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It seems like just a few weeks ago I blogged about ORD. And now suddenly it is already well into reservist. That was how it was then also. We ORD and then had 2 years of lull period where I truly enjoyed myself, forgot about such the army and suddenly it is back to back reservist. ICT 2 and 3 were back to back low key reservist. Very much like the first in camp, it concentrated much on group, section and platoon tactics. I kinda like the war gamings and outfields. And also it was only 5 days so it was ok. Not that long. What I didn’t like was getting back to doing night missions and the long walks. It is harder now that you are less fit. I remember sweating at night, in the middle of a dark forest, uniform drenched in sweat. Super sleepy. It was miserable. Your body heating up due to the physical strain but yet freezing in cold due to the drenched uniform. Body also confuse. So was I feeling hot or cold? Yes I remember that. It was miserable. And oh I can remember the smell of the forest at night. Until today, every time I ride my bike at night and smell the scent of the forest, I will be reminded of the long miserable night walks. Also, I was sleepy most of the time. I am already a heavy sleeper, reservist made me sleep deprived. I remember I was so pissed off when I could only go to sleep at 2am and had to wake up at 4am. What nonsense was that? What happened to 7 hours of uninterrupted sleep before strenuous activity? Nope. Never happened. It was just work after work after work. I was so so pissed off. I can still feel the anger today and especially now when I remember those moments. I don’t know if you remember I mentioned in a post some time before this. Basically almost everyone in my active NS unit were posted to the same reservist unit. But there were some colleagues who were army regulars and had to move on to their own vocations after NS. Thus we had a number of missing personnels. My platoon commander was a regular, so was my platoon sergeant. So they didn’t join us for reservists. Section 1 Sergeant Collin was a regular too. Section 2 Sergeant Fardlie signed on to the police force. Sergeant Chris from Section 3 deferred for some overseas studies. Their respective section 2 ICs had to take up their roles during these 2 ICT. On paper, I was supposed to take up the platoon sergeant role but since we were missing our PC, I had to go all the way covering the PC role. These roles were supposed to be filled up by “top up” soldiers from other units but they haven’t arrived yet. Most probably due to administrative reasons. So yeah, most of us had to do a lot of tasks since we had to cover roles for missing personnels. So yup. Slept at 2, woke up at 4. Remember the condescending trainers? Yup. During one of the missions, I snapped and it felt good. They were barking and making noise and were not tactical at all. The “enemies” spotted us approaching because they were not being tactical while we tried hard to be as soldierly as possible. And they also follow the book while we were already comfortable in our own way of doing things which as long we didn’t jeopardise the mission or our safety. I remember we were suppose to form up at a “Form Up Place” (FUP) just before we assault the enemy objective. On paper, we were supposed to “dump” or leave of field packs there and go into firefight without it so that we can run and move faster. Upon completion of the attack, we will then go back to our FUP to collect our field packs. But there were a lot of times during active NS where we didn’t dump our field packs because the objective wasn’t far away or wasn’t in a huge place. And also, we had a lot of important stuffs in our field pack that we can use during the assault. And also it was trouble some to dump them and then collect them later. Therefore we were quite apt to conduct our firefight with our field packs on. The attack started and I led my platoon into the firefight. We didn’t dump our field packs. It was an easy fight anyway and we were used to it. The trainer shouted at me saying, “Commander! Why didn’t you dump your fieldpacks?” on their condescending manner as if they went through world war 2 or some shit. I shouted back at him, “We can still fight with our bags on! And who is going to collect our bags later? You?! Shut up and catch up!” I then continued running up the objective. I saw his stunned look. It felt good. Really ah… some of these army regular trainers ah… they want to step regimental and all knowledgable and as if they went through some world war, but they actually really cannot make it one. If you all read and remember what my SISPEC PC Warrant Sim said. He was right. So ICT 2 and 3 ended. We still didn’t have top up personnels. The section 2 ICs were then sent