Reflections

It's now 15th February 2012. Yes, 2012. A special year for me. It's the year that I will be committed to the Singapore Armed Forces entirely. A year I will be turning 21, a major milestone in a person's life. This year, I have graduated from the Basic Military Training Centre and has now attained the rank of Private (PTE) in the SAF. My time in BMTC was a fulfilling one. 

I lost 30kg through the strenuous training programme designed for us. Although I can't reveal much, I can say that all the activities like the Field Camp, Route March and Basic Trainfire Package has helped to shape me into a better person and injected new skills into me. It has also moulded my character. 

 On 7th January 2012, I finally passed out from BMTC. On 13th January, it was a nervous day for all of the 04/11 cohort as it was the day of the announcement of our posting. I was posted to HQ SAFAC as SUP ASST (AMMO). Having this vocation, it means that I will be in a non combat vocation and there will be minimal or no physical training at all. Good news for me, bad news for my weight. To add icing to the cake, I am not required to stay in.

Being a specialized course and handling with highly dangerous items (ammunition), we were required to undergo a 3 week course at the School of Ammunition. It seemed like a normal course at first until it was when I met my current buddy in my unit. From then on, my social circle kept increasing. From the 2 of us, it expanded to 4, then to 6, then to 8, to 9 and now it's more than 10. It was a great experience interacting with them and it helped me open up a lot more than what I will with my BMT friends. Honestly, I did not feel close to my BMT friends but the friends I got to know at SOA made me feel much more like a home away from home.

Till now, I can say that it is still a great experience with all my friends that I knew from SOA although we have now been separated. Luckily, we were only separated into 2 depots and that means we will definitely have someone we know when we report to our new depot. Throughout the days we knew each other, it was definitely fun to tease each other, disturb each other, suan each other and last but not least, encourage each other in whatever we were trying to achieve and keeping a lookout for one another.

Around 1 year and 6 months of National Service to go, wonder how will it be like? If we were to all stay together, I suppose it will be a very fun time for all of us and time will pass by very quickly, just like how each day passes by quickly for us now.