So it's down to eighteen days. Eighteen more days as a full-time national serviceman, eighteen more days before I am discharged from the military, eighteen more days to living the life of a civilian. After twenty-three months of service, I have made gains as well as losses. The gains and losses are subjective as everybody's experience is unique. Gains and losses aside, the important thing which I would like to reflect on before ORD-ing is whether NS has made me (us) a better person.
Although I had to attend PTP, which means I had to serve for an additional two months, I never regretted enlisting earlier. I was in Ulysses, a relatively "less xiong" company. If I had passed my NAPFA test back in 2011, I might have ended up in Taurus. Taurus and Ulysses share the same building but there is a stark difference between the lives of the recruits from both companies.
After BMT, I was "chosen" by the military to be a signal operator. Like all signal vocationalists, Stagmont Camp was my next stop after Tekong. There are three types of signallers (shall not elaborate on all these army jargon) and I got into the least rigorous one. We were not the traditional signallers who bash through the forest with a radio set on our backs. Laptops, servers and erm, air-con were what we had day to day.
I don't deny that I was fortunate to be in a less rigorous job compared to many others who have served or are serving NS. Excluding the days in Pulau Tekong, the only "official" outfield activity which I had during these two years was going up to the mountains in Australia to live for five days and four nights. And what did I do up there? Other than using the radio set to communicate, it was just my laptop and me for the entire day.
I was lucky to participate in the 2012 edition of Exercise Wallaby. This year's exercise will be much more taxing for my unit as they will be tasked with more responsibilities. As I am in a reservist unit, it is fair to say that my schedule is not as packed as those who were posted to active units. The only drawback was the location of my camp. Highly inconvenient and doesn't even have stable 3G connection, let alone 4G.
The final big event of my NS will be the upcoming Army Half-Marathon on 1 September. I am required to participate in the 21-km race and I am still wondering how will I be able survive it. If only my enlistment date was five days earlier.
Some people say the things which you learn in the military cannot be experienced in the civilian world. I beg to differ. Working in the army is just like working in any organization. There are offices, canteens and sports facilities. The main difference between a soldier and a civilian is that the latter does not have to take part in a fitness test every year.
Camp is pretty much like any workplace. It is more of a office plus home if you stay in. You have to deal with all sorts of people whether you like them or not. Just like anywhere else, the lower your rank or position, the more arrows you receive. But higher ranks do receive arrows too, much bigger and sharper ones, but on an occasional basis.
I am sure that females would be able to survive NS too. Maybe it's because I was fortunate to get "decent" postings, which made me believe that life as a soldier is not that challenging after all. However, being a soldier is still worse than a K-pop trainee. There are too many points to debate on but if you are interested, you can contact me and we can discuss about it privately.
Those who have served who probably agree that there are countless of monumental screw-ups within the army. Nobody has really did a research on this and nobody will ever will. Whenever I encounter "yet another screw-up" in camp, I will just take close one eye (sometimes two) and tell myself that it is army, it's alright. I won't see such things when I am in the civilian world.
Breathe in and out, a second is gone.
Breathe in and hold your breath, a lifetime is gone.
Life is too short to be frustrated at temporary blunders. ORD loh!
Although I had to attend PTP, which means I had to serve for an additional two months, I never regretted enlisting earlier. I was in Ulysses, a relatively "less xiong" company. If I had passed my NAPFA test back in 2011, I might have ended up in Taurus. Taurus and Ulysses share the same building but there is a stark difference between the lives of the recruits from both companies.
After BMT, I was "chosen" by the military to be a signal operator. Like all signal vocationalists, Stagmont Camp was my next stop after Tekong. There are three types of signallers (shall not elaborate on all these army jargon) and I got into the least rigorous one. We were not the traditional signallers who bash through the forest with a radio set on our backs. Laptops, servers and erm, air-con were what we had day to day.
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| Nostalgic |
I was lucky to participate in the 2012 edition of Exercise Wallaby. This year's exercise will be much more taxing for my unit as they will be tasked with more responsibilities. As I am in a reservist unit, it is fair to say that my schedule is not as packed as those who were posted to active units. The only drawback was the location of my camp. Highly inconvenient and doesn't even have stable 3G connection, let alone 4G.
The final big event of my NS will be the upcoming Army Half-Marathon on 1 September. I am required to participate in the 21-km race and I am still wondering how will I be able survive it. If only my enlistment date was five days earlier.
Some people say the things which you learn in the military cannot be experienced in the civilian world. I beg to differ. Working in the army is just like working in any organization. There are offices, canteens and sports facilities. The main difference between a soldier and a civilian is that the latter does not have to take part in a fitness test every year.
Camp is pretty much like any workplace. It is more of a office plus home if you stay in. You have to deal with all sorts of people whether you like them or not. Just like anywhere else, the lower your rank or position, the more arrows you receive. But higher ranks do receive arrows too, much bigger and sharper ones, but on an occasional basis.
I am sure that females would be able to survive NS too. Maybe it's because I was fortunate to get "decent" postings, which made me believe that life as a soldier is not that challenging after all. However, being a soldier is still worse than a K-pop trainee. There are too many points to debate on but if you are interested, you can contact me and we can discuss about it privately.
Those who have served who probably agree that there are countless of monumental screw-ups within the army. Nobody has really did a research on this and nobody will ever will. Whenever I encounter "yet another screw-up" in camp, I will just take close one eye (sometimes two) and tell myself that it is army, it's alright. I won't see such things when I am in the civilian world.
Breathe in and out, a second is gone.
Breathe in and hold your breath, a lifetime is gone.
Life is too short to be frustrated at temporary blunders. ORD loh!
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