to SISPEC to do their section leader course and come back to our unit to become sergeants. Damn. Having to go SISPEC during reservist really sucks man. But that’s how it is. I got eyeballed too. They wanted to send me to 4 weeks platoon sergeant course. I said no. Never going to happen. If you are going to send me to some course during reservist, I am going to defer till I am 40. No way am I coming and make me sleep at 2am and wake up at 4am. No way. It’s too much. I told them that. Send me to course, I will defer and you won’t see me again. And that’s what I did. I didn’t attend ICT 4 and 5. I deferred. Even though ICT 2 and 3 were low key and only 5 days, I am not going to go through it until the admin sort their shit out. So I deferred for 2 years. 2007 ICT 4, I was involved in Gentarasa. 2008 ICT 5, I was involved in Kallang Roar shoot. It was really whatever lah. You made me sleep 2hrs a night, we had to cover for missing personnels, we had to deal with rude trainers, so nope… I’m not coming back till you sort it out. Next week : ICT 6 ATEC 1 Categories : The Army Series
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Ok so here we go. First In-Camp training (ICT) or simply called, “reservists”. Contextually incorrect but Singapore got a lot of things like this. Incorrect use of words that are so commonly used that it has become normal and then becomes “correct”. Sometimes people ask me, “reservist do what?” So this is a good post. It’s good for me to remember too. I ORD on the 12th of December 2002. We didn’t have our first reservist call up for a number of years. I cannot remember already. I think it was maybe in 2004 or 2005. It was just for 5 days. So basically you will have to go for 10 cycles of reservist duties. 1 cycle is a maximum of 40 days. So these 40 days can be spread out within one work year. If you are lucky, you can have just 3 days in one work year and one cycle is done. 5 days and below will be considered “Low Key”. 6 days to 40 days will be a “High Key. You will need to do at least 7 “High Key”s and 3 “Low Keys” to complete your NS requirement. So our first reservist was only 5 days thus it was a “Low Key” ICT. It was at this camp called Tanjong Gul Camp somewhere in Tuas. The travelling there was a dread. Public transport will all your equipment; field pack, duffel bag, SBO, helmet from Boon Lay interchange to Tanjong Gul. I have never been there on my own and we didn’t have smartphones then. So it was the good old streetdirectory and bus guide book. Anyway, once we reached Boon Lay, we would see familiar faces, so just follow the crowd. Oh yes, I remember the dread. 2 years of freedom and it is NS all over again. We checked into this old camp. I have been pampered with new camp complexes during my full time NS days so this one was quite, uurrgh.. but ok la. Cannot be choosy. As long can sleep comfortably, I am good. The toilets were old and of course no faucets. Just like in many parts of Singapore. So it’s like that. Shit in a cubicle, wash at the shower.Can never feel clean with just toilet paper. So what did we do during these 5 days? Well, back to NS days. The exact same thing. So if you think ORD means you’re done with NS, you’re wrong. Reservist means, you will go back to doing the same thing. Only worse, you’re less fit. We wake up to normal 5BX, run around the camp before going for breakfast. Same old NS cookhouse and food. Basically everything is the same again. For these 5 days, we went through refreshers and revisions of our army stuff. Our weapons, technical handling and section level firefight drills. The objective is to be ready for ATEC 1 on the 5th ICT and ATEC 2 on the 7th. The only difference this time is, we had trainers. The camp is called Infantry Training Institute (ITI). They have trainers who are full time SAF soldiers posted there to be trainers to these reservist old men. I don’t mind them refreshing us on the things that we might forget like technical handling and theories. But for them to emphasise on firefight SOP when we had our own style, I think is a bit weird. We had our tested and proven ways of doing things while they stick to textbooks. Well, it’s Singapore and they are trainers, I understand that they have to have a standard for them to mark their markings and KPI. But I just find it awkward, especially when most of them were very arrogant and condescending. One day, we were definitely going to burst. I know my unit. We were stubborn and fierce soldiers. I just knew one day we were going to burst out at these trainers. But it was the first ICT so, we gave chance. Heh. The 5 days felt very long. I just wanted to get it over and done with fast. I didn’t enjoy the rude treatment by the trainers and definitely the morning reveille. Friday finally came and we said our goodbyes. Everyone was happy. I kept hearing this, “See you next year!”. I still couldn’t accept the fact that NS wasn’t over yet but ok lah, at least 1 reservist down and 9 to go. Next Week : ICT 2 and 3
