Saturday, January 31, 2004
The past four days spent in Hendon Camp have been eye-openers indeed. Yep! It's li'll ol me booked out of Commando BMT for the Hari Raya holidays and there's just so much to tell i dont know where to start. And apparantly i shouldn't brag about how much i've been through, nor complain about how tough it is because the people up at Hendon have their means to find out what we're up to. (Apparantly there was a guy in the past who started a personal webpage soon after he booked out, which stated loudly that he was a Commando, and they actually knew! Scary stuff) And i'm pretty tired for now, so i'll just write whatever comes to my mind try not to brag/complain too much. Dont bao dou to CMPB ah you...
Thoughts:
-Doing one extra push up/pull up for Commando. (dont ask me why its "Commando" and not "Commandos") Eg: doing ten push ups would sound like, "One! Two!.....Ten! One for Commando!" There's a certain thrill in doing that extra one, and somehow i dont feel like we're suffering more or anything. On the contrary, it feels pretty good! Maybe i've been brainwashed. Still, I think its a pretty cool tradition.
-Shouting "Commando!" whenever we are asked to do something, be it to sit down, stand up, fall out, run to someplace, enter a room, run an errand, recover from push up position, and a hundred other occasions. Again, it feels good to shout it out loud, but it does kill your throat.
-Torture water parades. I shan't elaborate lest i get found out, just the keywords: excruciating shoulder muscles, bloated stomach, and several "merlions". Heh. Like to know more? Ask me!
-Waiting. And waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting. Dammit. I wish a platoon wasnt so big. Then again, it'll be harder to hide. (Oh for your info, i'm in 3rd Company, Platoon 8, Section 2.)
-Change parades. Whoohoo. 'Nuff said. 3 mins? No problem sergeant!
-Mood swinging sergeants who're tough, but (relatively) fair as well. Also extremely slack and funny when they're relaxed. Slack situation: entire platoon sits in an air-conditioned studio and exchanges stories on the "most embarrassing thing you've done to a girl". Tough situation: push ups, sprinting, yelling, water parades, amazingly mean put-downs, more push ups, scoldings in front of the entire company, wrecked muscles, sweat drenched tees, destroyed egos, nausea.. you get the idea. Was tough adjusting to that, but i think we're getting the hang of it. (hopefully)
-Rigid formalities. Like shouting your NRIC/Rank/Name/Reason to the officer or sergeant whenever you want to receive an injection/go for an interview/do a set of pull ups. Or how you're supposed to ask for permission to enter your own bunk if a officer/sergeant is inside. (dont forget to shout "Commando!" once permission is granted!) Or how you have to freeze when an officer/sergeant enters the room. Or how you must report your strength every time you fall in or go for a water parade... rigid place!
-No life. Handphones are always switched off. Get caught sms-ing in bed? Confined for two weeks, brudda. Need to obtain some info from your family? Fine. All of you have three mins to call home and talk, by the end of three mins your phone should be off once again. Bleargh. For the past 3 days i had to sneak a rushed sms to chienling by waking up early and pretending to look for my toiletries bag in my locker. No news, no radio, no music, no free time. (I'm not kidding! Even the time before we sleep is rushed and taken up. Hardly had time to interact with my section mates.)
-Good platoon mates: none smoke/drink! Ain't that amazing? That's cause this batch is the A Level batch, with the exception of one or two poly/ite pple. Pretty good people, who're fit and have a positive attitude. No wussies spotted yet, no sir. Lotsa them have lovely bodies. I'm jealous. Thank goodness there're also normal people like me who can do a reasonable number of pull ups. A few extra people (obviously vying for OCS. Yes, so am i, but im doing in smart. Heh.), but mostly good people.
-Pride. Its the only way to describe that feeling in the air. There's something about being part of the most elite combat unit in the SAF. Every sergeant drills it into you, every officer shouts it to you, every high flying officer (CO, OC, RSM, etc) proudly explains it during lectures, inspiring you to the point of not feeling sleepy. (Yes, we DO feel sleepy, its just like JC!)
Sigh. On monday, i shall book into camp at 20 00 hours, and stay there for 12 days. 12 days. That's the real test. Once i survive that, i suppose the rest of BMT should be okay.. provided i dont get confined or anything. Haha! What an understanding OC we have.. letting us book out on Valentine's day! But aragh. 12 days! I wonder how they'll go. I guess we'll see.. but up till now, i guess my perception of Commandos has changed just a little bit.. and im glad i joined. So for the next 10.5 tough months of training, courses, torture and adventure till we attain the coveted red beret, i suppose i'll just have to work hard, do my best, and do "One for Commando!"
he rocked the party at 8:08 AM |
