mind. Everyone was thinking "wat the shit la, POP , 3SG already still have to get tekan"

Good things was that the CO of 41 , LTC kenneth liow came and run with us too. It made us feel special and not some kind of gruelling punishment. As we started running , we pass by the FIBUA village , the kranji reservoir ETC ETC. It was as though we are leaving all these SOA-ish memories behind and WE SURE DO NOT WANT TO GO BACK ! ( Gedong is the most ulu place u can ever be posted to in SAF )

Upon arriving at kranji camp, the whole Batalion waited for us and cheered as though it was some kind of disco party. ( they use L-torch for the light effects, ya i know, lame ). Then we have this HOGWARTy SORTING HAT thingy. 5 companies, HQ Glory Falcon Hawk Shrike. Alas , Fate has got me , i was the only Armour infantry Spec being posted to Shrike coy ( a.k.a SP ) . I was jaw-dropped. WHY ? why separate me away from all my A.i. friends. We chiong together in the past but now we're separated.

Cpt Kenneth ( my oc ) greeted me first and i actually felt quite bad that the whole company have to be involved in this event just to welcome their one n only AI spec. ( felt important =) ) But, i also saw Jiande who is my SISPEC section mate and BMT platoon mate. He is in the mortar platoon. Ya, different vocations in one company. So then i know i was my OC vehicle commander since SP OC uses bionix and they need a spec. I also bao ka the hq platoon n admin.

The job was really challenging as i really hated admin work. Most of the the time , i will be in office helping ( actually is i do all ) my csm with her mails and oc with training programmes and doing the fucking BUC for the whole company. Speaking of BUC, I really hate that job. Everytime finish IPPT / SOC / ICCT / Range, i have to prepare detailing tabulate results n submit results. It's a shit job that no NSF should take. ya , but i also not bad , i keep recruiting all the PES C personnel in my company to be clerks to do those shit for me. I also got my BX drivers to help me ta those shit. I have to say one of the BRONCO drivers , kenny , is damn zai in admin. Cut n paste objects like nothing like tat, all the hotkeys in the computer he also know.

Ya, that's how i escape from the admin work. What do i do besides admin ? i love to maintain my vehicle n take it for a "test run" haha. Just to confirm that it's still servicable . no la, test run is just a excuse , i love to drive it once in a while because it's the first vehicle that i learn how to drive ! My two drivers ( yes , tks goodness i've two drivers instead of 1 ) Winson n Ah boon very helpful in maintaining the vehicles. Winson is so zai now that after he ORD, he's working for STK servicing for bionix. =). Ah boon take cares of my OVMs ! Not to forget that we've a signaller MANDEEP ! haha, the Canadian-wanna-be signaller. I must also point out he's also an expert in his field. Voice procedures n Setting up of PRC 947 is the best !

When operational period comes n all the outfield keep coming in , all this vehicle crew of mine + the OC runner will work till late to prepare maps n charts . The storemen n CQ will help us prepare goodies n food for the vehicle =). hahaha . After that, we'll go nearby to food court to have supper. This kind of bonding i'll never find anywhere else.

This is what the instructors tell us about units. Suffer and Enjoy together.

During outfield, most of the time , we just set up charts, do camoflauging, Set up make-shift tentage, get-fucked by CSM, eat good food, taxi OC ard. ya, that's what we do . THE HQ platoon.

Apart from outfield, 41 SAR is not all about suffering ( ok maybe only sp coy ) , we have lots of cohesion programmes ! know what that means. yes, going to sentosa , orchard road for LAN, Pulau ubin treasure hunt, SAF Chalet. so many till i lost count. Where in SAF can u find this . SHIOK.

all that seems to pass damn fast, n it was CPT Kenneth ( my oc ) who was posted out n CPT jeffrey took over.i must say i must have missed cpt kenneth a lot because as a person i really respect him. He's those kind of person who really cares for his soldiers and dun play rank. Tat's why he deserve the respect of the HQ platoon . He say wat even burn weekend we also do for him. HQ platoon ! Dustinpan and brooms !

well , ahem, things was a bit diff with cpt jeffrey, really have a lot of fucking from him in Ex wallaby in aust. Tat was the first time i went outfield with him. I dunno whether is it because Major james was with us or wat, but the amt of fucking i have in that 4 day 3 night ATEC was comparable to my whole army experience. all the men felt also very low morale in australia. Cos the amount of preparation is crazy for wallaby. Charts n maps fill the vehicle. In the end, it was over, n i was so glad cos there's no more outfield for me anymore after tat.

During LRI period just b4 i ORD, the vehicle crew also endured together with me painting , cleaning all the OVMs and vehicle. I must say it's quite shiong also . but was worth it for the amt of offs =)

41 is not a place but a family i will always remember

once armour always armour, pressure forward