Basic Military Training

Backdated to 15 Jan 2005


About a week has passed since I came to Tekong.
Life was harder than slacking at home (naturally), but it was still okay.
I learned and discovered several things in the few days there.

It is very addictive to rub your prickly shaved head. Don't touch it more than you have to lest it becomes a bad habit.

Non-commissioned officers, or specialists, are those with their ranks on their sleeves. They were called 'Stripes and Crabs' - since the Singapore crest looked like a crab from afar.
Commissioned officers have their ranks on their shoulders. Bars and Stars for them.
Only the commissioned officers are to be addressed as 'Sirs'. The specs are to be addressed as sergeants.
Recruits have no rank. They are the most bottom in the ranking hierarchy, apparently, as we are often told, that's even lower than dogs (dogs of the K9 unit had ranks too).

Leopard company is what people call the 'welfare company' or the 'slack company'.
It was headed by warrant officers, and our training was designed to be smart, effective and challenging. It was not meant to be impossible, over strenuous nor filled with pointless tekaning that simply left recruits too tired to learn anything.
Mohawk company, however, is what people call 'shiong company' or simply, 'hell'. They always seem to be Tekaned, doing some sort of PT, punishment or being yelled at from as early as 4 am till as late as 12am.
I'm sure that they feel very envious and bitter looking at us in comparison.

Whenever anyone made a mistake, the entire platoon is punishment. It's meant to encourage us to help each other out, and to absolutely stay out of trouble. Nobody wanted to be crowned the 'Saboh King'.
'Kiang to hoh mai gei kiang' (It's good to be good, but don't go doing unnecessary stuff) makes a lot of sense.
Nobody likes to be the right marker when we are supposed to fall in. That usually meant that he had to shout the timings and lead the marching songs.
Not everybody is musically inclined. Not everyone is suited to lead marching songs. There ARE people who are absolutely tone-deaf. I was amazed.

Drinking 750ml of water in every morning's water parade is not easy. We drink till we retch, we drink till we are bloated, and doing PT after drinking that much was way uncomfortable. But it was all done in the name of hydration. I suppose it is really necessary, because we rarely went to the toilet even when we drank so much water.
And we are not supposed to spill any DROPS of water when we are drinking. There was one time I sneezed and spilled a bit of water during water parade. I had to down another half a bottle of water for the few drops I spilled. o_o
Tekong is like a desert. It is really hot by day, and really cold by night. I often sneezed in the chilly and windy mornings when I fall in for PT.

Dry cough spreads wide and far. There isn't a single moment when nobody is coughing. Apparently it was caused by some chemical that they add in the water to purify them. It irritates the throat.

BCCT (Basic Close Combat Training) was just an excuse to make us do more sit ups and push ups. The first session was a 4 hour long session of holding push up positions, half squat positions and what not.
We really sweat bucketfuls that day, until the floor was spotted and drenched with or sweat. Subsequent sessions were spent on learning how to do proper punches and kicks, and using our rifles in melee combat.
The dummy rifle was a 5kg weight we had to carry as we jumped, ran, and swung around under the blazing sun.
We all looked like burnt toasts after the first week.

Training is usually put on hold when it rains, but you really can't count on a good rain when you need one.
In fact it always seemed to be sunny when there is training, but rainy when we are booking out.
'SAF has weather control systems' is a half believed rumor.

We used the M16 rifle in Tekong. It was issued to us in a rifle presentation ceremony. We had to receive it, and pull it towards us from the officer with force and aggression (to signify and display possession and ownership). The saying goes, 'In Army, your rifle is your wife.' Hence we had to snatch it back from any other men's hands. During the ceremony the officer's grip was so tight that we had to pull really hard, and when the rifle finally came off his hands it rammed straight into our chests. Many of us got big bruises for that.
IMT was a range simulation training, and it was easily our favorite. It was conducted in an air conditioned facility and all we had to do was to stand, squat or prone while we practiced our shooting. Since no real rounds were used there wasn't even any need for weapon cleaning.

The helmet really makes you stupid. You can't seem to be able to think properly in it, and you can even walk into holes on the ground even though you saw it and knew it was there.

It is very easy to get a fever in Tekong due to it's great fluctuations in temperatures. The lack of hair protecting your head does not help matters. I had at least 4 cases of fever, almost once every fortnight there.
My first fever went as high as 39 degrees. I reported sick at the medical center and was given an attend B status (recovery in camp) and put on a drip. It was the first time I had one. I always thought that drips are for patients in critical situations, like after major operations or near death situations those TV programmes always showed. Apparently drips of Saline Solution was effective for bringing down high fevers as well. And it made you have to go to the toilet very often. It was very inconvenient to drag the stand along to the toilet, and extra care was needed so that you don't pull out the catheter from your veins. having to put it back in was Not an appealing idea at all. Especially when one drip did not seem sufficient to bring down my temperatures and the medic decided to give me TWO. On BOTH ARMS.
For Heaven's sake whoever heard of that. Luckily another medic with enough sense came along and removed one. Not before laughing at me first though. =_=
When my temperature stayed at around 39 degrees the next day and they decided to give me an Attend C status. (sick rest at home) As a result I get to return home before my first 2 weeks were up.


Finally, Attend Cs are highly coveted. It was the legitimate ticket to escape trainings. It causes great envy among friends, even though you are really sick and feel like shit.