Saturday, May 07, 2005
Its funny how i try to tell civilians that i walked a 72km route march last week, and they're totally unfazed. While on that endless march from Wednesday to Thursday, many of my fellow commando officers called their loved ones to attempt to describe to them what an amazing feat we were trying to accomplish, but to no avail. To them, 72k is just like any other military training, the kinda stuff that makes army boys sweaty and stinkie, but at the end of the day, they go to sleep and forget about it.
Hah. They couldn't be more wrong.
To put things into perspective, a 72km endurance march takes approximately 22 to 24 hours to complete. You mindlessly plod along, not just in plain army uniform, but in Full Battle Order (FBO), which consists of a full alice pack of approx 10+ kg, webbing (a sort of vest you wear around your body which can hold 2 1-litre water bottles and 8 magazines), as well as your personal rifle. This is to ensure that if the distance doesnt kill you, your shoulders, neck and back will.
Another perspective: most army personnel have undertaken some form of route march, such as the 24km graduation march at the end of BMT. Everyone knows what a torture it is. Those who move on to SISPEC or OCS undertake a slightly more gruelling 30km or 36km march or navex exercise. Ask any army guy who's been on one, and he'll tell you how the hour takes forever to pass by, yet how swiftly the 15 mins break dissolves into thin air. (As for all route marches, the speed of walking is roughly 4km/h, with a mandatory 15 mins rest after every hour) Now imagine doing that whole 1 hour walk, 15 mins break routine continously for 18 times, with only 2 other 45 mins breaks in between for breakfast and lunch, with no sleep, no other forms of rest.
72km was 3 times the distance, 10 times the torture. It was also, according to my Commando Officer Conversion Course commander, a "rite of passage" to achieving our red berets. Since we'd already received our berets, it was only right that we undertake this gruelling feat which our men had already accomplished while we were in OCS. So there we were, on a crisp wednesday evening, marching from our start point at Hendon Camp. Our route: 4km from Hendon to SAF Ferry Terminal, 8km down coastal road (alongside Changi airport's runways), 4km to east coast park, 40km up and down east coast's 8km stretch, 4km back to coastal road, 8km back up coastal road to SAF Ferry Terminal, and finally 4km back to Hendon again.
The first 40k proved to be pretty easy, except for the shouts of "ORD LOH!" from irritating youths lounging at BBQ pits and chalets, making me wish i had live rounds in my rifle so i could shoot them dead. (i mean seriously, if you ever, ever, see any troops marching past you, have a heart. They're suffering! Dont make it worse for them!) Other than that, interesting sharing sessions about girlfriends, my trusty mp3 player, H-Two-O at every 12 km, and yummy nightsnacks kept everyone's morale high and feet walking. And of course, i could never forget my special lady's worried calls and sweet encouragements at every rest point. Thank you dear..
However, from the 48km mark onwards, fatigue caused by lack of sleep, aching shoulders, blisters and abrasions began to set in upon all of us. We must have been a comical sight, plodding along with our eyes closed, to open our eyes again to discover that we'd strayed waaay of the path. Happened to me a couple of times, esp around 4 in the morning. We collapsed onto our alice packs at every rest point, slipping into immediate deep slumber, only to be rudely awakened 15 mins later to walk for yet another hour.
Shirt drenched in sweat, with the rising sun making it worse, we took it one painful step at a time, with each step being pure torture every time we applied pressure onto our blistered feet. Abrasions forced many of us to either walk like penguins, or hobble along slower than the elderly people staring at us in utter bewilderment. Heck, it was sure demoralising to see elderly people, fresh from their taichi sessions, to run faster than you. Grr.
But what the heck la, at the end of the day, after a grand timing of 23 hours plus, 30th COCC hobbled back into the School of Commandos parade square, tired, sweaty, smelly, but definitely triumphant. Hooray!
he rocked the party at 10:34 AM |
