was surfing through friendster and saw one of my men's profile and pix reminding me of my army days (though i am still in, now half-time). it reminds me of what drives me to join the army. the brotherhood and the capability of changing one's life. during pc (platoon comd) interview, i was able to find out what is troubling my guys and help them find source of motivation. i think i have mentioned before, but i still feel gratified by my platoon. many of whom had injuries and could actually choose to opt out for our final overseas exercise on medical grounds. However, they told me during the interview before the exercise that they wanna fight it for me, with the platoon and that would be their greatest achievement before they ord.
started on my birthday under the scorching sun at nee soon camp transit gap. under strength compared to other platoons and a few fighting fit had history of back injury so cant carry most of the stuff. they did it before midnight and as i had promised them, they could throw me into the gap since they had given me such a great teamwork as my birthday present.
this pic is taken at the end of our exercise in thailand. what you cant see, is the sweat, blood, pain, agony, injuries sustained throughout the 14 days. they were with me under the harsh weather, first day of mission, rained heavily and shivered under the chilly wind. went on to fight despite the lack of sleep. then met with river crossing at the first obstacle and we all ended up with blisters cos of soaked boots and some foot rot. then i was 'lucky' enough to got to execute a mission under my commanding officer for an ad-hoc block mission. i only got 30 mins to plan and was pretty stressed but hyped up, my sect comds instead of sleeping in the tonners came down and we had a strategic discussion and it saved a lot of time cos i did not need to explain to them again during orders.
walked 3km with blisters but in the end it was a 'thumbs up' by the CO and all would not have been possible without my platoon, small but mighty :)
i guess it was a great way for them to ord, knowing that the whole company got redcon 1 and being pc for the first time, under my great OC, i had learnt so much, not only tactics but also character building and planning skills that will bring me far. must dig out some pix to show my fellow PCs and OC. till then, ask not why i sign on, but what have you missed during your army days :)
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