Categories : The Army Series Yes yes. You’ve completed your full time NS. You still have to serve for another 10 cycles. Not only that, you still have to pass your Individual Physical Proficiency Test (IPPT) every year. Every year. No escape. So how does this work? I think this topic of IPPT is a good thing to blog about because it changes through the years. Good to know how it was like. IPPT had 5 stations. Just like how it was during active NS days. No difference. Chin ups Sit ups Standing Broad Jump Shuttle Run 2.4km run Complete all stations and check out your score. Here is the score chart. Pretty straightforward. So you have to at least pass the IPPT within your “window period” which is from your birthdate this year to your birthdate the following year. So let’s say my birthday is 1st February 2003, I have to pass my IPPT before 31st January 2004. Simple right? Just pass before your next birthday. Ideal situation, birthdate 1st February 2003, take the test and pass it on the 2nd of February 2003 and your window is cleared. Your next IPPT test window starts 2nd February 2004. Well, not everyone is fit. Including myself. I need to train before I can pass and I am usually lazy or have no time. So what happens if you don’t attempt an IPPT during the window? You get charged. Go up to CMPB in full uniform, face the officer in charge and wait your punishment. You can be fined a certain amount of money or if you are a repeat offender, you might just be imprisoned at the Detention Barracks. Damn… so serious. But if you pass, you will be rewarded. $400 for gold $200 for silver $100 for bronze What if you attempted but still cannot pass? You will have to attend Remedial Training the following year for the IPPT that you failed this year. REMEDIAL TRAINING So this was what I did. Window 1 : Attempt and fail Window 2 : Go for RT and pass. Window 3 : Attempt and fail Window 4 : Go for RT and pass. So basically I need to train during RT and then only I could pass. Back then you had to book for your RT and they were on fixed dates. You cannot change the dates. If you already booked them, you will have to attend. RT had 2 phases. Phase 1 8 Sessions 2 times a week. You will take your IPPT on the 8th session. If you pass then good for you, window cleared. If you fail, go to Phase 2. Phase 2 12 Sessions 3 times a week. You will take your IPPT on the 6th session. If you fail, you continue your training till the 12th session. If you still fail on the 12th session, your window for the year is still cleared. Best thing about RT is that, you get paid when you attend the sessions. I think I got paid about $20 per session so it wasn’t that bad. It was just the time that is troublesome. If I can remember correctly, the sessions were at 6pm to 9pm on weekdays and 8am to 11am on weekends. There were also 3 places that you can go for RT. Maju Camp, Khatib Camp and Bedok Camp. I tried them all. Maju Camp was the most relaxed, but it also means it’s harder to pass by phase 1. Bedok Camp was the toughest. I passed my IPPT at the end of session 1. I had no problems with my chin ups, sit ups, standing broad jump and shuttle run. I always get 5 points for all of them which is the maximum points. But I cannot pass my 2.4km and you have to pass all stations to pass the IPPT. So every time I go for RT, I will tell them that I need to train more on my running and they will put me in the running group. IPT Then there was also the IPT thing which I cannot remember what it stands for. If you choose not to go RT, you can go IPT. I think it was a 20 session thing. I cannot remember what was the benefit of going IPT. I think it was a programme where you know that you cannot pass even after training. So you go for this programme where you will be tested on the first day, mark your record and then train for 20 sessions. By the end of 20 sessions, you take another test and see if you have improved. If you did, then you pass the window. If you don’t then you have to still attend RT. And also you don’t get paid going for IPT. So I don’t see the point. I tried once. Just once. So ok there was some improvement and I passed. But the next years after that, I went back to doing RT. THE NEW IPPT And then on my final year of NS, they changed the IPPT system to the new one where there are only 3 stations. Push ups, sit ups and 2.4km run. Basket. Suddenly after all the years of suffering in RT, you changed to an easier system. Here is the chart. So I just had to spam my push ups and sit ups which I can train at home and then jog for my 2.4km and get at least 1 point and I pass.
