21 March 2008
BMTC PostingNRIC: S8934960E Name: LEE SZE HAN
Comd SAF BMTC wishes you all the best in your future posting.
Your Posting Order is listed below:
1. You are posted to 2 PDF TRG CEN.
2. Your vocation is REGIMENTAL POLICEMAN.
3. Your are to report to: Clementi Camp, 2 PDF Training Centre, Blk 26, RM #02-01.
Reporting Date/Time: 24/03/2008 at 0800 hrs.
Person to report to: Chief Clerk
Contact Number: 6559-7734/7780
You are required to report in smart no.4 uniform (PES E recruits to be in No 3 uniform), except for those assigned to Police Force.
4. Special Instruction:
No Camera Handphone is allowed. You are required to report in Smart No. 4 Uniform with your writing materials. You are not required to bring along the SAF issued items given during BMT. This is a stay-out course.
=) fullsynchro | 21.3.08
28 February 2008
NS life so farah, finally got some time to blog, thanks to high fever (38.6C) yesterday which allowed me to book out and rest. Nice=)
Hmm, anyway, let me just recall everything i've done so far
Life in BMT
Life in BMT had actually been better than what i imagine, or maybe because i have 4 very nice sergeant that don tekan us a lot=) (not including a very nice PS which ORD already). Other platoon don get it too well though, including platoon 2 where our Mr. Big White Horse is at. (tag and ask if you don know who, haha)
Anyway, i'm from Hawk company, platoon 3, section 4. I must say the welfare is not too bad. We usually book out on fri nights, unlike some other company (coys) i heard from my friends (*cough*ninja*cough*).
Food
Hehe, my favourite topic. Unfortunately, cookhouse is just average. Furthermore, I don really like it when they compare this to the olden days cookhouse food (which supposedly tasted horrible). i mean, everything bound to be of a higher standard as compared to older days (for example, prices). And, we don really get enough time to eat. We're only given 20 min to queue, scan card, queue, eat, return utensils, than fall in. Barely sufficient to eat, definitely not enough to enjoy.
Perhaps the only good thing is the night snacks given to us once in a while. i rmb one night when we had chicken pie (the best night snack in sch 1). so oily, but at the same time so irresistible. on other days we may have chocolate swiss rolls, butter cakes, etc
Bunk
13 people in a bunk seem quite squeezed, but it's actually not as bad. There's even a table (with chairs of course) in the middle of the room. The beds are comfortable, and right beside your cupboard. The only complain is all the dust that magically appear everyday (even though you just clean them yesterday), which is a problem when your sergeant ask for a "stand by bed". And when you aren't in the bunk, you better make sure that the windows are locked. Once i saw a bird inside when i was walking into the bunk. It shitted here and there while it was frantically trying to fly out. bird brains...
IPPT
The physical test every recuit has to pass to order to pass BMT. It basically NAPFA without sit-and-reach. hiya, i manage to pull off only 7 pull-up (needed 8 to get silver), so got just a pass.
SOC
The Standard Obstacles Course is a run-down of 50m, followed by 200m of 11 obstacles, followed by a further 600m run in standard battle order (long 4, LBV, and rifle, weighing about 5 kg in total). i got a fail in this one, thanks to "low wall", "swing trainer" and "low rope". sad. fortunatety it is not a requirement to pass BMT. heng ah
Field camp
Field camp isn't too bad, maybe because it didn't rain throughout the entire 6 days. For me, it was just like another ODAC overseas trip. We slept for 2 days in a basha (just a ground sheet as a roof), and 3 days in a shell scrape (just a grave-like hole in the ground which takes 1-2 days to dig). In case you're wondering, no wet bath, only powder bath (your sergeant would ask the platoon in the night to powder themselves in front of the sergeants until you're white lo, a bit stupid and waste of time). The combat rations were also better than expected. While most of them are gooey (you practically squeeze them out of the packet), they taste pretty nice. Just warm them up, and they're as nice as cookhouse food. One thing i learnt: in the wild, anything that's either cold or warm, is nice.
Book outs
No matter how good NS life may be (i'm not saying it's good), nothing beats the freedom and easiness at home. No more rushing from places to places, no more ordering from your sergeants, no more boring cookhouse food, no more need to meet timing, etc. Too bad it's only two days a week. And you don even get it if your field camp cuts right across your weekend, like mine=(
Seeing Medical Officer (MO)
I believe that MOs are loved by all recuits, but hated by all other NSFs. Being NSFs themselves, MOs have the rank of a Captain, probably higher than most people you see in tekong. They are also the ones that give you "status", literally. After visiting the MO, you're be classfied att A, att B, att C, or Excused, for 1 day to a week. What do they mean?
- att A- MO confirms that you are "chao keng" case. You're in deep shit when you return to the company line
- att B- MO determines that you are only fit for light duties. This means that you'll just be sitting around while the rest do PT, leopard crawl, march, etc
- att C- MO determines that you are unfit for duties, usually due to high fever. This means book out for 1 to 3 days!
- excused-MO determines that you are unfit for certain actvities, such as running, marching, jumping, carrying heavy load, etc
Confinement
The feared word. You'll rather do 100 push-up than this. Basically your sergeant will punish you by having you stay for a saturday (or sunday) to do some cleaning of the company lines. weekend burned. Thankfully, i haven't done anything wrong enough to kena this...
Guard duties
Another feared word. you have to guard the island you're been living on for 2 months. Thankfully, i haven't done anything wrong enough to kena this... However, there's the regimental kind that i may kena too. hope i'm not that "lucky"...
long entry indeed. for now, let's all pray for our A levels results to be outstanding. pray hard...
fullsynchro | 28.2.08