Oh well, life is not fair but it is like that. And.......... you thought that after ORD, you will be done with the army. But no........ Well, maybe you will feel a bit sad if this blog series comes to an end. Eventually it will but not for now. So if you are happy that this series still has some life in it, do give it a like. Hahaha. WHAT HAPPENED AFTER ORD? Well, I think it was a few years of nothingness.... about 2 years maybe. We, or at least me, happily forgot about NS. There was one day when we were called up to attend a briefing at Dieppe Barracks. It was just a few hours. We were briefed on what to expect after NS, about reservists and In-Camp Training, about IPPT that we still have to clear every year, about the unit we will be posted to, about our mobilisation exercises, etc. POSTING So for my reservist duties, I was posted to a reservist unit, 662 Battalion Singapore Guards. About 3/4 of us from 3rd Guards were posted there, so basically it was still the same people. The other 1/4 were those who were army regulars or went overseas or I don't know how they managed to escape the unit. So the army then posted some guys from other units to ours to fill up the 1/4. This slowly became more as the years passed as quite a number from the 3/4 somehow dropped out or downgraded or just disappeared. We were then told that we have to: 1) pass our IPPT every year. 2) report for mobilisation whenever required 3) report for 10 cycles of In Camp Training (ICT) or colloquially called "Reservists" or "Reservist Duties" We will then have our ATEC again for reservists on the 5th and 7th cycle. MOBILISATION So today I am going to share about mobilisation exercises. I am sure you would know that this happen quite a common thing. Once in a while we will see that blinking army icon on TV and announcement on radio and the code words and the call that you have to report to mobilisation centres. So yes. It is those kind of things. But it doesn't happen like that all the time. Sometimes there will be a "silent mobilisation" where we will be called up by phone calls from the HQ. Those that you see on TV is called the "open mobilisation" where we would be called by phone and also having to see and hear those call up alerts on TV and Radio. We also have our own unique code words but I cannot share it with you here. Actually, I forgot them already too. Anyway, the mobilisations are not something that happen like a surprise. Every year, we would be told of our standby periods, like from this month to this month. Say like, we would be told that our unit has to be on standby from 1st September to 21st September 2006. We can then be called up during this period. But not necessarily will we be called up every year. We just have to be on standby and have our army stuff ready at home. I think if I remember correctly, I was only mobilised three times during the reservist days. The first one was a silent mobilisation. We got called up and have to report at the mobilisation centre within 8 hours I think. At that time it was at Northview Secondary in Yishun. We just had to go over, wait for half of our people to reach, check our field packs have all the standby items, sign the attendance sheet and that was it, we could leave already. The second one was sometime in 2008. I was having a post Kallang Roar shoot activity. We were playing futsal at the cage in Kallang. Then sometime around 6pm or 7pm, we received a silent mobilisation call and had to report to Maju Camp within 8 hours. So I continued playing and then went home and went to Maju Camp. This time around, we had to sit at the multi storey carpark and wait. Just waited. We didn't know how long we had to wait. We just sat there. We even had to draw our weapons. We felt quite shitty already then. If ever we were told to draw blank rounds for that mobilisation, we definitely have to go outfield for some kind of war gaming exercises. We really hoped it won't happen. So we sat at the carpark and slept and woke up and chatted and slept and just waited. Some time around 8am the next day, we were told we could return our weapons and leave. Nice! No outfield. The final one was in 2016. It was during the show day of a theatre production at ACJC. We had a matinee 2pm show and an evening 730pm show. I reported to Maju camp after the matinee show. Luckily it wasn't very far from ACJC. I was just hoping I didn't have to stay overnight like the previous mobilisation. Upon reaching Maju Camp, I already saw people leaving. That's great. I met up with some of my friends there before registering our attendance. We were then told to draw our rifles. We were also then given a slip of paper with checkboxes. Apparently we had to go to all the stations placed at different places in the camp. We didn't have to go in a particular order. Just go to the stations and complete the tasks at the station. The tasks were quite simple like strip weapon, assemble weapon, IA drills and some thing else that I cannot remember now. Once we completed a station, the checkbox on our paper will be stamped and we can move on to another station. Once we completed all stations, we could then leave the camp. It was quite fun actually. Most of us compared it to funfairs. One friend laughed and said, "Welcome to Uncle Ringo!" I will always remember that mobilisation exercise as Uncle Ringo. I managed to complete all stations and got back to ACJC for the evening show. Ok yup that is pretty much it for mobilisations. It was quite simple and straightforward. The hassle was to make sure the items that we have to bring once mobilised are always properly maintained. Basically we had to always have all the required items in our SBO and field pack like torchlights, batteries, uniforms, toiletries etc. Different units will arrange them differently but in general it is pretty much the same. Ok that's all for mobilisation. Next week : Reservists IPPT IPT RT Categories : The Army Series |
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